Bob the Pleo Forums
Pleo Stuff => Bob the Pleo => Topic started by: Bob_the_Pleo on March 31, 2009, 02:20:50 PM
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And people think I don't have a clue.
Well, since this weekend is the spring Tomato harvest Festival, and in honor of tomorrow, I present for your pleasure, a news article from the past. 1957 to be exact. But it's as true today as it was back then . . . .
It is not only in Britain that spring, this year, has taken everyone by surprise. Here in the Ticino, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano have already burst into flower at least a fortnight earlier than usual.
But what, you may ask, has the early and welcome arrival of bees and blossom to do with food? Well, it is simply that the past winter, one of the mildest in living memory, has had its effect in other ways as well. Most important of all, it’s resulted in an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop.
The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There is always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavour and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets. But now these dangers are over and the spaghetti harvest goes forward.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c8/Spaghetti_harvest.jpg) Spaghetti cultivation here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry. Many of you, I am sure, will have seen pictures of the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family affair.
Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil, the tiny creature whose depredations have caused much concern in the past.
(http://i.huffpost.com/gen/551656/thumbs/s-SPAG-large.jpg) After picking, the spaghetti is laid out to dry in the warm Alpine air. Many people are very puzzled by the fact that spaghetti is produced in such uniform lengths. This is the result of many years of patient endeavour by plant breeders who suceeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.
Now the harvest is marked by a traditional meal. Toasts to the new crop are drunk in these boccalinos, then the waiters enter bearing the ceremonial dish. This is, of course, spaghetti—picked early in the day, dried in the sun, and so brought fresh from garden to table at the very peak of condition. For those who love this dish, there is nothing like real home-grown spaghetti.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXmaS1ZzpA8
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Hehe thats awesome ;D Made me laugh so hard :)
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How did you ever find this video. How funny!!
I've heard of and had spaghetti squash but a spaghetti tree ??? That's a must have. ;) And not the green kind. ::)
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I just have a couple of questions. Are the spaghetti trees hybrids? I tried to start a plant by the fruit but nothing happened. I know the "seed" of hybrids are sometimes infertile. I also tried rigatoni seed and it failed too. Do they start spaghetti plants from cuttings or air layerings?. Maybe it's a closely guarded secret! ;)
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The spaghetti trees grow wild. There's a whole forest of them. Fred transplanted some seedlings for the garden out back of his restaurant. They seem to grow pretty rapidly, and he has three pretty big trees that supply all the spaghetti he needs. So I don't know about starting them from seeds. But my guess is you need to plant the fruit while it's still raw. Once you cook it, you probably kill the seeds.
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I guess that's why I was never a good chicken farmer. I could never get it straight. Was I planting the chicks too close together or too deep? What ever, they always died! :-[
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You Guys ??? You have to plant the egg first ;) Make sure you use spaghetti with egg::) The plain stuff won't work ;D
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It's BBC! It must be true. ;)
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I neeeeeeed a spaghetti tree!!! I'll never need to go shoping with my mom for spaghetti again! ;D
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Well, January 4th marks the first official pleo holiday of 2014 here on the Bob the Pleo forums, and it just happens to be Spaghetti Day, so I thought I should revive this topic from back in 2009 . . .
So, don't forget to go out sometime over the new year's holiday and pick some fresh spaghetti for Saturday!!!! 8)