If, as they say, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, that was certainly true here in the Coachella Valley. High winds at the beginning of the month gave way to gentle rain showers yesterday as we feasted on a sumptuous Easter repast of glazed ham, potatoes au gratin, and yams. Our chef made a weird cake with jelly beans and rainbow-colored licorice in the frosting, but no matter – I still had a Black and White Cookie I’d saved from a birthday party the day before. As Jerry explains to Elaine on Seinfeld in “The Dinner Party” episode, “The key to eating a black and white cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. And yet still somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie, all our problems would be solved.”
that’s Alfredo with the basket, Marinara on the ladder, and Bolognese picking the low-hanging spaghetti;
you can just make out Mount San Jacinto in the background beyond the palm tree
It was a wetter than usual winter here in the desert, and that can spell disaster for our spaghetti trees. The end of March is a very anxious time for us as cold overnight temperatures can cause severe frost that impairs the flavor of the spaghetti. But we are expecting a bumper crop this year thanks to advances made in eradicating the dreaded spaghetti weevil, a tiny, destructive, parasitic bug whose depredations have decimated many a spring pasta harvest.
I’m very proud of our spaghetti trees, having planted them myself, nursed them as saplings, and fertilized them with a compost of parmesan cheese, basil, and oregano.
You too can start your own grove of spaghetti trees and enjoy fresh, delicious, home-grown pasta; just place a small sprig of spaghetti in a can of tomatoes (I’ve had my best results with Del Monte, but Hunt’s and Heinz will work).
Being in a wheelchair makes it hard for me to participate in the harvest though, so after this season I plan to plant tortellini, which grows closer to the ground.