Italian Language Blog

In my last gardening blog La mia battaglia col giardino I had intended to give you a bit more gardening vocabulary … but full of enthusiasm, after what seemed like an interminable prigionia invernale (winter captivity), I got a bit carried away, and ran out of space!

Dunque, in compensation, this is going to be a very practical blog. Let’s have a look at il linguaggio del giardinaggio (the language of gardening):

Il giardino = the garden, il giardinaggio = gardening, and il giardiniere, plural i giardinieri, = the gardener/s (masculine or feminine).

Here are some of the main tasks that il giardiniere carries out:

vangare = to dig, from la vanga = the  spade: bisogna vangare l’orto (the vegetable garden needs digging)

zappare = to hoe, from la zappa = the hoe: si usa la zappa per fare i solchi (the hoe is used to make furrows)

rastrellare = to rake, from il rastrello = the rake: in autunno le foglie vanno rastrellate (the leaves have to be raked in the autumn)

potare = to prune, potatura = pruning: per la potatura bisogna avere le forbici da pota (for pruning you need to have pruning scissors – secateurs)

concimare = to fertilize, from concime = fertilizer: è meglio concimare il giardino in primavera o in autunno (it’s best to fertilize the garden in the spring or the autumn)

piantare = to plant, n.b. people often use the colloquial expression ‘mettere giù’ = ‘to put down’, instead of piantare: hai già messo giù le patate? or hai già piantato le patate? (have you already planted the potatoes?)

trapiantare = to transplant: ho trapiantato i cespugli di rosmarino e di salvia (I transplanted the rosemary and sage bushes)

rinvasare  = to re-pot, from il vaso = the vase or flower pot: potresti rinvasare quella pianta grassa per favore? (could you re-pot that succulent plant please?)

seminare = to sow, from i semi = the seeds: oggi ho preparato il posto dove voglio seminare le carote (today I prepared the place where I want to sow the carrots)

tagliare l’erba = to cut the grass, or mow: se si ha il prato inglese, bisogna avere un tagliaerba (if you have a lawn you need a lawnmower), noi invece usiamo il decespugliatore per tenere pulito l’orto (we, however, use a strimmer or brushcutter to keep our vegetable garden clean)

annaffiare = to water: per annaffiare il giardino si può usare la canna o l’annaffiatoio (to water the garden you can use a hose or a watering can), noi preferiamo usare l’acqua piovana perché dà risultati migliori (we prefer to use rain water because it gives better results).

In my next gardening blog I’ll give you an update about what’s going on in our garden, with a few photos.

O.K. so it’s only the end of February, and perhaps we’re being a bit over optimistic, but it’s 18 degrees Celsius today, and after il ventaccio gelido, la neve e il ghiaccio (the horrible freezing wind, the snow, and the ice) that has imprisoned Serena, myself (Geoff) and  five crazy cats within our little house for days on end, it’s time to sgranchire le gambe (stretch our legs), fare dell’esercizio (do some exercise), e respirare un po’ d’aria fresca (and breath a bit of fresh air). Well what better way to do that than with one of my favourite hobbies: il giardinaggio (gardening).

I’ve always found gardening a very creative and therapeutic pastime. In fact when we lived in the city and had really stressful jobs it was my giardino e orto (garden and vegetable plot) which kept me reasonably sane, whilst at the same time supplying us with lovely fresh produce throughout most of the year. Living here in Lunigiana, immersi nel verde della natura (immersed in the green of nature) has undoubtedly had an impact on my attitude to gardening. Firstly, the rhythm of life here is completely different, things play out a misura d’uomo (in a more natural and gentle way), and although there is occasional stress I no longer depend upon my garden to keep me sane. Secondly, fresh, reasonably priced local produce is very easy to come by, although of course there’s nothing quite like filling a basket with pomodori or melanzane hand picked from your own orto. 

I’ve certainly had plenty of time during these wintery weeks to contemplate il piccolo giardino davanti a casa nostra (the little garden in front of our house), and I’m ready for action! Directly outside the French doors of our kitchen is una terrazza in piagne (a flagstone terrace) and, surrounding that on two sides, a sunny piece of land. About four years ago, knowing that this little south facing area would be subject to some quite extreme temperatures, I began to experiment with a few piante tipiche mediterranee (typical Mediterranean plants): Rosmarino (Rosemary), Salvia (Sage), Timo (Thyme), Santolina Marittima (Silver Ragwort), Cineraria (Lavender Cotton), Elicriso (Helichrysum, or Curry Plant), Oleandro (Oleander), and so on. These plants are all able to resist the hard winters that we can experience up here at 500 meters in the foothills of the Appenino Tosco-Emiliano mountains , but also the scorching solleone (lion sun) and siccità (drought) of July and August.

The garden was developing well, until it became apparent that ‘signor Romarino e signora Salvia’ (Mr Rosemary and Mrs Sage) had visions of grandeur, and were planning a coup. Those two little plants, which I had rescued from the almost certain oblivion of my mother in laws balcony, began their new lives as the first tenacious occupants of my new garden. Then suddenly one morning four years later, I look out of the window to find myself confronted with a pair of mostruose piantacce minacciose (nasty monstrous menacing plants). It’s funny how things creep up on you like that!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not the typical English gardener who fusses around with aiuole (flower beds – allegedly the hardest word for an non Italian to pronounce correctly, although I always seem to have more trouble with aerei – aeroplanes) and gnome endowed prati inglesi (lawns). I like my gardens (and wives) to have something selvaggio (wild) about them, as the tension between order and chaos has always been very appealing to me. But those pesky Mediterranean herbs were moving things too far towards the latter for my liking. So lì per lì (there and then)  I decided on una radicale campagna di potatura e trapianto (a radical campaign of pruning and transplanting)

Read more about la mia battaglia col giardino in my next blog.

Oggi facciamo un po’ di giardinaggio (today we are going to do a bit of gardening). At this time of year we are very busy working on the orto (vegetable garden). I wouldn’t say that we are big gardening experts, but we have had an orto for many years now and we manage to be self sufficient with our vegetables throughout the summer and autumn. In the winter we still have a supply of cipolle (onions), aglio (garlic), patate (potatoes), and zucche (pumpkins), plus of course all the marmellate (jams), frutte secche (dried fruits), and verdure conservate sott’olio  (pickled vegetables) that we have made during the autumn.

Those of you who enjoy il giardinaggio will probably find the vocabulary in this article useful.

We begin with il terreno (the land). We have about 500 square meters of terreno spread over three terrazze (terraces) on a south facing hillside. Being south facing  ‘il nostro orto e’ molto soleggiato’ (our vegetable garden is very sunny) and therefore good for growing things like pomodori (tomatoes) and meloni (melons) which need a lot of sun to get nice and sweet. The downside is that in the hot months ‘la terra diventa molto secca’ (the ground gets very dry) and it’s necessary to annaffiare (to water) regularly, either with il tubo dell’aqua (the hose, around here they call it ‘la gomma’, literally ‘the rubber’) or with the annaffiatoio (watering can).

But all of that happens a bit later in the year, first of all comes the hard work with la vanga (the spade), il forcone (the fork), la zappa (the mattock, a sort of cross between a hoe and a pick), and il rastrello (the rake). We use la vanga to vangare (dig) la terra (the soil), and while we are digging we diserbare (weed), le erbacce (the weeds) that we pull out going onto our compost heap where they eventually break down into terriccio (compost). Whilst digging the terreno it’s also a good idea to concimare (fertilise) with a good lettame (manure), preferably lettame di stallatico (stable manure from horses or cows). Another attrezzo da giardinaggio (gardening tool) which we find very useful is la carriola (the wheelbarrow) which helps us to shift terra, lettame, and sassi (rocks).

When il terreno is ready, and the time is appropriate we use la zappa to fare i solchi (make the furrows) in which we seminare (sow) the semi (seeds), patate, cipole etc. The locals here tend to say ‘mettere giu’ instead of ‘sow’. e.g. ‘ho messo giu’ due patate’ (I’ve planted a few potatoes).

Now it’s a matter of maintenance: c’e’ da sradicare l’erbaccia (you have to root out the weeds), proteggere le piantine dagli uccelli e le lumache (protect the young plants from birds and slugs), e annaffiare. Luckly we don’t have much of a problem with slugs and snails because the muri a secco (dry stone walls) of our orto are full of lucertole (lizards), frustone (the whip snake, a bit like a big grass snake), and orbettini (slow worms) which tend to eat them before they can eat our plants! The main pest that we have, particularly on the fave (broad beans), are gli afidi, or as they call them round here i pidocchi (the aphids, pidocchi actually means lice).

After all the hard work we hope, of course, to have un buon raccolto (a good harvest), and we get a huge amount of pleasure, and satisfaction from sitting down to a ‘home grown’ meal. I have to admit that many vegetables don’t even get as far as the plate, who can resist a sweet crunchy carota  (carrot) freshly pulled and rinsed, or una manciata di piselli freschi (a handful of fresh peas) straight from the pod!

While we are on the subject of gardening I can’t resist ending this blog by giving you one of the most unpronounceable words in the Italian language: aiuola (flower bed). I’m afraid you’ll have to find an Italian, and ask them to say the word aiuola (probably about 25 times) in order to learn the pronunciation.