English conversation

[jp60]

Harma my name is Jo, short for Josephine. I like to go to the UK in spring and autumn for two reasons: the first is because my plants grow on their own with no need of water from me, the second is because I can pick up some great bargains for my garden while I'm there. To be honest though, whenever I go away there is always a reason why I shouldn't!

 

[Harma]

Hi Jo.....I am happy to know it now.I prefer to call people with their real name,I mean without abbreviation....But in this case I'll call you Jo.Close to me lives another Josephine,she is English too..You know that Jo in Dutch is male??

p.s I don't remember when to use the ING-form...

A nice weekend to everybody....

 

[elena_11293]

Harma, thanks for the video, I just wanted to ask you more about that kind of cultivation. I would use it if I could (but, as I told you, I cannot grow anything anymore here, because of my neighbour's trees). However, I'm glad to see that I did well when I decided to leave the leaves on the ground instead of picking them up last Autumn, I thought that they would have both protected some plants from the cold during Winter and given good nutrients to the soil. Sincerely, the garden looked a bit messy, but I try not to care much about what others could think.

What vegetables do you grow?

As for your question about the use of the -ing form, Jo and Melissa will tell you more, I'm sure, but in the meanwhile: use it for future activities you have already planned and for activities that started in the past but are still going on at the present time (eg: "I'm going to the fair in Scandicci, will you come?"; "I've been working for hours on this and haven't finished yet"). Sometimes it's also just an infinitive (eg: "I quit smoking"; "Swimming is his favourite sport").

Perhaps, something you might do is telling us when you are in doubt about what tense to use, so that we can explain you if in that specific case the -ing form is the right choise or not and why. If we work on that with examples that are meaningful to you, I think it would be easier for you to remember, then.

 

[LucaXY]

My dream is going to Canada. I would like it so much, my aunts live there in a typical canadian house (you know, those huge houses with hundreds of rooms, bathrooms... and where the kitchen is as big as a room).

Good afternoon everybody, have a nice week!

 

[elena_11293]

I love those kitchens!
Wishing you your dream may come true, Luca! You should plan a Summer trip, tell your parents it would be good for your English (well, if your aunts live where they speak English )

 

[Harma]

Me too Elena ,I deceided this year to leave the leaves on the ground,this winter was perfect to do that,but when it rains a lot maybe it's better not to do.
I don't have yet a real synergic vegatable garden,I make one ,because I saw it in my friend's garden.I will put a picture on my 3d:Il giardino di Harma.Next year will prepair it in the wright way...For the moment I seeded garlic and I want to put some salad and ofcourse tomatos....

@Keep on dreaming Luca,sometimes they become real!!!!!!

 

[jp60]

Harma you are welcome to call me Josephine if you prefer. In England Jo is used for a woman and Joe for a man. People who know me choose which name they prefer: Jo, Jose, Josie or Josephine.

Do you know I have a Dutch neighbour! Are you sure we're not talking about each other!

The -ing form is used for the present and past continuous, present continuous for the future and for the future in be going to.

If you are using a continuous form of -ing, then you use it for an action which is happening at the time of speaking or around the time of speaking, often for temporary actions.

If you are talking about facts or habits, then you should use the present simple.

Be careful which verbs you use because it isn't used with 'state' verbs - know, want, love, like etc. If you use present continuous for the future, you add a time expression such as tomoorow.
'I am going to work', 'I am going to work tomorrow'.

Past continuous is for an action in the past & is often used with past simple. It's often used to describe a scene & then something happens & we use past simple.

Gerunds also have the -ing ending as in 'I like running' or 'Running keeps me fit'.

I hope this helps a little, but if you want to talk about it some more just say the word.

 

[Harma]

THANK YOU..... For the moment it's enough,now I have to study it...
I don't understand the phrase:Are you sure we're not talking about each other..It looks like a question!!

Harma you are welcome to call me Josephine if you prefer. In England Jo is used for a woman and Joe for a man. People who know me choose which name they prefer: Jo, Jose, Josie or Josephine.

Do you know I have a Dutch neighbour! Are you sure we're not talking about each other!

The -ing form is used for the present and past continuous, present continuous for the future and for the future in be going to.

If you are using a continuous form of -ing, then you use it for an action which is happening at the time of speaking or around the time of speaking, often for temporary actions.

If you are talking about facts or habits, then you should use the present simple.

Be careful which verbs you use because it isn't used with 'state' verbs - know, want, love, like etc. If you use present continuous for the future, you add a time expression such as tomoorow.
'I am going to work', 'I am going to work tomorrow'.

Past continuous is for an action in the past & is often used with past simple. It's often used to describe a scene & then something happens & we use past simple.

Gerunds also have the -ing ending as in 'I like running' or 'Running keeps me fit'.

I hope this helps a little, but if you want to talk about it some more just say the word.

 

[MelissaP]

Harma,
I watched the video on the synergic vegetable garden and then did a search on it on Internet, which however did not turn up a definition. I believe some of the ideas are familiar to me from reading I've done. A couple of years ago I read 'The One Straw Revolution' and 'Teaming with Microbes', both warmly recommended to me by my sister, who is a professional gardener and garden designer and an enthusiastic organic gardener. I've always gardened organically (except for poisoning elms), and am very interested in low-resource gardening, that is, gardening that uses less water and fertilizer. This is a large topic that I'd like to discuss at length, but it would be more informative if done in Italian so more people could read it. Would you be interested in doing a joint thread with me on the forum Giardinaggio? I could start it, if you like.

It didn't rain last night, and the sky is clear. Humph. I hope the rain has merely been put off and not canceled entirely.
Greetings to all,
Melissa

 

[elena_11293]

That would be a great idea, Melissa and Harma Some time ago a guy posted here and wanted to talk about permaculture, a pity he disappeared, then.. Anyway, if you open that thread, let us know, I'll follow you!

As for the rain, here it should come tonight, at least so they said, and I do hope so, the bulbs and the other plants need it now.
I'm gonna finish to weed a.. (how do you say 'aiuola' in English?), bye!!

 

[MelissaP]

Elena,
"Aiuola" is "bed" in English. I hope you got your bed weeded before the rain arrived. It is satisfyingly gray and wet here now.

I just recently realized that with March here I need to get my climbers pruned! Today I finished 'Souv. de Mme. Leonie Viennot', 'Cl. Mrs. Herbert Stevens', and 'Cl. Etoile de Hollande', which last two I'm going to try and keep as shrubs. Also did some tidying up, pulling a lot of violets. I successfully straightened up part of 'Archiduc Joseph' and tied it to the persimmon on the slope above it. As the rose and the tree grow they are getting increasingly in each other's way. My husband and I cut a couple of the highest branches out of the persimmon, and I'm working on training AJ through its lower branches. Of course 'Archiduc Joseph' isn't a climber, but non-climbing roses will sometimes scramble to considerable heights to reach light. It helps, I think, that the persimmon leafs out late, so the rose gets a head start. In my garden where so many roses struggle with adverse conditions, 'Archiduc Joseph' is glorious when it flowers.
Melissa

 

[belvedere]

sorry today i can do a very speedy greetings!

here it's raining heavily... i don't regret for it, because it was a long time without rain....
i tell you a story: on saturday i went to my cottage. usually we close water to prevent problems...
when we have opened it, there was a big splash: it seemed Niagara falls! in short: months ago it's was very very cold and all water pipes are broken... so much water on the floor...
you must know that my cottage is 10 km from the nearest village (a small village!)... it's difficult to try somebody to repair my pipes at once...
i have left my cottage's key to the neighbor... asking her to take care of this situation.....
what a terrible week end!:martello::burningma

 

[elena_11293]

oh my, Belvedere, what a nightmare... I hope the plumber could fix it all soon and that there're not too many damages.

Melissa, thanks! I had found 'bed' for 'aiuola' on a dictionary, but I thought that maybe there could be other ways to say it, I was afraid it could be misuderstood.
Looking forward to seeing AJ's blooming!

 

[MelissaP]

Belvedere, you have my sympathies! I hope you get the pipes fixed quickly! A nightmare weekend indeed.

 

[Harma]

Masanobu Fukuoka, the author of "The One Straw Revolution" was the founder of the synergic garden...I didn't read that book,but I want to buy it...and Emilia Hazelip is also an important name in this story...I really don't know very much about it ,but I'am very interesting in it.I opened a thread(l'orto sinergico)...A good idea to open a thread about the low-resource gardening..I will be a student,but I think all together we can help eachother..

Harma,
I watched the video on the synergic vegetable garden and then did a search on it on Internet, which however did not turn up a definition. I believe some of the ideas are familiar to me from reading I've done. A couple of years ago I read 'The One Straw Revolution' and 'Teaming with Microbes', both warmly recommended to me by my sister, who is a professional gardener and garden designer and an enthusiastic organic gardener. I've always gardened organically (except for poisoning elms), and am very interested in low-resource gardening, that is, gardening that uses less water and fertilizer. This is a large topic that I'd like to discuss at length, but it would be more informative if done in Italian so more people could read it. Would you be interested in doing a joint thread with me on the forum Giardinaggio? I could start it, if you like.

It didn't rain last night, and the sky is clear. Humph. I hope the rain has merely been put off and not canceled entirely.
Greetings to all,
Melissa

 

[Harma]

Melissa when you prune you never look to the moon?(a nice rhyme)If it's possible I prune with the waning moon(it that right (luna calante)

Elena,
"Aiuola" is "bed" in English. I hope you got your bed weeded before the rain arrived. It is satisfyingly gray and wet here now.

I just recently realized that with March here I need to get my climbers pruned! Today I finished 'Souv. de Mme. Leonie Viennot', 'Cl. Mrs. Herbert Stevens', and 'Cl. Etoile de Hollande', which last two I'm going to try and keep as shrubs. Also did some tidying up, pulling a lot of violets. I successfully straightened up part of 'Archiduc Joseph' and tied it to the persimmon on the slope above it. As the rose and the tree grow they are getting increasingly in each other's way. My husband and I cut a couple of the highest branches out of the persimmon, and I'm working on training AJ through its lower branches. Of course 'Archiduc Joseph' isn't a climber, but non-climbing roses will sometimes scramble to considerable heights to reach light. It helps, I think, that the persimmon leafs out late, so the rose gets a head start. In my garden where so many roses struggle with adverse conditions, 'Archiduc Joseph' is glorious when it flowers.
Melissa

 

[Harma]

Omg.....poor belvedere!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry today i can do a very speedy greetings!

Here it's raining heavily... I don't regret for it, because it was a long time without rain....
I tell you a story: On saturday i went to my cottage. Usually we close water to prevent problems...
When we have opened it, there was a big splash: It seemed niagara falls! In short: Months ago it's was very very cold and all water pipes are broken... So much water on the floor...
You must know that my cottage is 10 km from the nearest village (a small village!)... It's difficult to try somebody to repair my pipes at once...
I have left my cottage's key to the neighbor... Asking her to take care of this situation.....
What a terrible week end!:martello::burningma

 

[jp60]

Why do you prune when the moon is waning moon Harma? I try to sow my seeds when the moon is waxing as they say it helps them grow faster.

Belvedere I'm so sorry to hear about your pipes. Finding and convincing a plumber to come is difficult these days! Is there much damage? A few houses near us have also had the same problem, the owners were away & when they came back they found broken pipes.

 

[belvedere]

thanks everybody for your solidarity!
i know now (where is my cottage) it's snowing again. So no plumber will go there... i have to wait. I have to be patient.
... synergic garden.. tell me more about please!

 

[fastigium]

[ Volevo provare ad aprire un topic in cui si parlasse solo inglese, tanto per provare a vedere; se i mod lo ritengo un po' troppo fuori luogo, lo possono pure chiudere ]

Da questo momento in poi, è assolutamente vietato parlare una lingua diversa dall'inglese.

---

Well, first of all good afternoon!
I've tried to open a new thread helping you to improve your English. Have you ever spoken this language? I usually speak english every day at school; the motto is: "use languages to learn; learn how to use languages.
Well, maybe you can say: Luca, I'm not good on this subject and I do not even want to improve it!
Users of gardening forum, you can say whatever you want, whatever pass in your mind, but do not use the transator! :lingua:

Have fun :ros:

I'm sorry, I don't like english, I can't like it.
When child I was obliged to study english, now I don't suffer this language.
It seems to me some churlish.
I'm sorry.