Post by HumbleStudent on Jul 6, 2003 9:23:21 GMT -5
A few weeks ago I wrote something about a phantom scene in which Ja-Young and her grandmother buy some naengi, or shepherd's-purse. In this connection I wrote something like "if you don't know what this is, go to a Korean market and ask to see some." This was an ignorant remark.
It would have been more correct to say something like this:
"Shepherd's-purse, in case you did not know this, is a very common plant of world-wide distribution. It grows all over the Chicago area. There is almost certainly some shepherd's-purse growing within a block of your dwelling unless you are unusually situated. Look for it in gardens, alleys, along walls and the edges of sidewalks, etc. In its flowering stage it is very easy to recognize because of the little heart-shaped "purse" thingies on thin stalks that stick out on all sides below the loose cluster of tiny white flowers. Having found an example, you can memorize the appearance of the long, narrow, serrated leaves and recognize the plant before it is in its flowering stage."
Shepherd's-purse is common enough that I'm sure many people recognize it, but not everyone in the US knows that it is actually edible. I am not sure that the U.S. back-lot plant tastes like genuine Korean naengi, though. I found some in my own garden last night. This is not surprising, because my garden contains a fine variety of edible plants - purslane, lamb's-quarters, wood sorrel, pigweed - although, mysteriously, none of the sage and parsley whose seeds I actually placed in the ground.
It would have been more correct to say something like this:
"Shepherd's-purse, in case you did not know this, is a very common plant of world-wide distribution. It grows all over the Chicago area. There is almost certainly some shepherd's-purse growing within a block of your dwelling unless you are unusually situated. Look for it in gardens, alleys, along walls and the edges of sidewalks, etc. In its flowering stage it is very easy to recognize because of the little heart-shaped "purse" thingies on thin stalks that stick out on all sides below the loose cluster of tiny white flowers. Having found an example, you can memorize the appearance of the long, narrow, serrated leaves and recognize the plant before it is in its flowering stage."
Shepherd's-purse is common enough that I'm sure many people recognize it, but not everyone in the US knows that it is actually edible. I am not sure that the U.S. back-lot plant tastes like genuine Korean naengi, though. I found some in my own garden last night. This is not surprising, because my garden contains a fine variety of edible plants - purslane, lamb's-quarters, wood sorrel, pigweed - although, mysteriously, none of the sage and parsley whose seeds I actually placed in the ground.