Tuesday 20 January 2009

On being boring!

As part of my commitment to being both boastful and boring I do intend to regale you dear reader with pictures of tomatoes. This is not the first, but it's looking to be the best so far. It was almost all I could do to not pick it. Not a hose has been used, in these drought stricken times, in tending to these plants. Perhaps taking the time to do it with a watering can whilst thinking about the day ahead and saying a few prayers is a good way to go about it...and (as it were) bears fruit.

Lest you think (too) that this is a total fluke, there is also plenteous basil of three types, parsley, rocket and lettuce.
There are eggplants coming along, and silver beet and bok choy.
So it will just get more boring (for you) from now on!!! But be assured it is enlivening for me!

Michael Leunig wrote this excellent prayer about the tomato phenomenon


It is time to plant tomatoes.
Dear God, we praise this fruit and give thanks for its life and evolution.
We salute the tomato,
cheery,fragrant morsel, beloved provider,
survivor and thriver and giver of life.
Giving and giving and giving.


Plump with summer's joy.
The scent of its stem is summers' joy, its promise and rapture.
Its branches breathe perfume fo promise and rapture.
Giving and giving and giving.

Dear God, give strength to the wings and knees of pollinating bees,
give protection from hailstorms, gales and frosts,
give warm days and quenching rains.
Refresh and adorn our gardens and our tables.
Refresh us with tomatoes.

Rejoice and rejoice!
Celebrate the scarlet soul of winter sauces.
Behold the delicious flavour!
Behold the oiled vermillion moons
that ride and dive in olive-bobbing seas of vinegared lettuce.
Let us rejoice!
Let this rejoicing be our thanks for tomatoes.

Amen.
Leunig - 'A Common prayer'.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did Jean Vanier say "If a tomato, be a tomato"? If so, what might he have meant?

Anonymous said...

I guess on Feb 1st you are supplying rataouille????

Stephan Clark said...

Ahhh yes indeed...they did put Basil in said ratatouille

But I wonder why Jean Vanier would say such a thing. It is interesting though that when you Google Vanier and Tomato, there are quite a lot of answers