Plant babble

I've spent twentyfour hours trying to figure out iTunes. By now we understand each other and that's good since I'm loading my mp3player with audioshows that'll make me a polyglot, educated, better mom, writer and gardener - among other things.

Music? Why on earth would I want music on my "pod"? But I have to admit that Ebba Grön, some 80s syrup (lovely syrup!), Lars Demian, Dire Straits and other artist have made their way to my player.

And what do I have on my player that are interesting for a gardener? Well, the french and the chinese course I added for repetition of languages I've already learnt. I chose them because both countries have interesting cultivation techniques and traditions, and you get the best information if you speak the native language. I'll never forget my visit to the revolutionary museum in Beijing. One board displayed a number of banknotes, and a sign where the chinese version explained at length that this was (I assume, since my chinese was bad even then) notes issued by the guomindang regime etc. etc. The english version was shorter. It said
"Paper money"

Still I was happy that there was an english explanation at all. The history museum next door had signs that were written in chinese only.

If it was different in Paris? Not much - both mandarin and french are world languages, even if the museums leaves the english language out there are still hundreds of millions of people that can read the signs. Knowing english alone makes you miss quite a lot of information.

But I digress. Appart from Odla, a swedish gardening radioshow available as podcast, I have added Wiggly Wigglers to my playlist. They've won Mouse & Trowel Awards for best gardening podcast for consecutive years, and I'm really looking forward to listen. Showtitles like "A Wiggly Carbon Footprint", "The Poodcast" and "Compost Flavoured Yoghurt" hints at a sense of humour.

My other shows don't have anything to do with gardening, but are good distraction during work. A good podcast in the ear makes weeding fun. For my own part I listen to a lot about religon, but there are something for everyone out there in cyberspace. Good gardening podcasts are easy to find via Mouse & Trowel. BBC is the place to start looking if you want high quality shows covering a diverse range of topics. A traditional googlesearch is another way if you take your time for it. Browsing through a lot of unwanted stuff may feel useless, but the one good show you find is worth it. With luck the new show links to other ones, and following those recommendations is one of the better ways to find interesting podcasts.

So, what are you waiting for? Add some babble to your music!