L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear readers, Rome was liber- ated by the Al- lies in June 1944. T h e n e x t d a y , K i n g V i c t o r E m m a n u e l I I I r e s i g n e d a n d h i s s o n C r o w n P r i n c e U m b e r t o became the acting head of state. In June 1946, King U m b e r t o I I a b d i c a t e d i n favor of a Republic after only 35 days on the throne when Italians voted to abolish the Monarchy. *** K i n g V i c t o r Emmanuel's contribution t o C a l i f o r n i a a g r i c u l t u r e , the artichoke, has rarely been acknowledged, howev- e r , " G r a z i e " t o L ' I t a l o - Americano reader Dorothy Capurro, who many years a g o v i s i t e d t h e L u t h e r Burbank Home and Gardens a n d m y o w n v i s i t t o t h e Luther Burbank Home and G a r d e n s i n S a n t a R o s a , California, I can share this information with you. What Thomas Edison was t o e l e c t r i c i t y a n d H e n r y Ford to automobiles, Luther Burbank (1849-1926) was to plants. As early as 1875 he made his first discovery, the B u r b a n k p o t a t o . I n h i s youth, he earned his living raising fruits and vegetables to sell. One day, he found some potato's seeds in a ball on one of his potato plants. Usually, these plants did not produce seeds because peo- ple made new plants by cut- ting out the "eyes" of the potato and planting them. With these seeds, Luther was able to develop a fine- grained long potato, the pre- decessor of one of the most popular potatoes currently growing in America. Today, it is used as a baking potato a n d M c D o n a l d ' s Restaurants use it to make French Fries. But back in 1875, Luther s o l d t h e B u r b a n k p o t a t o s e e d l i n g s f o r t h e t h e n respectable sum of $150.00 and bought a train ticket f r o m h i s L a n c a s t e r M a s s a c h u s e t t s h o m e t o Santa Rosa California. He w r o t e t o h i s m o t h e r t h a t "this is the chosen spot of all the Earth as far as nature is concerned". Luther was 26 years old when he arrived in Santa Rosa in 1875, and because h e f e l t t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t r y s i d e o f f e r e d t h e b o t a n i c a l p a r a d i s e h e sought, he rented some land and started a nursery. His early success with potatoes m a d e L u t h e r d e c i d e t o spend his life working to create new plants. *** With the commercial suc- cess of his nursery, Burbank could devote his full time to plant experimentation. His w o r k s p r o u t e d i n a n e r a which saw the introduction of the refrigerated railway car, large scale fruit produc- tion, preservation methods and cooperative fruit han- dling. In 1883, Burbank's new catalog launched his world- w i d e f a m e . M a i l e d f r o m Santa Rosa to a few hundred p r o m i n e n t A m e r i c a n a n d foreign nurseries, his New creations in Fruit and Flowers handsomely pho- tographed catalogue offered 250 brand-new fruit vari- eties alone. And the prices w e r e n ' t c h e a p ! A h y b r i d plum cost $3,000 and a call l i l y $ 2 , 0 0 0 . B u t o r d e r s flooded Burbank's office. S t a r k B r o t h e r s N u r s e r y b o u g h t $ 7 , 0 0 0 i n p l a n t s . The Burpee Seed Company placed a large order as well. T h e S a n F r a n c i s c o C a l l h a i l e d B u r b a n k a s " t h e Edison of horticultural mys- teries." As Burbank's new plant c r e a t i o n m a d e t h e " P l a n t Wizard" famous, important people came to visit him, including Helen Keller and Jack London. In 1915 a spe- cial train carried the King and Queen of Belgium, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone from t h e P a n a m a - P a c i f i c International exposition in San Francisco to Burbank's home in Santa Rosa. Many other important people "vis- ited" Luther Burbank via the m a i l o n a r e g u l a r b a s i s : a m o n g t h e m w a s K i n g V i c t o r E m m a n u e l o f Italy who often sent him seeds from his Roman garden. In 1911, Burbank intro- d u c e d a n o t e w o r t h y a r t i - c h o k e , w h i c h a l t h o u g h named the "Santa Rosa" for Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. his adopted home town, had a r o o t i n t h e I t a l i a n boot. Burbank described this artichoke as producing the largest heads he had ever seen (reportedly as much as 12 inches in diameter), and c r e d i t e d K i n g V i c t o r E m m a n u e l o f I t a l y for sending the seeds from his p r i v a t e g a r d e n , t h e r e b y launching the cultivation of artichokes in California. Artichokes originated in the Mediterranean area and w e r e c u l t i v a t e d f i r s t i n S o u t h e r n I t a l y a n d Sicily. The ancient Romans considered them a delicacy a n d d e v i s e d w a y s t o p r e - serve artichokes in vinegar or brine. They were served at t h e b a n q u e t s o f w e a l t h y R o m a n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e y e a r . C e n t u r i e s l a t e r , w h e n C a t h e r i n e d e M e d i c i l e f t F l o r e n c e t o become Queen of France, she took her own cooks and artichokes along. The start of the French "haute cui- sine" was due to the Queen's Italian cooks* This is a good place as any to say that the Jerusalem Artichoke isn't a variety of artichoke at all and it was not from Jerusalem, either. It was originally called gira- sole, the Italian word for s u n f l o w e r , b e c a u s e i t belongs to that species. That was misheard as Jerusalem and the artichoke was added because it was thought to resemble one in taste. This tuberous vegetable is now o f t e n f o u n d i n p r o d u c e departments today. A r t i c h o k e s a r e o n t h e market almost all year round b u t t h e s u p p l y p e a k s between March and May. A r t i c h o k e s a r e a l w a y s referred to as "chokes" by farmers, wholesalers and retailers. *** Selling Homes Throughout The Bay Area Adele Della Santina "The Right Realtor makes all the di昀erence." 650.400.4747 Adele.DellaSantina@compass.com www.AdeleDS.com DRE# 00911740 Expert in preparation, promotion, and negotiation!

• Cover