MELENCOLIA

If I had a dog, this would be me.

the pits

Hairy armpits are considered one of the tell tale signs of a women's hippiedom. I found a picture of Julia Roberts on the web, where the caption said something like, "from elegant to earthy just by raising her arm." I think this is a silly but powerful cliche. Julia just knows what I happened to learn from a good friend my freshman year of college: it's dumb to shave. Sometimes I do feel weird about people seeing my pit hair, especially in professional situations. Part of this is the fear that I will judged as a dirty hippie but also because people peeping my armpit hair seems personal, almost like they were checking out my pubes. This thought, according to one of my favorite entries in "The Joy of Sex," is perhaps not that far off. Under the term Cassolette Alex Comfort writes, "The natural perfume of a clean woman: her greatest physical asset after her beauty (some would say greater than that). It comes from the whole of her--hair, skin, breasts, armpits, genitals and the clothing she has worn: its note depends on her hair color but no two women are the same." In a related article on armpits (where he also describes their use for axillary intercourse) Comforts writes, " Classical site for kisses. Should on no account be shaved." Exactly. I will acknowledge the Joy Of Sex itself has a hippie aura for sure but it also covers bondage, leather and g strings so it's not all kama sutra. It is one of my favorite books and I think it makes a good point. Shaving armpits actually takes away from sex appeal, not adds to it.

HORNWORM

The summer came and went. Almost a month into fall and a few regrets still linger: why didn't I travel more? get more done? spend more time in the country and with the ones I love? This subtle sadness is also giving way to the sweet (sometimes not so sweet) melancholy of autumn, where with the chill in the air I can finally sense the passing of time. Things are ending, new things must begin. I have to replant the garden soon and make some new goals and plans for my life.

Perhaps the biggest regret I have about the summer that's fit for public consumption is that I got a major infestation of the hornworm in my garden. The tomato hornworm ate it's way through most of my tomatoes, either munching straight through the fruit or lopping of the bottom with their sick wormy teeth. The hornworm, pictured above, will go on to become a moth that will then lay eggs in the soil and start the production of baby pupae that will hatch and mess up my tomatoes next year too. Talk about lingering regrets! How will I do away with the hornworms next year? I've read that I can pick them off by hand and that a large wasp population helps as do mockingbirds and bats.

I have to say I didn't expect the hornworm at all (I didn't even know what was ruining my tomats until last week; the groundskeeper at the 29 Palms Inn just tipped me off) and it was pretty disappointing all summer long, to spy what looked like a healthy tomato from afar, only to find it had been partially devoured by worms. This begs the question, should I even try to plant tomatoes next year, knowing as I do now that I have tainted hornworm infested soil? Can I till my soil well enough I disrupt the larvae? Having felt such heartache and loss is it possible, not foolish, to try again? I have to believe the answer is yes. Time will march on. The hornworm will either come back to haunt me or die out eventually. Or I will find a way to handle him. Until then, I like growing tomatoes too much to lose hope.

I dream of cukes

On Thursday evening, watering my little vegetable plot, I noticed the cucumbers had started to form. This was very exciting for me for a number of reasons. First, I didn't know for a while that my cucumber seeds had taken. After I returned home from a trip in June, it looked like everything else (excluding the radishes and okra I planted) seemed to have sprouted but not the cukes. I heard the cucumbers are hard to grow and tend to get moldy so I thought, oh well, I'll try again another time. But then this plant that I'd mistaken for something else-maybe even a weed--started to grow pretty yellow flowers. What could it have been? Had I planted squash? No, I hadn't! It had to be the cucumber. It grew slowly at first and then quite rapidly, it's little tendrils embracing (closer to strangling, actually) the shiso, the basil, the pepper and tomatoes. I waited. When would the flowers give way to crunchy pickle sized cucumbers? More waiting. Thursday night is when I first noticed them. They were miniature and dark green. I went out with friends after watering but those little guys were still on my mind. Sitting at the bar I kept thinking about them and how they would grow soon and what they would taste like. (I often have veggies on the mind.) Then last night I had a dream wherein, amongst other things, I was eating my cucumbers. This morning it was time to water again. And to my astonishment, my dream was real, a portend! A few cucumbers had grown-as if overnight- to full size. They were spiny and had little bumps on their skin but I smoothed them off, washed them in the hose, and ate one. Delicious! Crunchy! Perfectly tender! The first cucumbers I've ever grown and they tasted delicious. Oh happy dream. You are real.

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in the so long. It's my muffin, muffin, bird, getting in the way.

Ever played this game? Which are you? Horse, bird, muffin? All horse? Horse, horse, bird? All muffin?

According to my friends, I am bird, muffin, muffin. I think this is pretty accurate. Maybe there's some horse in me somewhere. God, I hope so.

I've been thinking about Mimi Farina...

First Batch of Kimchi from Wild Fermentation

It easy! And tastes good so far. It's still fermenting on my counter. Want to know how?

-Cabbage (1 pound)

-Hot peppers (3-4) they can be dried or fresh

- Chopped Garlic (3-4 cloves)

-Grated Ginger (3 tablespoons)

Carrot

Daikon radish

Chopped Leek or green onion

-Chop and then salt the carrot, radish and cabbage in a bowl for a few hours or over night. 4 cups of water mixed with 4 tablespoons salt. Have something to push the vegetables down to make sure they're submerged (like a plate or bowl)

-Taste the veggies to make sure they're salty, if they're too salty you can rinse them. Save the brine.

-Mix together ginger, garlic, onion and hot pepper. Pound into a paste (I did not get it that pasty, seems fine)

-Mix this with veggies.  

-Get a clean glass jar, pack in veggie mixture so tight, the liquid left in the vegetables comes out. Add more brine if needed, until the veggies are totally covered. You can either then cover  with another jar to keep the veggies submerged or check the kimchi each day, pushing it down with clean fingers and cover, but not seal, with a lid. Leave out for a week or so. Check it once and a while. When it's ripe put it in the fridge. 

Hope you have more restraint than me and don't end up eating a lot of your kimchi before it's done fermenting.