I finished my so-called herb garden yesterday. It's not exactly a garden since it's in pots located on three different floors. Downstairs is rosemary, basil and thyme. On the terrace we have mint. And upstairs I was planning to have cilantro, curly parsley and Italian parsley. I was sure we saw Italian parsley at the nursery last weekend.
But there was no Italian parsley. After we got the mint, curly parsley and cilantro, I would still have an empty pot. What to do?
There was a section of plants right in the middle of the herbs that looked very attractive. It wasn't labeled. So I tasted it. Wow! Was it spicy. Peppery even.
"Huh," I said. "Ross! Taste this!"
He didn't want to taste it.
"No, really. Taste it! It's good."
Well, okay. (Pause.) Yep. It's spicy.
"What is it?"
He didn't know. So he brought it to the desk and asked. The woman there wrote down "Ruda," which we'd never heard of. She mimed something about crumbling it up and putting it in her ear, which seemed ridiculous. I'd tasted a leaf and it belonged in a sauce. Taken internally.
On the way home, Ross sounded pretty convinced I'd poisoned him.
"I'll look it up as soon as we get home."
Of course, I didn't. I started planting mint as soon as we got home.
So Ross looked it up in Wikipedia. Ruda = Rue:
"When applied to the skin with sun exposure, the oil and leaves can cause blistering. Rue oil can cause severe stomach pain, vomiting and convulsions and may be fatal."
So now I know why rue means regret.
Here's what it looks like close-up:
By the way, we lived. No blisters, no convulsions. Nada. But I planted it in a pot that the dogs can't easily get to.
5 comments:
erm...so you planted this...what will you DO with it? And I'm glad you didn't poison Ross... ;)
It's decorative for now -- unless Laraine has some ideas! (She's our herb expert.)
I'm also hoping the strong smell will make the bobos -- non-biting mosquito-like annoyances -- stay away.
so.
anyone willing to book on what would happen if i fedex'd c+r an italian parsley plant?
are the wagers enough to make my (imminent) bail money and get them their herb?
comment while it's still in season and i might be willing to take the risk.
Hah! If we were going to be here longer than two more months, I'd ask you to send seeds!
Reckon you could have Italian parsley from seeds within about a week or 10 days . . . pretty rapid-growing, if I remember. As for rue, I've really nothing to add to 'stomach cramps, vomiting,' and worse. Rue seems to have fallen off the radar for the contemporary western and Chinese herbal research sites that I use. Hmmmm. Don't eat any more of it, though. K? Take a pic??
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