First, I promised Denise a joke, though this one isn't really off-color. I'll share one that's both educational (i.e. expands our understanding of another culture) and unusual (as I've doubt you've heard this one at the water cooler), and possibly remotely funny. It's a Russian joke, so it's black humor of sorts.
Two human resources guys were hanging out in their office at a big Russian company (yes, they do exist), looking at a huge pile of resumes. The younger one, a guy fresh out of b-school, was eagerly reading through his half of the stack, taking the time to peruse each application. The older guy, an old battle ax from the Soviet days of yore, sat back, smoking a cigarette, just watching. Then, he grabs his pile and bzzzzzt. Runs it through the paper shredder.
"What are you doing?" cried the young guy in shock. "There could have been some excellent applicants in there."
The older guy looked him right in the eye and leaned in. "They weren't lucky, you see. We don't need any bad luck charms here at this company."
Uh, sometimes humor doesn't translate. I'll try again tomorrow. Perhaps I'll just tell you about something really stupid I've done in my life, so you can laugh at that.
****
Since I don't have much else to report, and you can see by my to-do list that I'm a bit on the busy side, let me tell you about our garden.
We did our first outdoor planting yesterday, of mache, two varieties of arugala or however you spell it, and minutina. In the garage, we have several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, some funky Hungarian sweet peppers, and eggplants underway. Next week come peas (snow and snap), more mache, maybe some lettuce.
We also drove out to a nearby horse farm and filled several large garbage cans full of shit. Contrary to what you'd expect, good ruminant manure that's composting properly (and not sitting in an anaerobic environment like a holding pond or something) smells good. It's so stuffed with nitrogen that it composts extremely quickly. Yesterday being a nice, cool morning, steam was rising out of the mountain of decomposing horse shit as we forked it into our cans. A smell like good earth and grass rose out of it. We mixed it with the plant residue from last year's garden, which had been languishing behind our shed. By the time we plant out our tomato and pepper seedlings, it'll be nice rough compost, full of beneficial bacteria and nutrients.
I love this process, the closed system of nature. The simplest solutions are usually the best in this game. If only the rest of life were so.
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7 comments:
your veggie garden sounds divine. I was out in the dirt yesterday too, but just working the soil. got to get to planting, even if just the few things we have room for. I hope you'll be sharing recipe ideas come summer.
good luck with your list this week! ~luna
Ok, I am going to live vicariously through your gardening. I could almost smell the earthy smells from your description. I would love to try your heirloom tomatos when they are ready-- they are my favorite. It is so wonderful to hear how you proceed with your gardening. I have given up any yard work until Dora is old enough to stop digging.
I have a Russian joke for you. Two Russians were walking along the street to the local deli. Just as they arrived, a wind blew up, and loosened the screws on the Deli store sign which hung above the door. The sign fell, knocking over one of the men. His friend gasped and cried, "Are you alright?" The fallen man said, "Yes, I'm fine. It was a mjaki znak."
wow! you have inspired me to start gardening! I have always wanted too, but I always seem to kill plants! I think I will give it a shot though this spring! thanks!
Thanks for the joke! Looking forward to more jokes, stories, descriptions of your garden, or even descriptions of watching water boil. Anything to keep me occupied this week.
Okay, someone's gonna have to explain AB's joke to me.
I have to say that I loved the joke. I went to Russia in 1992, and I can so see that happening.
Best of luck on the garden - it sounds like you are quite serious and skilled. I'd like to order some heirloom tomatoes when they are ready. Just ship them COD. Thanks.
AB's joke revolves around one of the elusive letters of the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet: the "soft sign", a letter that doesn't reflect a sound itself, but influences the consonant in front of it, making it "soft." In Russian, it's called "myakii znak" or however you transliterate it.
i envy anyone who can garden. i hope that all of the crazy snow we've been getting is on the way out so i can see the grass in my backyard!
arugula is my favourite, the peppery taste reminds me of summer.
:)
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