On 4/1/09 19:12, in article
, "Judith
in France" wrote:

On Jan 4, 5:14*pm, Martin wrote:
On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 16:42:52 +0000, Tom Withycombe
wrote:
In message , Martin
writes
On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:06:41 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

On 4/1/09 12:15, in article ,
"Martin" wrote:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2009 11:52:07 +0000, Gopher wrote:

In message , Sacha
writes
I've had a tantalising catalogue fromwww.seedsofitaly.com* For those
growing their own veg and herbs it has some delicious looking
things in it.

I buy Italian seeds for much of my veg now. Not only do they seem to
provide a better percentage of germination but, in my experience, they
also give a lot more seeds per packet. And the cropping is excellent.
French beans, celeriac, tomatoes, red onions (esp. San Marzano and
Costoluto Fiorentino) and a couple of others have proved superb. The
tomatoes which, when used to make a sauce, provide a wonderful flavour ;
I was told by an Italian friend in Le Marche that one must never cut
toms when adding to sauce, but rather squash them by hand. Boy, does
that improve the flavour!!

I normally buy seeds during my regular visits to Italy - they are
cheaper there than the same seeds bought in the UK [which appeals to my
Scottish nature :-))..] but one has to be careful not to buy ones which
require climatic conditions which the UK cannot guarantee. It's worth a
little research before travelling. Funnily enough, I also acquire
certain seeds in Italy for my small wildflower meadow .... and they
seems to do well too.

Viva sementi d'Italia!!

Judging from the appearances of Italian house gardens and the
results achieved
by Italians with allotments, they are neither *most enthusiastic nor
knowledgeable gardeners.

But the Italians have a long history of growing food in their 'orto' and
gathering it from the wild, which some do to this day. *There's even a
Madonna dell' Orto. * *I'm quite surprised to read this, Martin because I
must admit that my impression is different. *I think their ornamental
gardens are quite different to ours so perhaps we can't compare the two.

Take a look at almost any Italian house garden and you will find it
unscarred
after.

However, their love food and good, high quality fresh ingredients usually
leads to good stuff either grown at home or sold in markets, IME.

They are pain in the butt as far as my wife is concerned. They take
over a clean
weed free allotment garden, lose interest after a few weeks and hand it
back
overgrown with weeds. Basically they don't seem to realise that work is
involved
in producing vegetables.

And your butt obviously feels the same as that belonging to your Senior
Management :-)). Very sensible - but you make a rather a sweeping
generalisation. You (or SM) can possibly cite one or two specific
examples .... but can you, Martin, with hand on heart, categorically
state that the great garden-loving, veggie-growing British public are
not prey to the same fallibility.... even occasionally? I'm afraid that
my hat is in the ring alongside that of your friend Sacha, on this
occasion.

Creep! LOL



Regardless .... a very HNY to both of you!!!

My wife is the secretary of a gardening club/allotment with members from all
over Europe. After 20 years in the club, so far only the Italians
consistently
fail to produce. I spent half my working life in Italy.

The British, Belgian, French and German gardeners are the most productive in
the
club. The Italian women are the best dressed,
--

Martin

They certainly are. Edward was working in Parma Hospital years ago
and I joined him for about 3 weeks, I felt like the hick up from the
country. The French women do not come anywhere near them for chic.

Judith

That's because Italian women dress up to the minute BUT to their own style,
not to what fashion dictates. It's a different approach but both work.
Frenchwomen are particularly aware of things like fashions in hairstyles and
are always beautifully groomed - sweeping generalisation alert! Italian
women tend to keep their hair as it suits *them* and do brilliant things
with accessories and are well groomed, too. It's attention to detail and
paring everything down to the minimum that works so well. Carla Bruni was
dressed by Dior in London but look at how she worked it!
Maybe that's their approach to gardening - less is more? ;-))

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
(new website online)