Arrrr! Garden like a pirate!

Today it's Talk Like A Pirate Day. It's time t' brin' out t' parrot, say Arrr! t' your loved ones and garden like a pirate.

Wait! Garden like a pirate?

Yup, gardenin' aboard be pretty easy, as long as you remember that you work in a space even more cramped than a city flat and have t' be economical about it. T' polarship Tara have a small hydroponic garden aboard. If I have any landlubbers among me readers I'll add that Tara be a schooner build t' last a two year deep freeze in t' Arctic ice and be dimensioned t' that task. By natutical standards t' garden on t' pictures enjoy oceans o' space.

Still ships and boats for ye everyday people offer possibilities t' garden. Among those who sets up a home aboard it's not unusual t' garden for t' galley. If you choose a ships as big as a ketch you'll have space enough for some spices and perhaps some bigger plants like tomatoes or chard. Anne Mankovich aboard Roux did so, and in her article she mentions t' other two important rules for nautical gardenin'; be religious about waterin', because plants dry out smartlyer, and try t' protect them from t' salty winds.

What would I recommend an aspirin' pirate gardener t' grow, then? If you be aye you can provide clean fresh water and a bit o' space a Tiny Tim tomato be pretty good (tomatoes be sensitive o' poisons and tend t' sour up as soon as it's somethin' fishy about either water or air). Chard descends from t' sea beet and be probably a tad resistant t' salt, in addition t' that it gives high yields on few plants. If you read Anne Mankovich's article you'll see that t' herbs that faired best was rosemary, chives, thyme, parsley and basil. T' french scientists aboard Tara grow different kinds o' sallad, wheat grass among other leafy thin's. Aboard a normal hoilday sailin' boat (up t' 40 feet in Sweden) where space be cramped and t' journeys be short I recommend sprouts; occupies an extremely small place and grows smartly.

Are thar any typical pirate plants? Well, I don't know. Our romantic pirate image hails from t' seventeenth and eighteenth Caribian, a place where it should be possible t' grow cactuses - if you want somethin' spikey t' throw at your eneme. Somalia, where we find a modern day flourishin' pirate town, enjoy a similar climate (avoid these waters if you plan t' sail around t' world - these pirates have real weapons and be not jokin'). But cactuses be seldom edible and thus a waste o' space. Grow somethin' more delicious and throw t' entire container at t' foe if you get boarded - you can follow up usin' your prunin' shears or weed hook in a close combat situation.