0011 Scrubbing Carrots
Every Friday, a happy smiling man
who says he’s a mixture of Spain, Trinidad and England
delivers a bag of organic vegetables
and a bag of organic fruit, and
it’s a bit like a child’s Christmas bran-tub adventure –
some strange vegetables I’ve never seen before
and would never have dared to buy;
or eat, if I found them growing in the garden…
but it’s worth it for the carrots alone –
they taste, well, OK, like carrots used to taste..
and each week, they come from a different grower, so
they arrive clean and smooth one week,
clotted with earth another, but
as Rilke might say, rich with carrot-ness..
and I clean them with a respect which they
and the sheer living greenness of the greens
and other vegetables naturally demand of me
so that vegetable-cleaning
which used to be a chore done with attention
only at half strength, is now something more -
and in this mood, almost overlooked small great miracles of life
just happen of themselves –
two weeks ago, I watched amazed
as my two hands of themselves
devised a new way of cleaning carrots –
the hands reversed their roles: left hand
now held the scouring pad, diagonally,
and the right hand spiralled the carrot
in the pad… and lo! those etched horizontal lines
of dirt were perfectly removed..
and the isness of the carrot
and the isness of its servant
were together one silent song
where, it seemed,
the forgotten met the remembered
and rejoiced.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Related quotes
The Heroic Carrot
The floods have ruined the British vegetable growers.
Tough. But
the supermarkets will just buy elsewhere,
we'll hardly notice, apart from TV's brief comment...
This week, what of our organic vegetable bag
whose carrots are usually a joyful memory
of what carrots, pulled yesterday, used to, still can, taste like?
- so this week, just one, huge carrot. The Great Survivor.
Gnarled, a giant among the pretty, washed, and fashionable ones
smiling under the golden light of supermarket shelves -
it looked as if it had fought battles, come through wars
which of course few want to be reminded of
by those old veterans with their tales of times
too testing of mortality for us to think about...
eaten later, it would have a subtler taste -
of gratitude, of praise.
A kitchen; a carrot; a man holding a knife,
on the edge of tears.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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The greatest thing
I put the seed
into ground that I
mingled with dark black compost.
Rows of beans,
some carrots, some pumpkins
and spinach
I sowed into the orange brown earth.
Some small tomato plants,
I planted in blocks
and pressed small
frames of reeds
on top
for them to crawl over.
Every day I sprayed water
and tended the weeds
and in time
little green plants
sprang out of the ground
and the tomatoes crept
and crawled all over
their reeds.
It was great to be part
of spring and see
living things sprout
from the ground,
but a dog dug
some carrots out
and a flock of mice
came to eat
tomatoes from the plants.
Yet in time
some great vegetables
came to my table
and spring was awesome
and so was summer
and to tend my own garden
is the greatest thing.
poem by Gert Strydom
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There’s something in the rain
There’s something in the rain
that makes my plants jump
and there are beans
growing in a row in stools
and tomatoes that stand around in small bushes
and beetroot everywhere
and there are carrots
growing between the other vegetables
and onions pushing out fingers
like grasses,
but the spinach
fills the whole place
and at the end of the garden
there’s parsley coming out in places.
At times I wonder if the Creator
is also as happy and excited
about His earth
and if everything
makes a impact in his heart
and I see the wonders
of His magnificent works
in the world around me.
poem by Gert Strydom
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We Are The Vegetables
Well I've got this feeling in the back of my head
I feel like making someone's face turn red
Learning bike's and ditto vices
Try to look bored and your going places
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
Some music is playing by metal gazers
It's gone through the stage where everyone makes it
Do you think that we're not good
All I really know is I think you should
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
Well I've got this feeling in the back of my head
I feel like making someone's face turn red
Learning bikes and ditto vices
Try to look bored and your going places
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
We are the vegetables
We are the
We are the
We Are The Vegetables
Submitted by Michael Hack
song performed by by INXS
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.
A vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables, nothing, nothing but vegetables.
quote by Gertrude Stein
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I do the cooking at home. Where we eat no more than 100 grams of meat a day and have 'tons' of fresh vegetables. I prepare the vegetables with a wide range of herbs, spices and such. We also keep on hand lots of fruit, yogurt and great breads.
quote by Graham Kerr
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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X Diary 07 Happy Sam And The Magic Horse
A Children's Tale
Once upon a time
There was a little boy called Happy Sam
Happy Sam lived in a house by a forest
With his mother and his father
And his baby brother
Lucky Peter
One day Happy Sam was walking in the forest
Further from home than he had been before
And he saw –
A HORSE
In the horse’s mouth there was –
A KEY
Happy Sam wanted that key
'HORSE'
Said Happy Sam
'GIVE ME THE KEY'
'Neigh'
Said the horse
Without letting go of the key
Well Happy Sam wanted that key really badly
So he thought
And he thought
And he had -
AN IDEA
Then he ran through the forest
And he ran through the garden
And he ran through the kitchen
And he ran to the refrigerator
And he found -
A CARROT
Then he ran back to the horse
And he said
'HERE HORSE
HAVE A CARROT! '
Well the horse wanted that carrot
So he opened his mouth to get it
And -
HE DROPPED THE KEY
Happy Sam caught the key
And he ran through the forest
And he ran through the garden
And he ran to his family
And he noticed for the first time
That in their hearts there were -
KEYHOLES
And he tried his new key
And he found that it -
JUST FITTED
poem by Stewart McKenzie
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Vegetables
Im gonna be round my vegetables
Im gonna chow down my vegetables
I love you most of all
My favorite vege-table
If you brought a big brown bag of them home
Id jump up and down and hope youd toss me a carrot
Im gonna keep well my vegetables
Cart off and sell my vegetables
I love you most of all
My favorite vege-table
Oh oh taba vega vegel
I tried to kick the ball but my tenny flew right off
Im red as a beet cause Im so embarassed
Oh oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh yeah
Oh badumday oh dum do dum de dooby do
Oh badumday oh dum do dum de dooby do
Chomp chomp chomp chomp do-do-do do-do-do
Bop bop bop bop do-do-do do-do-do
I know that youll feel better
When you send us in
Your letter an
Tell us the name of your
Your favorite vege-table
I know that youll feel better
When you send us in
Your letter an
Tell us the name of your
Your favorite vege-table
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lifestyle - Pressure
i feel unhassled and at ease with myself
the organic pomegranate and purple carrot juice
i just downed have warned my heart to
work without exerting pressure on me
note courtesy of wikipedia;
The pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. The pomegranate is native to Iran and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region and the Caucasus since ancient times. It is widely cultivated throughout Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, the drier parts of southeast Asia, Peninsular Malaysia, the East Indies, and tropical Africa. Introduced into Latin America and California by Spanish settlers in 1769, pomegranate is now cultivated in parts of California and Arizona for juice production.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is typically in season from September to February.[3] In the Southern Hemisphere, it is in season from March to May.
Purple carrot:
Purple carrots (usually orange inside) have even more beta carotene than their orange cousins, and get their pigment from an entirely different class, the anthocyanins, these pigments act as powerful antioxidants, grabbing and holding on to harmful free radicals in the body. Anthocyanins also help prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting and and are good anti inflammatory agents. These originate from Turkey, and the Middle and Far East.
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
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Holier Than Thou
It's a Mortal Sin, everyone knows,
To masturbate or blow your nose!
My Christian friend is so squeaky clean
It makes want to shout out something obscene!
He's kind and wholesome, almost 'organic'
Like the fruit or vegetables, but I'm a cynic,
Why does he have to be so 'nice'?
Please, God, redeem him with some vice
And bring his virtue to an end
Before he drives me round the bend! !
poem by John Thorkild Ellison
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Ode To The Artichoke
The artichoke
With a tender heart
Dressed up like a warrior,
Standing at attention, it built
A small helmet
Under its scales
It remained
Unshakeable,
By its side
The crazy vegetables
Uncurled
Their tendrills and leaf-crowns,
Throbbing bulbs,
In the sub-soil
The carrot
With its red mustaches
Was sleeping,
The grapevine
Hung out to dry its branches
Through which the wine will rise,
The cabbage
Dedicated itself
To trying on skirts,
The oregano
To perfuming the world,
And the sweet
Artichoke
There in the garden,
Dressed like a warrior,
Burnished
Like a proud
Pomegrante.
And one day
Side by side
In big wicker baskets
Walking through the market
To realize their dream
The artichoke army
In formation.
Never was it so military
Like on parade.
The men
In their white shirts
Among the vegetables
Were
The Marshals
Of the artichokes
Lines in close order
Command voices,
And the bang
Of a falling box.
But
Then
Maria
Comes
With her basket
She chooses
An artichoke,
She's not afraid of it.
She examines it, she observes it
Up against the light like it was an egg,
She buys it,
She mixes it up
In her handbag
With a pair of shoes
With a cabbage head and a
Bottle
Of vinegar
Until
She enters the kitchen
And submerges it in a pot.
Thus ends
In peace
This career
Of the armed vegetable
Which is called an artichoke,
Then
Scale by scale,
We strip off
The delicacy
And eat
The peaceful mush
Of its green heart.
poem by Pablo Neruda
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The Windsor Prophecy
When a holy black Swede, the son of Bob,
With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob,
Shall not see one New-Years-day in that year,
Then let old England make good cheer:
Windsor and Bristol then shall be
Joined together in the Low-countree.
Then shall the tall black Daventry Bird
Speak against peace right many a word;
And some shall admire his coneying wit,
For many good groats his tongue shall slit.
But spight of the Harpy that crawls on all four,
There shall be peace, pardie, and war no more
But England must cry alack and well-a-day,
If the stick be taken from the dead sea.
And, dear Englond, if ought I understond,
Beware of Carrots from Northumberlond.
Carrots sown Thynne a deep root may get,
If so be they are in Somer set:
Their Conyngs mark thou; for I have been told,
They assassine when younge, and poison when old.
Root out these Carrots, O thou, whose name
is backwards and forwards always the same;
And keep thee close to thee always that name
Which backwards and forwards is almost the same.
And, England, wouldst thou be happy still,
Burn those Carrots under a Hill.
poem by Jonathan Swift
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Chicken And Vegetables
it was time to sit down to pleasure eat
the vegetables looked so juicy so good
cut beautifully presented all appealed
to the eye this part of meal all must eat
but oil juice soiled had a taste could not eat
two pieces of chicken drumsticks next appealed
fresh looked crisp brown cooked to perfection
upon first every bite oh how supreme tasty sweet
what was the hand that soiled the vegetable oil?
what was the hand that blessed the tender meat?
when clapping these hands never never meet
taste offering as heart’s condition bitter or sweet
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Holier than Thou (alternative version)
Excuse me now, I'm such a cynic,
But my Christian friend is so 'organic',
He's like the fruit and vegetables and oh so pure
He's wholesomer than horse manure! !
I wish he wasn't so squeaky clean,
I wish he'd shout out something obscene,
I wish he wasn't so 'good' and 'nice',
But wallowed in some Terrible Vice! !
The worst thing is his Spiritual Pride -
It makes me creep and crawl inside! !
poem by John Thorkild Ellison
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A poor Barber's Rabbit
I have only one carrot
And I feed you little portions.
Please do not get misunderstand me
I am going for an interview now
For a barber's position!
If I get a chance to hold the razor firmly
Definitely I cut all the carrots in Judas's illegal farm
And bring you a lorry load in his wheelbarrow!
*We all make mistakes, but everyone makes different mistakes.
-Ludwig van Beethoven
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Albert's Allotment
Albert loved being on his allotment
he'd be on his plot everyday of the week
growing Cauliflower, Parsnip, Cabbage,
and winning awards for his Carrots, and Leek.
He spent so much time on his allotment
his wife thought he was having an affair
but Albert was more interested in his Potatoes
than any curvy woman with long Blonde hair.
When it rained Albert sat in his shed
reading Gardening books and having a cuppa
then he'd be out again digging for hours
till his wife called him in for his supper.
Albert liked growing all sorts of vegetables
but his favourite of the lot was the Marrow
he could grow them so big and so large
that some wouldn't fit into his Wheelbarrow.
Albert is buried down on his beloved allotment
as that was to be his final dying wish
when tearfully his wife asked him why he replied:
'So I can keep an eye on my Runner Beans and Radish! '
poem by Kevin Halls
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Clean Up Before She Comes
Clean up before she comes (x5)
Living in a dusty town (x3)
Something in her eyes
Must be the smoke from my lungs
Something in her eyes
Must be the smoke from my lungs
Twenty months has it all (alt: getting older)
I must be getting old (alt: ate my vegetables)
I must be getting old (alt: getting older)
I must be getting old (alt: ate my vegetables)
Something in her eyes
Must be the smoke from my lungs
Something in her eyes
Must be the smoke from my lungs
Clean up the dusty town
Living in a dusty town (x3)
Clean up before she comes (x3)
Living in a dusty town
I must be getting old (alt: getting older)
I must be getting old (alt: ate my vegetables)
Im starting to eat my vegetables
song performed by by Nirvana
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Such A Beautiful Place
Gloomy faces in grocery stores
Traverse the aisles of the vegetables.
No one seems happy plotting out
And paying for their sustenance,
But personally, I adore
Every bag of gorgeously orange carrots
And the lovely dark green broccoli.
And how divine to see Italian wine
Or recently baked apple pies,
Sometimes I can’t believe my eyes
To be in such a beautiful place!
In reverence I bow my head,
I can’t wait to go home and say my prayers
And break my bread.
poem by Uriah Hamilton
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Carrot Top is a nickname that people call me and I thought that it was more marketable.
quote by Carrot Top
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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