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Post by robertb on Jun 1, 2009 12:26:30 GMT -5
I found this site a couple of days ago. I'm a teacher, currently signed off sick, in the UK. I have a 600 square yard plot on a historic allotment site dating back to 1840. The gardens are known as 'Guinea Gardens' because the first of them, laid out in about 1720, cost a guinea a year. That was a good deal of money back then.
My plot backs on to an old mill leat, and is between it and the natural stream course, so it slopes slightly away from the stream. I've been suffering very badly from waterlogging the last couple of years, and it's got to the point where I'm thinking seriously about putting in raised beds.
I grow fruit, flowers and vegetables, and I like old varieties. I also have half a dozen beehives. One I was given last December has turned out to be enormous - not what you want in our dodgy summers as they'll eat as much honey as they'll store - and decidedly bad tempered. I'm in the middle of raising new queens, and hopefully that'll be the end of getting stung all the time!
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Post by canadamike on Jun 1, 2009 16:40:42 GMT -5
Welcome robertb, we are very glad to have another UK citizen here, they tend to be gardening maniacs like most of us ;D ;D ;D If there is anything you need, don't be shy, just say it, folks are generous around here  |
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jun 1, 2009 17:33:23 GMT -5
Being of Sicilian descent, I thought you were going to say that they were called the Guinea Gardens because they were originally tended by Italian immigrants.
Good to see a new cyber-face, Robert. What do you teach?
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Post by robertb on Jun 2, 2009 2:50:26 GMT -5
Religious Studies and Geography. I didn't know there was a connection between Italy and 'guinea', but it's an odd coincidence that my wife comes from what used to be known as the Guinea Coast.
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Post by flowerpower on Jun 2, 2009 5:01:13 GMT -5
Being of Sicilian descent, I thought you were going to say that they were called the Guinea Gardens because they were originally tended by Italian immigrants.
Good to see a new cyber-face, Robert. What do you teach? I couldn't undertand why there was an Italian garden in the UK. lol We're glad to have you join, Robert.  Maybe CFF, our resident Bee Whisperer, can give you some advice on calming the bees. |
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Post by Penny on Jun 2, 2009 5:47:48 GMT -5
Hi there and Welcome,
Its nice to meet you.
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Post by grungy on Jun 2, 2009 11:12:39 GMT -5
Again, welcome. Robert. Hope you enjoy it here. Hopefully, thanks to Rebsie, we can discuss some old fashion peas and beans. Got a couple or more that you might be interested in.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jun 2, 2009 13:33:22 GMT -5
Religious Studies and Geography. I didn't know there was a connection between Italy and 'guinea', but it's an odd coincidence that my wife comes from what used to be known as the Guinea Coast.
There's a really good Italian restaurant in San Francisco that we went to about 2 years ago, and while enjoying our meal, I noticed some interesting bronze sculptures placed around the dining room. Then I realized they were stylized guinea fowl, and got a total fit of the giggles. How funny was that? |
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Jun 2, 2009 15:17:17 GMT -5
Welcome Robert.
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Post by robertb on Jun 3, 2009 3:58:00 GMT -5
Apparently Italian immigrants were considered a "missing link" between blacks and whites, due to their darker skin color. Here in the States, they were first called Guinea Negroes, and then just guineas. Because Sicilians were often looked down on by their fellow Italians, they especially are often referred to as guineas.
The things people invent to put down another group of people are just incredible! The term comes from the Guinea Coast, which was roughly modern Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau. The main exports were gold (hence 'guinea' as a unit of value) and slaves. A bit of a leap of the imagination to link the name with Italy! |
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jun 3, 2009 9:30:56 GMT -5
Yeah, people are nasty to other people, aren't they? And those that usually have absolutely not one brain cell working can come up with the most amazing insults. I remember a few years ago when the Harry Potter books and movies were all the rage with my daughter, and another parent told me she must like the Hermione character best, since she's also a "mudblood". (Meaning a person of mixed racial descent.) Of course, being the fabulously well-filtered conversationalist I am, my answer was "Oh, you've read the books? Is there a retarded character, so you can have a favorite too?"
So, Religious Studies and Geography, huh? Sounds like secondary school. Do you miss it? I used to work as a long-term substitute teacher in Virginia. The year I taught Latin was a joy. The few months I taught Algebra, well, that was another education!
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Post by macmex on Jun 9, 2009 10:52:55 GMT -5
Robert, Sorry I missed this thread till now. Welcome! It is good to know a bit more about you. I myself am rather attached to a number of the older varieties. It's interesting how different regions and social spheres differ. I grew up in New Jersey (East Coast, USA) among MANY Italians. I don't ever recall hearing the term "guinea," except when referring to the bird or a region in Africa. Yet, people are the same all over the world. Prejudice just takes different forms. I too have bees, though only two hives at this time. Oklahoma is a rough place to have bees; at least it's a lot more challenging than anywhere else I've lived. We have a very sudden, explosive, short-lived honey flow in the spring. A little "splutter" in mid summer, and then basically nothing. In three years of bee keeping here, I think, this year, I might make a harvest. Yet locals seem to have things figured out George |
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Post by robertb on Jun 9, 2009 11:23:55 GMT -5
Do you have locally bred bees? That can make an enormous difference. Keep raising your own queens, and you may well find they become acclimatised.
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Maybe CFF, our resident Bee Whisperer, can give you some advice on calming the bees.
