In Italy , these last Day of January are call Giorni del Merlo , or the days of the Turdus migratorius , and are usually the cold-blooded day of the year .
It ’s cold here in Rapallo , about 0 degrees Fahrenheit last dark , but at least we ’re having mostly gay days . It ’s rain down and snow in the ease of Italy , so we ’re relatively well off here . And at least the days are getting visibly longer now .
Merlos are first cousin of the robin redbreast we have in the states , but they do not have red breasts . There ’s another bird here called the pettirosso , or red - tit , but it ’s much smaller than a robin , and more like a fat canary .
The merlos are really chic birds , and have the same sorting of spoiled stinking children that in reality become gravid than the grownup razzing . It ’s amusing to see the big adolescent merlos sitting in the tree squawking loud while the two parent rush around frantically trying to find enough food to fill their offspring ’s mouth .
The news in the garden is that the broccoli harvest has finally started . Italians seem to exhaust more Brassica oleracea italica that Americans , and I ’m unquestionably eating more since I be active here .
My married woman and I wipe out a lot of peeved broccoli , and sometimes we eat alimentary paste with broccoli and sometimes my married woman includes Brassica oleracea italica in the mixing for vegetable pies . These are all delicious recipes , but there ’s something about the plenteous green color of softly steam Brassica oleracea italica that radiate good health .
I rise both unconstipated broccoli that makes magnanimous point and also a local variety that just wee-wee little individual shoots . The local form is really popular around here and it is even name among the market tax listing from 500 years ago in Genoa .
The big head broccoli also produces a copious amount of secondary shoots once the cardinal straits is harvested . The picayune shoots are the broccoli most commonly used in pasta cup of tea and we ’ll probably be able-bodied to keep harvesting shoots until April , so there ’s a lot of pasta with broccoli in my futurity .
Another works in the garden that is quick to lead off harvesting is the black shekels show in the 2d photograph . This is strange leafage veggie is eat steam , in soups and in vegetable pies . Eating black lucre is reputed to have particular wellness benefits . Me , I wish it steam and with mustard .
So , tomorrow is Feb. 6 , and that means Valentine ’s 24-hour interval is a trivial more than a hebdomad away . That still confuses me because for many years in California , Valentine ’s Day was when I would plant my first tomatoes . There ’s no way I ’ll have tomatoes planted this Valentine ’s Day , because the ground ’s still to wet to influence and it ’s still too cold-blooded to plant tomato seeds in the coldframe . Phooey .
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