Pic and a Word #147: Organic

Every time I return to this garden that my parents tend in Piran, Slovenia, where their surprising second home has grown, I wonder what we have done to deserve it. 

The Garden of Eden and Druga*

Permaculture, they call it.
It’s been explained as live and let grow,
with a bit of help.

A visitor gave their garden this label
and they were quick to agree,
to recognise it as truth.

I was let grown in exactly the same way.
Permissively, permanently, cultured
in an organic way.

The opposite is inorganic
or maybe a contrabass.
To organ or not to organ.

As it happens, since yesterday
somewhere beneath all these
thriving beautiful organisms

there is a dead
black
scorpio.

Live and let die.

*Wordplay. In Slovenian, “eden” means one man and “druga” means another woman.

But it really is a paradise here. With some paradajzi (=tomatoes) thrown in and other produce. I took these photos in the last couple of days, while the last one was snapped with my phone (!) just as I sat down to write the poem. Welcome to the garden!

Another mom’s art project on the wall and kiwis in the air.

I brought these little fences from Italy.

Just perfect for these lantanas.

One palm left standing, a much taller one had to go this spring.

These look so pretty…

…that I couldn’t decide just on one photo.

Bestia is alert but happy here.

Sage.

Rosemary.

Not sure at all what this is or even if it’s edible. Looks mighty organic though.

Lettuce.

Chilli peppers. Mother loves them so father planted some even though he can’t eat them.

Purple coneflowers in a herb garden designed by my father. The wall is hungry for a mural.

The best thing about these babies…

…is that they keep coming. They are pretty too. But I still can’t eat them raw even after five years in Italy.

Leeks.

Arugula.

Brussels sprouts.

New succulents but more on these in another post.

Talking of a black out. Bestia loves the sun. And now read the poem that I wrote right here.

In response to Patrick Jennings’ Pic and a Word Challenge #147: Organic