EARLY CUISENE IN THE DESERT

I just inherited some wonderful garden books from the estate of friends of mine. Few serious gardeners do not know the name Hillier and of his contributions to Horticulture. The book I received was hard used, with notes and scraps and check marks throughout. What I did not expect to find was this newspaper clipping from the 'Trading Post' in Paradise, CA. I could not track down the paper or the author. If anyone knows, please contact me.

"SURVIVAL in the Desert"

"Considering everything, especially the fact that he didn't know about super markets and tap water, the deserts prehistoric citizen didn't fare too badly.

For breakfast he sweetened gourd seed mush with Joshua tree sugar and squatted at his stone table to watch the rising sun. For lunch he sandwiched on bread baked from ground yucca and treated himself to a sprig of mistletoe candy.

At four o'clock he paused to refresh himself with ocotillo punch- or served himself a spot of squaw ephedra tea.

At sundown, it was time to dine. After a rattlesnake hors d'oevre with an agave cocktail, he placed a slice of baked mescal on his yucca fibre plate, added a fist full of boiled rumex with catsclaw beans and a tender rabbit haunch.


For dessert he savored beavertail cactus fruit polished off with a stored cache of pinion nuts. In lieu of tobacco, he chewed a creosite twig.Then he turned off the moon and went to bed.

To induce strange and delightful dreams, he swallowed a poke of crushed Datura. But when dawn arrived, Man groaned and howled and pounded his Datura-drugged head. That's when he invented soluble coffee."

author unknown


The cartoon came from this interesting site.