an as yet unfinished alphabet

A is for asparagus and apricots and aubergines
B is for beetroot and broccoli
C is for cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery and cucumbers
D is for date
E is for endive
F is for fruit and fennel
G is for garlic and grapefruit
H is for herbs
I is for iceberg lettuce
J is for jerusalem artichoke and juniper berries
K is for kale and kohlrabi
L is for leeks and lemon and lettuce
M is for marrow and mangetout and mushroom
N is for nectarine
O is for okra and olives and onions
P is for parsnips and peas and peppers and potatoes
Q is for quince
R is for radishes
S is for spinach and swede and sweetcorn
T is for turnips and tomatoes
U is for uglifruit
V is for vegetables
W is for watermelon
X is for xylocarp*
Y is for yucca (not a description of my cooking)
Z is for zucchini
.
(*which, technically, is cheating, as these are supposed to be things I might be able to grow and then eat, before they migrate: but who's quibbling?)
.
*
why is that completeness,
even with minor imperfections,
is sometimes more satisfying than incompleteness?
..
is it because perfectness is over-rated?
or because we are trained
(well I was) from childhood
to not leave things unfinished?
.
all answers gratefully recieved. . .
..
my issue is that I was brought up to achieve
perfectness
and
completeness
so the fruit and vegetable alphabet really really bothers me:
it can be neither one thing, nor the other

27 comments:

Unknown said...

i had no idea that was how you spell mangetout

Dave said...

N is for nectarine.

Dave said...

Ugli fruit.

Dave said...

Quince.

Dave said...

Zuchini

Dave said...

Xylocarp. There, have I finished your homework for you?

Dave said...

Gosh, no, you've still got some easy letters left, haven't you?

D: dates, dried anything you like.

I: ice-cream.

J: Jerusalem artichoke, jam.

I think that's the lot.

? said...

Hi
You know I am interested in your blog. Ill be stopping by again later on in the evening to leave a comment on this amazing jigsaw of a post. Also, just to acknowledge your comment

Mel said...

Ohhhhhhhhhh........LOOK...... Visitors who mighta sorta wanna be part of the rabble!

Whatcha doing with the alphabet?

Mel said...

Ummmmmmm......whatza mangetout?

Dave said...

Its a young pea, mel, eaten in the pod.

I, Like The View said...

mel from the French manger [to eat] tout [everything]. . .

(-:

(very yummy, if par-boiled to only just less than crunchy, and served with lots of butter and black pepper - even better cold, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar!)

dave thanks for your help. . .

still need an I tho, since it's fruit and vegetables. . .

but I'll take courgette out of C and add zucchinni to Z

quince is fabluous - thank you; and I won't take ugli fruit as an insult

but should I add xylocarp, or coconut. . . the former, as I'm in need of a x and we all know that the coconuts might migrate. . .

:-D

I, Like The View said...

mel from the French manger [to eat] tout [everything]. . .

(-:

(very yummy, if par-boiled to only just less than crunchy, and served with lots of butter and black pepper - even better cold, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar!)

dave thanks for your help. . .

still need an I tho, since it's fruit and vegetables. . .

but I'll take courgette out of C and add zucchinni to Z

quince is fabluous - thank you; and I won't take ugli fruit as an insult

but should I add xylocarp, or coconut. . . the former, as I'm in need of a x and we all know that the coconuts might migrate. . .

:-D

I, Like The View said...

see you soon then RE II, and welcome grey~eyes

Dave said...

I meant a fruit-flavoured ice-cream. What about iceberg lettuce then?

I, Like The View said...

thanks! (and it's really the only kind of lettuce I eat anyhow)(but why is it named after a natural phenomenon. . .)(cos it's crunchy, like ice?)

Dave said...

Mr Wiki says that 'Iceberg comes from the way the lettuce was transported in the US starting in the 1920s on train-wagons covered in crushed ice, making them look like icebergs'.

katherine. said...

laughing at your Y....

J is for jerusalem artichoke

katherine. said...

and your most recent poll and time travel has been bothering me...

katherine. said...

Juniper Berry
(I cheated on that one)

I, Like The View said...

why are you bothered about the time travel katherine?

? said...

Ok, an unfinshed loop...not bad!

Rimshot said...

Is marrow something one can grow? I only know of bone marrow.

I, Like The View said...

it's like an overgrown courgette (zuchinni)

my little brother once grew one that was about three feet long. . .

personally, I always found them rather bland - but they were served up daily in the season, as most of the veg we ate came from my father's end of the garden

Anonymous said...

Good heavens! What a delicious alphabet.
Watercress? Celeriac?

Anonymous said...

What is a xylocarp? Some sort of non-migrating coconut?

Mel said...

Whoa.....I was filled with all sorts of questions for himself. He kept looking at me oddly. I guess he's not accustomed to talking fruits and veggies with me?

HA....he WILL BE NOW! :-D