My ever-expanding "green fingers" blogroll now boasts another addition in the shape of the rather lovely Anything But Sprouts, a blog by London gardener Al Milway.
The most recent post discusses words used to describe what Al defines as "the lazy act of general attendance to your garden’s needs". For me, the word is "pootling", "bimbling" or possibly "farting about pointlessly" (although that may be, ahem, someone else's interpretation of what I am up to rather than my own), but for Al it's to "spuddle".
Great word, Al, but I have to warn you (as I caution all gardening newbies) that spuddling is extremely addictive (see pic above, observe the slightly crazy glint in my eye, and you'll know it's true). Today I only meant to go down to the allotment for five minutes to empty the compost bin, because dinner was on the go and it was getting dark. After a trip to Ikea, though, I needed a bit of fresh air and an injection of sanity. So nearly an hour later there I was, watering the winter lettuces and leeks with seaweed feed, picking chard and contemplating the growing bulk of the compost heap.
On the way home I bumped into Tripod for the first time since the winter really set in, which slowed me up a bit. She's looking a bit less scraggly than usual so I hope she spent the winter tucked up next to the fire.
What do you call a bit of gentle gardening activity? Share your vocabulary below ...
Hmmm...my word would be "puttering" or the phrase "playing in the dirt". I love reading your blog and am quite jealous as we still have snow on the ground here in New Jersey. I'm planning on starting some seeds this week. We purchased a greenhouse late last year and I'm looking forward to using it. It has no heat or water supply yet, but hope to have that remedied this summer.
I've been organic gardening and putting up our food for many years now and am always on the look out for new ways to do it. Love reading about U.K. gardening. Keep up the great blog and here's to many more years of reading you. =)
Posted by: Pennie | March 09, 2005 at 12:29 PM
In Mississippi, meandering in the garden or just outside with no specific objective is "to piddle around".
Posted by: dan | March 14, 2005 at 05:11 PM
It's always pottering. Great blog by the way. Really enjoying it.
Posted by: David | March 17, 2005 at 02:14 PM
It has to be 'mooching' down on the plot as in 'I don't have anything in particular to do, I'm just going for a mooch'
Even the word should be said slowly and with no particular force.
The true meaning . . . Verb [Brit]. informal loiter in a bored or listless way.
ORIGIN: originally meaning to hoard, later (in English dialect) ‘play truant to pick blackberries’
Posted by: plot44 | March 19, 2005 at 02:28 PM