Exotic Gardening

What's the most exotic plant you have ever grown?

I suppose mine would be an avocado tree that I grew from a pit. I stuck 3 toothpicks in the avocado pit and put it in a glass of water, suspended by the toothpicks, placed it in a sunny window and waited for it to sprout. Sprout it did and in no time it grew into about a 4 foot tall "tree". I took care of it tenderly and eventually planted it in a pot.

Now after reading this article below:

I want my own spaghetti tree:


"A plantation of 57 spaghetti trees imported from Britain as seedlings in 1957 has been destroyed by bushfires. "It's a heinous tragedy," said Australia's Prime Minister. "We will all have to eat baked beans this year."

Exactly 50 years ago today, broadcaster Richard Dimbleby showed BBC viewers a documentary film of a Swiss family picking spaghetti from a tree and placing it out to dry in the sun.

The BBC switchboard was swamped with callers wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best," they were advised.


and this

Spaghetti Harvester

"On April 1, 1957 the British news show, Panorama, broadcast a segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show's highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched a rural Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets.

"The spaghetti harvest here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry," Dimbleby informed the audience. "Many of you, I'm sure," he continued, "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."

The narration then continued in a tone of absolute seriousness:

"Another reason why this may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil, the tiny creature whose depradations have caused much concern in the past."

Dimbleby anticipated some questions viewers might have. For instance, why, if spaghetti grows on trees, does it always come in uniform lengths? The answer was that "this is the result of many years of patient endeavor by past breeders who succeeded in producing the perfect spaghetti."


Blurry photo of Swiss family harvesting spaghettiAnd apparently the life of a spaghetti farmer was not free of worries: "The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There's always the chance of a late frost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavor and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets."

But finally, Dimbleby assured the audience that, "For those who love this dish, there's nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti."

From Eric Shakel's EBOOK
(click on link above in title)