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ArtistHighly detailed salt infused watercolour oil pastel ink painting of Highly detailed salt infused watercolour oil pastel ink painting of a absolutely cheerful male dancer dressed in a black top hat, pin-striped suit executing a elaborate high step exuberant tap dance, including a leap and twirl within a field of mustard plants, soft early morning sunrise, mist, beauty, fields and fields of an undulating landscape full of the mustard plant, brilliant with beauty. Arthur Rackham, Edward Robert Hughs, Monet, Masefield Parrish, James Holland
(A poem I wrote around 2012 to try and spark some interest in a weed from the mustard family,)
From Hairy to Smooth
I’m in with the Groove,
Truly, I’m Hot
Tho’ some like me not.
They think that I’m square
When really I’m round
From black to white
I will pound
a punch of flavour
in many a dish,
I’m good with eggs, cheese, meat
soup, salad, fish.
Pound me back
when I’ve gone to seed,
Call me Mustard,
don’t call me weed,
As I can be useful
and good for you,
Grind me into flour,
add me to stew.
I’m fast growing,
all over the land
in almost every Province,
ditch, field, culvert,
wasteland.
I’ve many relations
some you might know quite well,
Cabbage, Radish, Turnip;
Rutubaga, and Kale…
There’s another I’ll mention
tho’ it might make you pout,
It’s my dark green, leafy
sometimes bitter,
round-about Brussel Sprout.
Oh, do take care with some of my relations,
and only take them in in moderation
Because if your intake is too boisterous
They can prove to be
Poisonous.
One in particular
I think you should heed
goes by the common name
of The Stink Weed,
Though there are others
that go by this name
They are different,
not at all the same,
Until I show pictures,
here’s how you can tell,
You take the leaves
between your fingers
rub and then smell
if it’s aromatic, pungent
with an extra bitter taste
Then this is the one
your intake
you must moderate.
Don’t be too concerned
I’ll have you know
We’ve served you for
5000 years or so.
The Spartans of Greece
had us with their bread,
Said it made them quick-witted,
Decisive, It was Good for the Head.
Since we’re filled
Vitamins A B C E and some G
plus calcium, phosphorus
It’s easy to see
Why the Romans and Spartans
said we were good for the brain,
In fact proscribed us as a cure
for the mentally insane,
Oh, Do cultivate us like the Philadelphians do
and the British,
and those in China, Africa, China
Southern Russia, too.
We’re a tasty potherb,
Our leaves can grow succulent and big
in comparison to our relations
growing wild in the ditch.
Birds really love us
Like the Lark and the Finch,
Even caged birds, and animals
like cattle, sheep or pig,
Take note though
we can flavour the milk,
or meat dish.
Well by now, it must be plain as day
to see,
that I am good for you
Kindly do be good to me.
