L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURS DAY,   JULY  11,   2013 The Alchemy of GardensTransformation PAGE  41 impressive! The cucumbers are believed to have originated in India, and there are a few wild species growing in the Americas. Cucumbers are relatively easy to grow. However, they do against a fence that faces east (rising sun) and south (the waning sun)--let that suffice for the"fire". As to "earth", cukes need a very rich, porous substrate. Mix in a few cups of organic fertiliz- require more heat than any other garden vegetable. The "earth" needs to be above 70F for the seeds to germinate. We who live on the cool coastal edge of the Pacific must plant them in the warmest, sunniest garden niche that we can find. That said, I grow my cucumbers er (Dr. Earth, ha!) before you plant the seeds, or, you can sprout them in plastic yogurt cups and then transplant them. Build a trellis and tie on the vines as they begin stretching upward, using those green bagties that one acquires in the grocery to secure plastic bags. They FRANK LAROSA I have long imagined since childhood that the garden and all of its living creatures—plants and animals—is a place where the elements of earth, air, water, and fire are transformed, distilled into the gifts of life. And certainly, photosynthesis, among many, many garden processes, is a fine example of alchemical transformation. Does not all life transform in the "Alembic of Life"? The ancient Arabs called their retorts or Alembics of distillation Cucurcabits; those glass spheres with the tube coming out of the side. Perhaps it was their gourd-like shape (or vice versa) that inspired the Arabic alchemists to call them Cucurbits? These cucurbits or pot stills (Italian distillerie) were the Alembics, the stills (Italian alambicco from the Arabic word al- anbiq) in which the great work of transformation, the "Opus Magnum", took place; "the Alembic of creation", as the poet calls it. I think that the tiny round cells of plants are the mini-stills or Alembics where the magic transformation of photosynthesis occurs. It just so happens that one of the largest plant families is named Cucurbitaceae. It includes such as pumpkins, melons, squash, cuccuzza, and cucumbers. Cucurbitaceae has 125 genera and 960 species— work well until the tendrils get a grasp. Deep watering is essential. I water the plants every day as the baby cukes are forming. Give the "water" in the morning to avoid that wretched, white leaf fungus. Pick the adult cukes every day as they come on. Nothing drains off the essential élan-energy from a plant more than old fruits. After all, the mature fruits are the plant's pinnacle of existence to reproduce the specie, so don't let them hang around too long to feed of the parent plant. Old cukes are bitter cukes. There are numerous cucumber varieties, but I've had the best success with the non-fancy "Straight Eights" type. The fruits are nice and big, and the plants grow with vigor if given ample water in our California heat. Usually by the end of July, "earth, air, water, and fire" have conspired to transform the great work of your hands, energy, and gardening spirit into succulent cucumbers. And, please remember the ancient alchemist dictum, "Orare et Lavorare". Inspiring quotes that make you say "I want to go to Italy"! The power of words SILVIA PE Bypassing the strong visual power of the romantic canals of Venice, the breath-taking views inside and outside Tuscany, a portrait of Rome by night and a snapshot of the emerald Sardinian sea, it is not an easy goal. From practical motivations to personal and poetic subjects, Italy is still one of the top dream destinations. Its charm affects equally east and west countries, because each of us will always find a reason to fall in love with the Bella Italia. Despite the immediate effect of a photo, there is another mean of communication able to leave a vivid and lasting impression on us: words. If you do not believe in the power of words, read these inspiring quotes and find out for yourself. 1. The Creator made Italy from designs by Michaelangelo. (Mark Twain) 2. Do you know the land where the lemon-trees grow? In darkened leaves the gold-oranges glow A soft wind blows from the pure blue sky The myrtle stands mute, and the bay tree high? Do you know it well? It's there I'd be gone, to be there with you, O, my beloved one! (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) 3. Italy and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy. (Bertrand Russell) 4. I find that other countries have this or this, but Italy is the only one that has it all for me. The culture, the cuisine, the people, the landscape, the history. Just everything to me comes together there. (Frances Mayes) 5. It is the city of mirrors, the city of mirages, at once solid and form of tourism the books don't tell you about. They close their eyes, raise their eyebrows into accent marks, and make sounds of acute appreciation. It's fairly sexy (Barbara Kingsolve) 8. If the landscape of human emotion were to exist in country, it would be in Italy. (Lisa Fantino) 9. For us to go to Italy and to Julia Roberts is shown in a scene from "Eat, Pray, Love." liquid, at once air and stone. (Erica Jong) 6. The name of Italy has magic in its very syllables. (Mary Shelley) 7. Watching Italians eat (especially men, I have to say) is a penetrate into Italy is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery, back down the old ways of time. Strange and wonderful chords awake in us, and vibrate again after many hundreds of years of complete forgetfulness. (David Herbert Lawrence) 10. I love the language, that soft bastard Latin, Which melts like kisses from a female mouth And sounds as if it should be writ on satin With syllables which breathe of the sweet South. (George Gordon Noel Byron) 11.Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. (Truman Capote) 12.What is the fatal charm of Italy? What do we find there that can be found nowhere else? I believe it is a certain permission to be human, which other places, other countries, lost long ago. (Erica Jong) 13.Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life. (Anna Akhmatova) 14. Sardinia is another thing. Much wider, much more ordinary, not up-and-down at all, but running away into the distance. Unremarkable ridges of moorlike hills running away, perhaps to a bunch of dramatic peaks on the southwest. This gives a sense of space … lovely space about one, and traveling distancesnothing finished, nothing final. It is like liberty itself. (David Herbert Lawrence) 15. You may have the universe if I may have Italy. (Giuseppe Verdi) 16. A man who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority. (Samuel Johnson) 17. Traveling is the ruin of all happiness! There's no looking at a building after seeing Italy. (Fanny Burney) 18. I was offered a free villa in Hollywood, but I said no thank you, I prefer to live in Italy. (Ennio Morricone ) 19. Italian cities have long been held up as ideals, not least by New Yorkers and Londoners enthralled by the ways their architecture gives beauty and meaning to everyday acts. (Rebecca Solnit) 20. I wanna go someplace where I can MARVEL at something! Linguine, Leonardo, limoncello... (Elizabeth Gilbert) 21. Italy is the only country in the world where it was born before the culture and then the nation, there is no other place in the world. (Roberto Benigni). Silvia Pe is an Italian travel enthusiast and compulsive reader. She works in the tourism field, runs the blogs CharmingItaly.com and CharmingTuscany.com

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