Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Conversational Italian for Travelers books
Ciao a tutti! For 2020, I have changed the name of my series, “Your Italian Travel Tips,” to “Our Italy.” In this series, I share bloggers’ experiences of Italy, a country whose culture has captivated the world for thousands of years. I think now is the time to share these memories, knowing that one day we will all be able to return, inspired anew by the Italian people and their land.
Today I am happy to share a guest blog written by Silvia Donati from Bologna Uncovered. Here is what Sylvia says about herself and Bologna on her website:
My name is Silvia Donati, I’m a licensed tour guide with specialization in hiking and the environment. I’m also a freelance journalist, writing for English-language publications about Italian travel, food and culture, including Italy Magazine, where I work as a contributing editor.
Bologna Uncovered started as a blog about my native Bologna and surrounding region of Emilia-Romagna. Despite being often overlooked in favor of more popular Italian destinations, this area offers a lot in terms of sightseeing, art, history, cuisine, natural landscapes, and fun times.
As I added more articles to the blog, readers started asking me if I offered tours in the area. At the same time, I developed a passion for hiking and mountains. Thus, I decided to obtain my license to work professionally as a guide.
I believe that active travel is the best way to travel. Only the slow pace of walking allows you to fully experience a place – to see, hear, smell, touch, and feel; to slow down, talk to the locals, explore hidden corners; and to be light on the earth.
I have always been intrigued by the city of Bologna, said to be home to the oldest university in the world and of course wonderful, rich Italian cooking. Think Prosciutto di Parma, Balsamic vinegar, and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, combined with butter and cream to make delicious sauces.
As one who loves to search the Internet for information about Italy, I have seen countless panoramas of Bologna, with its sea of rose colored buildings and their red rooftops flanking the winding, ancient streets.
But Silvia’s blog Why You Should See San Michele in Bosco in Bologna describes the wonders of Bologna from a different viewpoint. This blog focuses on the hillside outside of this great city that provides the classic panoramic view, but also contains an important architectural site. Below is an excerpt from her blog. Click on the link to read more about this Italian treasure in the hills outside Bologna.
San Michele in Bosco is mainly known for the panoramic view over Bologna, and rightly so because it is one of the best you can get of the city, from the so-called piazzale (plaza), the area in front of the church.
But San Michele in Bosco also refers to the architectural complex comprising both the church and nearby former monastery that stand on the plaza; it is one of the oldest religious settlements built in Bologna… Click here to read more.
If you’d like, leave a comment about Bologna..
Where did you visit? How did the experience make you feel? I’d love to hear from you!
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Do you want to speak Italian more easily and confidently by the end of 2020?
To be “in the know” about how the Italian language works, we must know how to use the verb sapere and be acquainted with the verbconoscere.
If we learn how to incorporate“commonly used phrases”with the verb sapere, we will be able to speak about what we know in Italian; and with the verb conoscere we will be able to to describe who are friends are. We will be on our way to building complex sentences and speaking more like we do in our native language!
As I’ve said before, I believe that “commonly used phrases” are the key for how we can all build fluency in any language in a short time.
If we learn how to incorporate“commonly used phrases” when we ask for what we need in Italian, we will be able to communicate just as we do in our native language!
This post is the 37th in a series of Italian phrases we have been trying out in our Conversational Italian! Facebook group. If you’d like to read the earlier posts in the series, “Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!” just click HERE
Many “commonly used phrases” in Italian
start with “I know” and use the verbs
sapereandconoscere
See below for how this works.
As we all master these phrases, so will you. Try my method and let me know how it works. What sentences will you create with these verbs?
The basics of the Italian language are introduced in the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook and reference booksJust the Verbsand Just the Grammar
The rights to purchase the Conversational Italian for Travelers books in PDF format on two electronic devices can also be obtained atLearn Travel Italian.com.
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How to Say “I know ” in Italian
Sapere
To be “in the know” about how the Italian language works, we must know how to use the verb sapere and be acquainted with the verbconoscere.
Let’s start with sapere.
Sapere is an irregular verb that ends in-ere. It means “to know,” as in to know a fact.
Since sapere is irregular, the root will be different from the infinitive verb for all forms except the voiform. Interestingly, the root for the noi form differs by only a single letter from the regular root — with the addition of a second letter p. The irregular conjugations are given in the table below in brown and the regular conjugation in green. The syllable to be accented in each conjugation has been underlined.
Sapere – to know (a fact)
io
so
I know
tu
sai
you (familiar) know
Lei
lei/lui
sa
you (polite) know
she/he knows
noi
sappiamo
we know
voi
sapete
you all know
loro
sanno
they know
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How do we use the verb sapere?
Just remember: “so, sai, sa”!
The present tense form for “I know…” from sapere is “Io so…” but of course, we leave out the subject pronoun, so the word that Italians use in conversation is just, “So…”
For the question, “Do you know…?” use the conjugated verb, (tu) “Sai…?” for someone you are familiar with. Or: “Lei sa…?”for someone you have just met (including the subject pronoun Lei) to be polite.
“Does she or he know?” is, (lei, lui) “Sa…?” In order to emphasize the masculine or feminine nature of the subject, the subject pronouns lei or luican also be used, for: “Lei sa?” or “Lui sa?” Most times, though, the subject is known to the speakers from earlier in the conversation and therefore left out of the sentence.
Remember, there is no need to use the word “do” when asking a question in Italian. Just these three simple, short Italian words, “so,” “sai,” or “sa”will suffice. Use these short words to tell someone what you know or to ask someone what they know!
“Lei sa dov’è…” means,“Do you (polite) know where is the…?” (Or, in correct English: where the… is?”) This is an important Italian phrase to know when traveling in order to ask for directions. When approaching a stranger, it is customary to precede this question with the polite phrase “Mi scusi” for “Excuse me.”
Here are some examples of travel phrases we can make with the verb sapere:
Mi scusi,
Excuse me,
…Lei sa dov’è…
…(do) you (pol.) know where is…
…(do) you know where the… is?
…l’albergo?
…the hotel?
…il ristorante?
…the restaurant?
…la metro/metropolitana?
…the subway?
…la fermata dell’autobus?
…the bus stop?
…la stazione dei treni?
…the train station?
…la banca?
…the bank?
…l’ufficio postale?
…the post office?
…il museo?
…the museum?
Note: If the answer to these questions involves a particular street, the answer you will hear will use the phrasein… via, for the English on… street.
La banca è in via Verde. The bank is on Green Street.
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Use a similar format to ask questions about schedules using sapere when traveling.
Mi scusi,
Excuse me,
…Lei sa quando…
…(do) you (pol.) know when…
…arriva il treno?
…the train arrives (lit. arrives the train)?
…arriva l’autobus?
…the bus arrives?
…parte il treno?
…the train leaves (lit. leaves the train)?
…parte l’autobus?
…the bus leaves?
…apre il museo?
…the museum opens (lit. opens the museum)?
…chiude il museo?
…the museum closes?
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Finally, here are some commonly used, everyday phrases that you can make with the verb sapere.The word “Chissà” is a popular adverb and interjection used in Italian conversation. It is a word that can be used d in many different situations. Chissà can be used alone or in phrases that end with perché, se, or che(why, if, or what). Try to complete the questions that start with “Chissà…” in the table below on your own, using the simple present tense.
Note the use of the subjunctive mode with the conjugation sappia and the imperfettoconjugation sapevo in our last two examples. Commit these phrases to memory, even if you haven’t fully mastered their verb forms, as they will come up often in conversation. Knowing these two verbs will also impress your Italian friends!
So (qualcosa) a memoria.
I know (something) by heart.
Chissà?
Chissà perché…?
Chissà se…?
Chissà che…?
Non si sa mai!
Who knows?
Who knows why…?
Who knows if…?
Who knows what…?
One never knows!
Come ben sai.
As you well know.
Si sa che…
Everyone knows that…
Non ne sa niente.
He/she knows nothing about it.
Lo so.
I know (it).
Non lo so.
I don’t know (it).
Che io sappia.
Che lei/lui sappia?
As far as I know.
What does she/he know?
Lo sapevo!
I knew it!
How to Say “I know ” in Italian
Conoscere
Conoscere is a regular-ere verb. Conoscere also means to know, withthe connotation to become acquaintedwitha person or a place.
The regular conjugation of conoscereis listed in the table below. Notice that the pronunciation of the ending of the io and loroforms will change once the regular endings are added on to the stem. There is a “hard c” sound with the endings of –sco/–scono for the io and loro forms. These verbs are listed in orange. The remaining forms retain the softer “sh” sound of the infinitive conoscere with their –sci and –sce combinations.
The stressed syllable for each conjugation is underlined.
Conoscere – to know (be acquainted with)
io
conosco
I know
tu
conosci
you (familiar) know
Lei
lei/lui
conosce
you (polite) know
she/he knows
noi
conosciamo
we know
voi
conoscete
you all know
loro
conoscono
they know
How to Say “I know ” in Italian
Sapere vs. Conoscere
As we have just described above, sapere and conoscere are two Italian verbs that both mean, “to know.” Think about how many times each day we say, “I know,” “you know,” or, “Do you know?” In Italy, these expressions are also used frequently. But, there are differences in how each of these verbs that means “to know” is used. If we learn which situations use the verb sapere andwhichuse conoscere, we will be able to speak about what we know and who are friends are in Italian!
To follow are some specific examples of how each verb is used.
Sapere is used to indicate knowledge of something, such as a fact. For instance, if we tell someone that we know a language very well we are stating a fact and use sapere. Notice how the definite article (the)(l’) is used after the verb sapere to describe the Italian language in this case.
(Io) So l’italiano molto bene.
I know (the) Italian language very well.
Sapere is used to describeknowledge ofsomething tangiblethat we can see or feel. The word that links the description of what we know to the subject of these types of sentences is the conjunction che. Che cannot be omitted, as we often do in English. Below are two examples that use sapere to describe something that we can see.
Ora so che il primo romanzo scritto in italiano si chiama, “I Promessi Sposi.”
Now (I) know that the first novel written in Italian is called, “The Betrothed.”
(Io) So che il cielo è blu.
I know that the sky is blue.
*By the way, if you don’t know something, you must say, “Non lo so.” = “I don’t know (it).”
Sapere is used to describe the ability to do something.Notice in the translations below that the English phrase “how to” is not necessary in Italian. Instead, and an infinitive verb follows directly after “so.”
(Io) So guidare la macchina.
I know (how to) drive a car.
Sapere is also used when asking questions, as noted in the first section in this blog. If asking directions from a stranger, it is customary to begin with, “Mi scusi,” or just, “Scusi,” for the polite (command) form of “Excuse me.” Then follow with the polite, “Lei sa…”
Mi scusi. Lei sa quando arriva il treno?
Excuse me. (Do) (you pol.) know when arrives the train?
Do you know when the train arrives?
Mi scusi; Lei sa dov’è il binario tre?
Excuse me; (do) (you pol.) know where is (the) track three?
Do you know where track three is?
Conoscere means to know, as in to be acquainted with a person or a place.
Io conosco Julia, la nonna di Paolo.
I know Julia, Paul’s grandmother. (lit. the grandmother of Paul)
Io conosco Milano molto bene.
I know Milan very well.
Conoscere is also used in reference to meeting/getting to know someone for the first time.
Caterina vuole conoscere suo cugino Pietro in Italia.
Kathy wants to meet/get to know her cousin Peter in Italy.
Remember how to use sapere and conoscere to describe
what and who you know in Italian.
I guarantee you will use these verbs every day!
Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs”
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Conversational Italian for Travelers books
Ciao a tutti! Now that we are in late August, I am happy to report my harvest of tomatoes, zucchini and Italian beans is in full swing. I planted my tomatoes late this year, and if the weather holds up I hope to continue to harvest until late September.
My zucchini plants have run into a bit of trouble. But luckily, I found a wonderful website to help out, which I will share. I will also include tips from the same website for tomato problems that manifest this time of year.
Also, looking to the fall, my volunteer Brussels sprouts plants have survived from last year and have started to make side sprouts! I planted Swiss chard in the border of my garden and the plants are struggling right now, but still have plenty of time to come into their own.
Some of you may have already seen the Instagram posts of my garden and the dishes I’ve been making with my fresh tomatoes and zucchini. I will post the links and include the recipes after the update on how each section of my garden is growing.
As I have mentioned in my previous Your Italian-American Gardening Tips blogs, this year I have been focusing on my raised gardens, and all the wonderful Italian vegetables that can be grown in the suburbs, even in a small space.
My hope is that you will enjoy the tips I’ve learned about gardening through many years of experience and be encouraged to start an Italian garden yourself — be it large or small, in a yard or on your porch, or even indoors in pots near a sunny window — after reading the blogs in this series “Your Italian Gardening Tips.”
Below are my insights on growing and harvesting lettuce, zucchini and their flowers and “new potatoes,” along with recipe ideas. And an update on growing tomatoes is here also, with recipes soon to follow!
If you’ve been following this blog series, you already know that this year I tried growing several different varieties of tomatoes in several different places in my back yard in the Chicago suburbs. For the first time, I obtained seeds for San Marzano tomatoes and started them indoors before transplanting them into a raised garden bed and two large pots. Please see my previous blogs for more information about growing tomatoes from seed and the best conditions to plant tomatoes.
So, how are my San Marzano tomatoes doing? I’m happy to report that my plants have flowered and I now have tomatoes that will soon ripen But, you’ll notice from the photo below that the tomato plants in the far west side of the bed have grown out nicely, although those on the eastern side, just a few feet away, have lagged behind. I am not sure why. But I believe the problem is the plants were too weak when I transplanted them into the bed and they were not hardened off properly to the harsh Midwest summer sunlight. Lesson learned. Next year I will buy a grow light for the seedlings so that my plants are strong enough when it comes time to transplant. (Note: the plants in the center are eggplant. San Marzano tomatoes are on the perimeter of the bed.)
San Marzano Tomato plants growing in the perimeter of a raised garden with marigolds. (Eggplant plants in the center).
The San Marzano tomato plants in pots are producing tomatoes as well, and have grown up a bit, but the plants are still not as full as I would have liked. These tomato plants are in the shade about half the day, which could account for the lack of growth, although they are a bit larger than some in the raised garden bed. This should be encouraging for those who do not have much outdoor space but want to grow some fresh tomatoes.
San Marzano tomatoes growing in a terracotta pot outdoors.
The surprise for me was how well my volunteer tomato plants have done. I call them “volunteers” because they grew up in the lettuce and pea/green bean patch on their own, from seeds left in the ground after last years’ crop. They started out late and originally were much smaller than the tomatoes I bought from the garden store (not shown in this blog). Yet they are now about as big and producing tomatoes, even in the raised bed that is in the shade for about half the day. If you look closely in the photo below, you can just barely make out the tomato plants with their spiral steak and orange string.
Volunteer tomato plants growing in the raised bed with the Italian beans
So far, I have been able to harvest heirloom and cherry tomato seedlings that I bought from the garden store (not pictured) and these plants are still producing. The only problem I’ve had with any of my tomato plants so far was during a period of heavy rain, when a few split their skin, as I noted in the previous blog. I’ve also found a half-eaten tomato in my bed. Not sure what critter did this, but I have not seen any slugs, so am thinking it was birds or a small mammal. Usually the marigolds I plant in the perimeter and the egg shells I sprinkle around the plants keep detrimental insects and slugs away from my tomato plants.
Critter partially ate my nice, ripe tomato!
Now, it is very hot and dry so I have been watering my garden about every other day. I’ve read it is best to water in the morning so that the water can evaporate and mold does not set in and kill off the tomato leaves. I found this blog Troubleshooting Tomato Problems, on the website http://www.gardeners.com, with some very helpful tips and lots of pictures that I am keeping for future reference.
If you’ve tried growing tomatoes this summer, I’d love to hear what part of the world you live in and what your experience has been like. Do you have any tips for handling tomato problems?
The recipe for my favorite fresh tomato and basil “sauce” is below. As I noted in the introduction on my Instagram post, when I first tasted angel hair pasta tossed with gently cooked tomatoes and fresh basil in Northern Italy, it was a revelation to me just how good a pasta dish can be. I think this is the same dish that the Stanley Tucci character, Chef Primo makes for his girlfriend in the movie “Big Night.” After tasting this dish he says something like, “You see? To eat food like this is to be close to God!”
Primo may be exaggerating… but in my mind, only a little bit. Try this simple method yourself at home, with just-picked, ripe tomatoes and basi and extra-virgin olive oil and I am sure you will agree!
If you’d like to watch me as I cook this one pan pasta dish, here is the link on Instagram:
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic
4 garden-ripened tomatoes
1 bunch of freshly picked basil
1 lb. box bow-tie pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method:
Set a pot of water on the stove to boil for the bow-tie pasta. When the water has boiled, add salt, cover and bring to a boil again. Uncover when boiling.
Chop the tomatoes and prepare garlic by removing skin and crushing with a large knife. Have fresh basil picked and rinsed nearby.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and then start to make the sauce. You will have to keep an eye on the pasta while cooking the sauce, stirring and checking until the pasta is al-dente.
Pour the olive oil into a large pan with high sides. Add the garlic to the olive oil and let cook a couple of minutes on medium heat to flavor the olive oil, but don’t let brown.
Reduce the heat to low. Add the chopped tomatoes and their juices to the pan and cook very gently for just a few minutes, so tomatoes soften but hold their shape.
Remove the garlic.
Off heat, shred a few basil leaves and mix into the tomatoes in the pan .
Drain the pasta and add to the tomato and basil sauce. Mix gently and serve immediately, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the side.
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Another of my favorite one pan pasta dishes that uses fresh tomatoes, this time paired with eggplant, is called “Pasta alla Norma.” I tried this dish when in Sicily last year and loved it so much I made it this summer. Click on the Instagram post for the method and to watch me cook!
As I’ve discussed in the first blog in this series, “Zucchini, Tomatoes, Strawberries and More!” this spring I started zucchini from seed in my backyard in three separate mounds I reserved the third mound in the back for the cucuzza plant, a very long gourd that matures in the summer and is eaten like a zucchini. I’ve already written about cucuzza in last year’s blog: Oregano and Zucchini.
I have harvested many zucchini, despite pilfering many, many zucchini flowers for my favorite fried appetizer in the summer, fried zucchini flowers. If you are interested, the method is in my previous blog. The bees have been happily pollinating my zucchini flowers all summer, flitting from one plant to the next, which is necessary to fertilize the flowers and grow zucchini. Unfortunately, I recently discovered that another pest was hard at work at the same time to destroy my zucchini plants, even though they outwardly looked very healthy.
To make a long story short, squash vines are hollow, and the the base of a zucchini plant is the perfect place for the squash-vine borer to lay eggs. The eggs then hatch into larvae that live inside the vine and eventually destroy the main stem and kill the entire plant. Below is a close-up photo of what one of my main zucchini vine looks like because of this pest. Other vines have turned brown and dried up completely.
Luckily, several zucchini plants did survive and are not growing healthy vines and producing flowers outside the garden bed, as in the photo that follows. And since all the eggs have hatched by now, this pest should not be providing any more problems.
Next year I will have to check for the tell-tale signs of eggs and remove the larvae before it can do any damage. For more information on how to control this pest, check out this blog Squash vine borer from the very helpful website, http://www.gardeners.com.
Zucchini with evidence of squash vine borerLate summer zucchini plants growing outside the garden
Meanwhile, the cucuzza zucchini, known for their exceptionally long vines and long gourds, have predictably grown out of their original garden mound. I’ve trained them to grow behind the mound into a bit of space I have by the raised garden bed. I assume they will continue to grow along the raised garden bed and onto the grass in a month’s time!
Cucuzza vine growing in back of original mound, along raised garden bed
If you’ve tried growing zucchini this summer, I’d love to hear what part of the world you live in and what your experience has been like. Do you have any tips for handling tomato problems?
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Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Zucchini Recipe
Last summer, I posted a one pan pasta dish with tomatoes and zucchini on Instagram. The method is similar to the one pan pasta dish Angel Hair Pasta with Fried Zucchini that I posted in my last blog. The addition of fresh tomatoes and basil adds another dimension to the flavor of the zucchini. And remember, freshly grated Parmesan cheese is essential to this dish! Watch me on Instagram and then try the recipe yourself!
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 -3 medium-sized zucchini
4 garden-ripened plum tomatoes
1 bunch of freshly picked basil
1 lb. box bow-tie pasta
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method:
Set a pot of water on the stove to boil for the bow-tie pasta. When the water has boiled, add salt, cover and bring to a boil again. Uncover when boiling.
Pour the olive oil into a large pan with high sides. Add the chopped garlic to the olive oil and then the zucchini. Cook over medium heat, stirring, so the vegetables soften but don’t burn.
Add the tomatoes and a few leaves of hand -torn basil. Salt to taste.
Cover pan and cook vegetables to further soften. Add a few laddles of pasta water as needed so vegetables do not dry out.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook pasta while the sauce finishes cooking.
Drain the pasta (reserving pasta water) and add to the tomato and basil sauce. Mix gently.
Add pasta water as needed. Add the Parmesan cheese.
Serve immediately, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the side.
I’ve posted about planting Italian beans on Instagram, and from the image above of the bean plants growning with the tomatoes in my raised bed you can see how nicely they’ve grown. Beans need to be planted when the soil is warm, in mid summer, and this was perfect for me since the spring peas and broccoli rabe in my partially shaded garden bed had died out and I had the space. I planted two types, Roma and Borlotto. And had my first harvest of the Roma beans last week.
I read that the beans will keep producing as long as they are picked. I am looked forward to fresh green beans at least once a week. I like to cook my Roma beans with… you guessed it — olive oil, a little chopped onion, pinch of garlic and some fresh tomatoes on the stove top. There is also a tradition of cooking these beans for a very long time until they melt in your mouth, but I think I will reserve this method for the store-bought beans. I am sure the Borlotto beans will be wonderful on their own or with… pasta, of course!
First harvest Roma beansBorlotto beans still growing in the garden
Looking ahead to fall, it seems that one of my volunteer Brussels sprouts plant has grown up nicely in the corner of my garden, and is making new sprouts along the stem. These sprouts are wonderful when homegrown, as one can wait until the first frost and then harvest when they are sweet. I was happy to have this plant survive last year’s winter and re-grow, as this year there were no Brussels sprouts seedlings to be found in the gardening shop in my neighborhood.
“Volunteer” Brussels Sprouts plant growing happily in a corner of a raised garden bed
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Swiss Chard
Finally, the Swiss chard seeds I planted in the perimeter of my zucchini patch (remember the chart I drew at the beginning of the season?) have been struggling. Next year, I will certainly create an additional raised garden for them, as they in this location they have been crushed and light-deprived due to the zucchini growing way outside their mounds. I also like to grow the cavolo nero (Italian “black” kale) that has become so popular in restaurants recently, but was not able to find the seeds this year. We will see if the Swiss chard is able to take off once the zucchini die back. In the past, I’ve kept these plants well into the fall.
Swiss Chard seedling dwarfed by a cucuzza zucchini plant.
For more (many more!) ideas about how to use those fresh tomatoes this summer, visit my Instagram at Conversationalitalian.french
Do you want to speak Italian more easily and confidently by the end of 2020?
One of the most important things for any language student to learn is how to describe what they need. There are many social interactions that routinely occur between friends, family and at shops, where one individual describes a need for the other individual to help them with. Or, often one may not need help with anything in particular, but just “feels the need to” say or do something and wants to communicate this need.
Being able to express our needs also communicates our feelings, and makes our language skills much more rich. In Italian, there are several verb phrases that can be chosen if one want to express a need: “ho bisogno di,”“mi serve,” and “averne voglia.” Many times, these three verb phrases is interchangeable, but there are subtle differences that determine the choice one makes to use each one.
As I’ve said before, I believe that “commonly used phrases” are the key for how we can all build fluency in any language in a short time.
If we learn how to incorporate“commonly used phrases” when we ask for what we need in Italian, we will be able to communicate just as we do in our native language!
This post is the 36th in a series of Italian phrases we have been trying out in our Conversational Italian! Facebook group. If you’d like to read the earlier posts in the series, “Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!” just click HERE
Many “commonly used phrases” in Italian
start with “I need” and use the verb phrases
“Ho bisogno di…”
“Mi serve…”
“Averne voglia…”
See below for how this works.
As we all master these phrases, so will you. Try my method and let me know how it works. What sentences will you create with these verbs?
The basics of the Italian language are introduced in the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook and reference booksJust the Verbsand Just the Grammar
The rights to purchase the Conversational Italian for Travelers books in PDF format on two electronic devices can also be obtained atLearn Travel Italian.com.
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How to Say, “I need…” in Italian
Ho bisogno di…
When we express our needs, we are also communicating our feelings, and the ability to do this in different ways makes our language skills much more rich. In Italian, there are several verb phrases that can be chosen if one want to express a need: “ho bisogno di,”“mi serve,” and “averne voglia.” Many times, these three verb phrases are interchangeable, but there are subtle differences that determine the choice one makes to use each one.
The very popular phrase, “ho bisogno di…” means,“I need…” Any beginning student of Italian no doubt has come across this phrase and has probably already used it in conversation practice. Let’s take a closer look at this phrase and describe in detail how it can be used.
According to the online dictionary WordReference.com, the word bisogno* is a noun that means a “need,” or, more forcefully, a “longing/desire/craving.”
You will remember that the word ho is the io,or “I” form of the Italian verb avere (to have).
When bisogno is used with ho in the phrase “ho bisogno di,” the literal meaning is “I have need of…” But we translate this expression into English simply as, ” I need.” By using the phrase “ho bisogno di…” one can then describe a need for a person, a thing (something) or a physical need.
Remember to conjugate the verb avere into the tuform if you want to ask someone a question using this expression, which then becomes, “Hai bisogno di…?”
Also, leave out the word “di,” which means “of” in this phrase when placing the phrase at the end of a sentence.
avere bisogno di…
to have need of…
Ho bisogno di…
I need…
…a person
Ho bisogno di…te. I need you.
…a thing / something
Ho bisogno di…una macchina nuova. I need a new car.
Ho bisogno di…prendere una vacanza. I need to take a vacation.
…a physical need
Ho bisogno di…riposarmi. I need to rest.
Ho bisogno di un grande abbraccio!
I need a big hug! Abbracci e baci sono due cose di cui ho bisogno! Hugs and kisses are two things that I need!
Hai bisogno di…
(Do) you need…
…a person
Hai bisogno di…me?
…a thing/ something
Hai bisogno di…una macchina nuova?
Hai bisogno di…prendere una vacanza?
…a physical need
Hai bisogno di…riposarti?
A saying withavere bisogno di:
Non abbiamo bisogno di giorni migliori,
ma di persone che rendono migliori i nostri giorni!
We don’t need to have better days,
instead, people who make our days better!
*There is also a verb, bisognare, which means “to be necessary,” or “to be essential.”Bisognarecan be used alone to describe when it is necessary to do something in a general sense. “Bisogna studiare bene per imparare un’altra lingua,” for instance, means: “It is necessary to study well to learn another language.”
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A note about the phrase “ho bisogno di” for more advanced students of Italian:
When we come to more complex sentences, and one person wants to express what he/she needs another person to do, the phrase “ho bisogno di” is not used. Instead, the verb voglio (I want)is usedwith the subjunctive, as in, “Voglio che tu…”
In other words, if I need someone to paint my house, and I want to ask one person to do this job, when speaking in Italian I have to ask that person directly. I cannot say, “I need you to…,” which is somewhat of an oblique way of asking someone to do something. I have to say, “I want you to…”
This is an important difference between Italian and English; in English we sometimes default to the verb “need” when we mean “want,” perhaps because we do not use the subjunctive mood to soften this request. Anyway, instead of saying, “I need you to paint my house this week,” in Italian we would say, “I want you to paint my house this week.”
Another example: in English we might say to a friend, “I need you to take care of the cats when I am on vacation.” The Italian translation would be, “Voglio che tu ti prenda cura dei gatti quando io sono in vacanza.”
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How to Say, “I need…” in Italian
Mi serve…
The phrase, “mi serve” also means “I need.” This phrase uses the verb servire (to need),which is one of several verbs that are conjugated most often in the third person singular and plural. With the verb servire,the subject is always “it,” and an indirect object pronoun is added before the verb to receive the action. The most commonly used verb of this type is piacere, which uses the Italian construction, “It is pleasing to me,” for the English, “I like it.”
Rather than go through the entire conjugation of the verb servire,for our purposes it will suffice to mention the two most important conjugations; the third person singular is serve, and the third person plural is servono.
To say, “I need… one thing,” use the phrase, “Mi serve… una cosa.”
For instance, going back to one of our previous examples:
Mi serve una macchina nuova.
I need a new car.
There are two important expressions that use “mi serve:”
Non mi serve niente.
I don’t need anything.
Non mi serve nient’altro.
I don’t need anything else.
To say, ” I need… many things,” use the phrase, “Mi servono… tante cose.”
Mi servono is particularly useful if you need to make a list of several things you need in order to complete a job. For instance, to cook pasta:
Mi servono una pentola grande, dell’aqua, e un po’ di sale.
I need a big pot, some water, and a little bit of salt.
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How to Say, “I need…” in Italian
Averne voglia…
Vogliais a noun that translates as “desire,”“longing,” or “craving.” In some situations, voglia can communicate a need in a more forceful or urgent way than the expressions “ho bisogno di,” or “mi serve.” Voglia can be used alone in several common interjections and is also is often linked to the verb/preposition combination avere+ di to make the phrase “avere voglia di.”
Listed below are some of the many Italian expressions that use voglia. Notice thedifferent shades of meaning this Italian word can have in each expression.
A voglia!
You bet! For sure!
Hai voglia!
Sure! Of course! You can do as you like!(interjection)
voglia di vivere
desire to live, will to live
aver proprio voglia di
to really want
avere una voglia matta di
to be dying to do something
Finally, in the Italian spoken between friends, the verb averne voglia can be used to ask someone “if” they “feel like” doing something or not, the so-called hypothetical situation. The use of ne adds a little extra force to the question and the answer — either positive or negative.
The verb averne voglia is handy to use in many situations is a popular phrase used in Italy today, so it is helpful for a student of Italian to know how to use it in a basic way. Just conjugate the verb avere as usual, but add “ne” before the verb combination.
When using ne in an answer to a question, ne will take the place of the topic of conversation, so do not repeat the topic in the question again. Therefore, the use of ne also avoids repetition of phrases to create a conversation that flows easily. We follow the same convention in English as well! Check out the last examples to see how this is done.
Below is a table with some common expressions that use voglia and averne voglia to express if one “feels like” doing something… or not!
avere voglia
to feel like
Ho voglia di…
I feel like…
Hai voglia di…?
Do you feel like…?
Hai voglia di andare al cinema stasera?
Do you feel like going to the movies tonight?
Si, ho voglia di andare al cinema.
Yes, I feel like going to the movies.
No, non ho voglia di andare al cinema.
No, I don’t feel like going to the movies.
Se ne hai voglia, potremmo andare al cinema stasera.
If you feel like it, we could go to the movies tonight.
Si, ne ho voglia.
Yes, I feel like it.
No, non ne ho voglia stasera.
No, I don’t feel like it tonight.
There are, of course, many more situations in which one could describe what they need using “Ho bisogno di…,”Mi serve…,”or “Me ne voglia… ”
How many more can you think of?
Remember how to use the phrases “Ho bisogno di…,”Mi serve…,”and “Me ne voglia… to describe what you need in Italian. I guarantee you will use these phrases every day!
Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs”
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Conversational Italian for Travelers books
Ciao a tutti! Now that it is early August I am happy to report I am starting to harvest my favorite Italian vegetables: zucchini with their flowers and tomatoes. And I’ve harvested the last of my “new potatoes” and used them to make an easy Monday night dinner.
Some of you may have already seen the Instagram posts of my garden and the dishes I’ve been making with my fresh lettuce and vegetables. I will post the links and include the recipes after the update on how each section of my garden is growing.
As I have mentioned in my previous Your Italian-American Gardening Tips blogs, this year I have been focusing on my raised gardens, and all the wonderful Italian vegetables we can grow, even in a small space.
My hope is that you will enjoy the tips I’ve learned about gardening through many years of experience and be encouraged to start an Italian garden yourself — be it large or small, in a yard or on your porch, or even indoors in pots near a sunny window — after reading the blogs in this series “Your Italian Gardening Tips.”
Below are my insights on growing and harvesting lettuce, zucchini and their flowers and “new potatoes,” along with recipe ideas. And an update on growing tomatoes is here also, with recipes soon to follow!
When I last wrote, on June 21, 2020, my blog “Four Salads for Summer Days” focused on the lettuce patch that I had started from seed this spring. Just a quick update on the lettuce before we proceed with my report on the new vegetables…
Now that the hot days of summer are upon us, the lettuce has “bolted” or “gone to seed.” This means that a long stem grows up from the center of the lettuce — very quickly, I might add, usually in a couple of days — and if not cut down will continue to form flowers, after which point the plant dies.
This year, I planted my lettuce in the raised bed that gets sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon, which I believe helped lengthen the life of the plants. Also, I discovered that if I cut the center stem from the lettuce near its base, but leave the plant in the ground, the plant’s core will re-grow and provide new lettuce leaves to harvest! So, I have been enjoying lettuce well into the writing of this blog, early August, despite 90+ degree temperatures. Romaine lettuce is said to be more “heat tolerant” than other varieties, and this is what has survived, along with two varieties of red leaf lettuce.
Below are photos from the lettuce patch in late July.
Romaine lettuce with central stalk going to seed.Curly leaf lettuce is regrowing alongside the Romaine lettuce going to seed.
Lettuce going to seed, some with center stalks cut off
I even had enough Romaine lettuce to make a special July 4th Salad with watermelon, feta cheese, and balsamic vinegar.
Last May, in my blog “Zucchini, Tomatoes, Strawberries and More!” I reported on how to plant zucchini seeds in mounds for successful fertilization to maximize a zucchini crop. I planted three types of Italian zucchini seeds in three separate mounds. I reserved the third mound in the back for the cucuzza plant, a very long gourd that matures in the summer and is eaten like a zucchini. I’ve already written about cucuzza in last year’s blog: Oregano and Zucchini.
Actually, I planted too many zucchini seeds in each mound this year, because I wanted to be sure to have enough zucchini flowers to harvest for my post on fried zucchini flowers! Check out the images below to see how they have grown in the short time from mid June to early July.
Zucchini mounds June 10, with cucuzza in the back on the rightZucchini mounds end of June 22. Notice the cucuzza, back right, take a longer time to germinate and grow.
Zucchini plants flowering on July 3
So, by July 3 I had zucchini flowers on the plant in the front mound, which was planted with seeds from Italy called “le bizzarre zucchino,” said to be prized for the flower more than the zucchini. I waited a few more weeks to allow some to be pollinated and start to make zucchinis. By that time, my other zucchini plant had also started to flower. Then I clipped a good number of zucchini flowers to make fried, stuffed flowers.
“Le bizzarre” Zucchino flowers end of July
Clip zucchini flowers when they are closed (usually early morning and late afternoon/evening). Take a bit of the stem along with the flower to make it easier to work with them. Ants and bees sometimes get trapped if they are caught sipping nectar when the flowers close in the latter part of the day, so be careful! My favorite are the flowers that have a small zucchini growing off the base of the flower. They are easy to hold and provide two treats! Check out my method below. These are delicious with any one of three different types of stuffing, or none at all.
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Fried Zucchini Flower Appetizers
Fried zucchini flowers and Fried Zucchini
Ingredients:
For the stuffing:
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, 1-2 anchovy fillets, fresh, finely chopped parsley -or-
mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes, anchovy fillets -or-
mozzarella cheese cut into small cubes
For the batter:
1 cup of cold water
3/4 cup of flower + 1/4 cup more as needed
Method:
First, prepare a simple batter of water and flour. This is called “la pastella” in Italian, and is used to obtain a thin, crisp crust for frying vegetables. The secret to the best crust is to let the batter sit for 1 hour so the gluten in the flour has time to “relax,” although this is not absolutely necessary.
I like to get started with 1 cup of cold water and 3/4 cups of flower. I sift the flower into the water gradually while whisking gently to combine. The final batter should not be too thin or too thick, something like pancake batter. If the batter is too thin, I gradually add more flour, but no more than an additional 1/4 cup. Let the batter rest 1 hour while preparing the zucchini, and during this time it will thicken a bit as well.
Making a simple flour and water batter (la pastella)
Next, prepare the zucchini flower stuffing if desired. The flowers can also be fried without stuffing, and I usually don’t attempt to stuff the smaller flowers. A favorite stuffing is 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs with an anchovy and some chopped parsley, fried briefly in olive oil until lightly brown. Mozzarella cubes are also delicious when stuffed into a zucchini flower and melt during frying, with or without a small bit of anchovy fillet.
Finally, prepare, stuff and fry the zucchini flowers. Gently rinse each flower and trim off the greenery at the base. Gently open each flower and reach inside to remove the stamen (the long, powdery protrusion with yellow pollen) to allow more room for the stuffing. Also, the stamen can be bitter with some varieties of zucchini. Add a bit of stuffing and then twist gently to close the tip of the flower.
Stuffing zucchini flowers with mozzarella, anchovies, or breadcrumb mixture
Fry the zucchini flowers in a large pan of oil over medium high heat. Adjust the heat as you are frying so that the flowers sizzle as they cook but do not allow the oil to become too hot and burn the batter. Turn once or twice so all sides fry evenly. Generally, when the batter takes on a light golden color it is cooked. If the mozzarella melts it may start to seep out of the flower, and this is also a sign to remove the flower from the oil.
Remove each fried zucchini flower with a slotted spoon to a plate covered with a paper towel. After the oil has drained a bit, and while still hot, remove to another plate and sprinkle with salt.
If you do have some zucchinis available to fry, you can cut them in mounds or strips and fry these in the same batter, in the same way, drain, and salt.
8. Serve hot and enjoy as the perfect summer appetizer before an Italian meal!
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Angel Hair Pasta with Fried Zucchini
This is a favorite family zucchini dish my mother recently remembered from her childhood. So simple to make, with just zucchini, olive oil and garlic, and so delicious! It is a great way to use some of the many zucchini that should follow the zucchini flowers. Watch this method in real time by clicking the link from my Instagram account:
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1-2 zucchini, sliced cross-wise
olive oil for frying
1 lb. thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method:
Set a pot of water on the stove to boil for the thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta.
Cover the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil and heat over medium heat.
Add the garlic to the olive oil and let cook a couple of minutes to flavor the olive oil, but don’t let brown.
Add the zucchini to the olive oil a little at a time, so as not to crowd the pan, and fry over medium to medium-high heat, turning once or twice. At first it will seem like the zucchini are not cooking much, but they will then start to lose water, shrink, and finally turn a light brown. Remove with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl.
Remove the garlic when it turns brown and continue to fry zucchini.
When almost all the zucchini has been fried, cook the pasta.
Add the cooked pasta to the bowl with the fried zucchini. Add a bit of the oil from the frying pan and mix to coat.
Add freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste, and mix again. Enjoy!
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Pulling New Potatoes
This past spring, I found several potatoes in the back of my cupboard that had started to grow eyes, so I tried something new. I cut up the potatoes so each piece had an eye and buried the pieces in large pots outdoors, with the eyes facing upward. I was hoping to grow some “new potatoes,” which are simply potatoes that are pulled to eat before they flower and become mature in the fall. They are, of course, smaller than the mature potatoes but have an exceptionally good flavor.
I have to say, the potatoes grew nicely in the pots through the spring and even into the early summer without any help at all from me. Below is the Instagram video I created when I pulled the last of the “new potatoes” for a Monday night pork chop dinner. If you look closely you can still see the chunk of “old potato” that I started with.
They were so delicious that night for dinner that next year I plan to plant many more to have a continual harvest through the springtime.
Below is an Instagram link to a simple dinner I made in two frying pans. Pork chops in olive oil with garlic and rosemary (my favorite way to make them) in one pan and radish greens in olive oil and garlic for the second pan. The bitter radish greens went beautifully with the pork chops. The new potatoes were so flavorful all they needed was a quick boil in water.
I think every Italian gardener cherishes the appearance of the first ripening tomato more than any other vegetable they are growing. I was very careful this year to follow proper procedures while planting my tomatoes, especially the San Marzano tomatoes I had grown from seed. Please see my previous blogs for more information about growing tomatoes from seed and the best conditions to plant tomatoes.
Once planted, it is a good idea to steak tomato plants, making sure to tie the main stem loosely as it grows. For cherry tomato plants I use a tomato cage, as they tend to have more greenery, but this year I also put a steak in the middle of the cage as the plants became larger in an attempt to tie up the branches and lift them off the ground.
As the tomato plants grew, I followed protocol and pinched off the side shoots, or “suckers” that grow between the main stem and the main branches on many types of tomato plants. ( This included all I had planted this year except the cherry tomato plants.) Pinching off side shoots should allow my plants to direct their energy into producing more tomatoes. In previous years, I was always concerned that I would mistakenly pinch back a flowering branch, so I created this video to show how to find those “useless” side shoots that create greenery instead of tomatoes.
Tomatoes need full sun and lots of water to thrive — but not too much water! I planted a variety of different tomatoes I had bought from the nursery in a raised garden, and my San Marzano tomatoes in a raised garden and in pots. All did well, and I was careful to water on the many July days we’ve had this summer that were 90+ degrees. But just as my nursery tomatoes started to ripen, down came heavy rain. For several days on end. The very first tomatoes had a split in the skin, an unavoidable problem, but they were delicious just the same. Below are some images of my early ripened tomatoes.
Do you want to speak Italian more easily and confidently by the end of 2020?
One of the most important things for any language student to learn is how to ask politely for what they want. In Italy, of course, there are many social interactions that routinely occur between a customer and service people — clerks, shopkeepers, waiters — and there several commonly used phrases that make these interactions pleasant and polite.
As I’ve said before, I believe that “commonly used phrases” are the key for how we can all build fluency in any language in a short time.
If we learn how to incorporate“commonly used phrases” when we ask for what we want in Italian, we will be able to communicate just as we do in our native language!
This post is the 35th in a series of Italian phrases we have been trying out in our Conversational Italian! Facebook group. If you’d like to read the earlier posts in the series, “Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!” just click HERE
Many “commonly used phrases” in Italian
start with “I want” or “I would like” and use the verbs
volere and desiderare.
See below for how this works.
As we all master these phrases, so will you. Try my method and let me know how it works. What sentences will you create with these verbs?
The basics of the Italian language are introduced in the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook and reference booksJust the Verbsand Just the Grammar
The rights to purchase the Conversational Italian for Travelers books in PDF format on two electronic devices can also be obtained atLearn Travel Italian.com.
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How to Say, “I want…”
with Volere and Desiderare in Italian
Volere is an Italian verb that means “to want” or “to need.” Volere ends in-ere, which makes it a second conjugation verb. However, it is also an irregular verb, and the stem will change for all forms except the voi form. As you can imagine, volere is a very important verb to know in order to communicate what your needs are while in Italy, and you will find theio and tu forms are very important to commit to memory.
The verb conjugation table below is reprinted from the Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs”book and textbook. In all Conversational Italian for Travelers books, material is presented with the visual learner in mind, and this includes color-coding for easy memorization. In the conjugation table below, the irregular verb forms for the present tense of volare are given in brown, and the regular voiconjugation is given in green. Notice also that the stressed syllable for each verb has been underlined.
Volere – to want (present tense)
io
voglio
I want
tu
vuoi
you (familiar)want
Lei
lei/lui
vuole
you (polite)want
she/he wants
noi
vogliamo
we want
voi
volete
you all want
loro
vogliono
they want
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The conditional form of volere is also very useful, since it is a polite way to ask for something from a clerk at a store or a waiter at a restaurant. The ioconditional form of volere is also irregular, and isvorrei, which means, “I would like.”
Use the polite vorrei and say, “I would like…”instead of the more demanding “Voglio…” when asking for what you need in Italy; politeness is usually rewarded with the same in return. Conditional verb forms are generally studied at the intermediate level, but “vorrei” is one verb that every student of Italian should learn right from the start!
Volere – to want (conditional tense)
io
vorrei
I would like
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So, now we know how to tell someone what we want. Or do we? After “I want,” we often need to add another verb to express what we want to do – to go, to return, to buy, etc.
To express what you want, first conjugate the verb volere into one of the first conjugation, or io forms: voglio or vorrei. Then simply add the infinitive form of the action verb directly after the conjugated form of volere. This is the same as we would do in English! The verbvolere is known as a helping verb for the way that it modifies, or adds to, the meaning of the main verb in the sentence.
See below for Italian example sentences that use the helping verb volere. Both the helping verb and the main verb in the sentence have been underlined.
Notice that the subject pronoun io is left out of the Italian phrases, as usual. Remember that when going “to” a country, region, or large island in Italy, you must use the Italian preposition “in” (which has the same meaning as the English word “in”). However, when going to a city, town, or a small island in Italy, you must use the preposition “a,” for “to.”
Voglio andare in Italia.
Voglio andare a Roma.
(I) want to go to Italy.
(I)want to go to Rome.
Vorrei comprare un biglietto.
(I)would like to buy a ticket.
Voglio tornare lunedì.
(I)want to return Monday.
Of course, the verb volere can also be followed by a noun, the “object of our desire”! Some examples:
Voglio un’appartamento a Roma.
(I) want an apartment in Rome.
Vorrei quella macchina rossa!
(I) would like that red car!
Voglio una grande festa quando faccio cinquanta!
(I)want a big party when I turn 50!
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After learning how a visitor to Italy should express their needs using the verb volere, it is important to realize how the verb desiderare comes into play in every day life. When one is out and about shopping in Italy, desiderare is the verb most commonly used by a clerk or shopkeeper to ask a customer what they want. Desiderare is most often used with the meaning “to want” in the business setting, but can also mean “to desire”or can have the more forceful meanings of “to demand” or“to require” (another person to do something).
Desiderare is a regular -areverb, and the polite “you” form, “Desidera..?”is commonly by shopkeepers when a customer enters a store. This is a shorthand way to ask, “Can I help you?” Of course, a customer may also hear, “Posso aiutarla?” for the official, polite, “May I help you?”
An example conversation between a traveler, Caterina, and a ticket clerk, Rosa, is given below from Chapter 4: At the Train station, an excerpt from our Conversational Italian for Travelers story with interactive dialogues.
In this example, directly after Rosa, the clerk at the ticket counter says, “Buon giorno,” she asks, “Dove desidera andare?” as a way of inviting Caterina to purchase a ticket. Desidera is now the helping verb and is conjugated into its “polite you” form, while andare follows in the infinitive.
Caterina answers the initial question in the dialogue with the polite vorrei but then later on uses the ioform of desiderare,which is desidero; desiderare can, of course, be used by the customer as well as a clerk or salesperson!
Read the dialogue below through as an example of how these words might be used. To hear the full dialogue between Caterina and Rosa on your computer or smartphone, just click here: Chapter 4: At the Train station.
Rosa: Buon giorno. Dove desidera andare?
Hello. Where (do) you (pol.) want to go?
Caterina:Vorrei andare a Milano.
(I) would like to go to Milan
Rosa: Prima o seconda classe?
First or second class?
Caterina: Desidero la prima classe, diretto, per Milano, per favore.
(I) wantfirst class, direct, for Milan, please.
There are, of course, many more situations in which one could ask for what they want using voglio,vorrei,or desiderare. How many more can you think of?
Remember how to use the verbs volere and desiderareto ask for what you want in Italian and I guarantee you will use these verbs every day!
Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs”
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Conversational Italian for Travelers books
Ciao a tutti! It’s been almost one month since my last gardening blog, and over these last weeks I’ve been thinning out my lettuce patch and enjoying delicious, fresh salads almost every day of the week.
Some of you may have already seen the Instagram posts of my “Insalata del giorno” / “Salade du jour,” or “Salad of the day.” Today I’m going to collect all of the salad ideas I’ve been sharing on Instagram, and a couple more, to share with you in this blog.
As I have mentioned in my previous Your Italian-American Gardening Tips blog, from May 26, this year I have been focusing on my raised gardens. In this blog we’ll check in on the lettuce patch I planted in early spring and see how it has been doing after the few episodic heat waves we’ve had here in Chicagoland.
My hope is that you will enjoy the tips I’ve learned about gardening through many years of experience and be encouraged to start an Italian garden yourself — be it large or small, in a yard or on your porch, or even indoors in pots near a sunny window — after reading the blogs in this series “Your Italian Gardening Tips.”
Below are my insights on growing lettuce, along with some salad recipe ideas. Please leave a comment if you want and let me know what your favorite salad combination is!
When I last wrote, on May 26, 2020, I already had small radishes to harvest and also a variety of baby lettuces growing closely together in rows. I started the lettuce this past spring by seeding rows directly outdoors, and chose my raised garden that is in shade for part of the day so the lettuce would have some relief from the afternoon soon as the days got hotter. Lettuce loves the cool weather and did well this year with the temperature and amount of rain (lots) here in my part of Illinois.
I’ve continued to thin out the lettuce rows by harvesting a few early lettuce greens each day, and the space left has quickly filled in as the remaining lettuces have grown. The bonus I get from this method of direct seeding and gradual thinning is fresh baby lettuce for my salads at lunchtime!
All varieties of lettuce have continued to do well. Romaine lettuce is one of the most heat tolerant types, and a few of my larger heads of romaine lettuce have been maturing nicely and are now forming the “core” or “heart” in the center.
Below are photos of the lettuce patch in late May and in mid-June.
Mixed lettuce greens May 2020
Mixed lettuce greens June 2020
Rows background to foreground: radishes, Romaine lettuce, mixed lettuce greens
My radishes have already started to go to seed, though. In the background of the last photo you can see that long stalks have formed on my radish greens and there are far fewer leaves growing off the plant than usual. When I started to notice this happen, I quickly harvested my other two rows of radishes (not shown here), and was able to save the leafy greens. They are bitter but very good sauteed in garlic and olive oil, as I mentioned in my last blog. I’ve stored the radishes with their greens intact in my refrigerator for now, where they should keep for several weeks.. I plan to keep this last row in the photograph in the ground for now.
In the place of my radish rows, I’ve planted shallots and a few red onions, which are handy to have for cooking and can be kept in the ground through the heat of summer into the late fall.
Unfortunately, my rows of arugula also quickly went to seed when we had a short heat wave. Arugula (also called roquette) is technically an herb of the mustard family, with leaves that resemble lettuce. As I’ve mentioned before, I love to toss these pungent, peppery leaves into my salad. But this year, it was not meant to be for very long! Check out the long stalks with white flowers in the photo below. I will let it seed the garden this year, as I’ve had a second growth of arugula in the past with this method when the cooler weather takes over again.
Arugula gone to seed, with long stalks and white flowers
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Four Salads for Summer Days
It’s salad time with chive flowers!
In last month’s gardening blog, I shared a photo of my salad of baby mixed greens, chive flowers and radishes. Below is the Instagram link that I later published, which lists all the ingredients and basic method for making a salad.
For this salad of early greens, I used what I had at the time in my garden: mixed greens, chives flowers for an onion flavor, and radishes. By the way, all parts of the chive plant are edible, including the flower, which makes a colorful addition to salads. I always discard the stalk the flower is growing on, though, as it is too hard to eat.
Adding a bit of cheese to salad is something I learned long ago on a trip to France, and I couldn’t resist adding some fresh brie I had on hand on top of the salad greens. Off camera, both were delicious with a bit of crusty bread!
Since my first salad of the year, I’ve enjoyed creating many more salads. It has been fun for me to make a sort of salade composée (a salad in which the ingredients are arranged on an individual plate rather than being tossed in one big bowl) for Instagram photos, like the one above. But, of course. the flavor of the salad is what really counts.
So, how does one go about creating a flavorful salad? I like to follow a few rules.
Some of these rules may seem obvious, but I always like to start from the beginning when approaching any topic.
For me, the first rule, which should be evident from my past two blogs, is to always start with fresh greens.
Having my own small lettuce patch has made such a big difference in the quality of my salads. The freshest greens are just beyond my kitchen door, growing steadily until the instant I pluck them for my salad, instead of slowly wilting in my refrigerator “crisper” drawer. Also, I make salads more often as it is now much easier since the major ingredient is readily available.
To prepare salad greens: rinse salad greens thoroughly in cold water, as dirt tends to stick in between the leaves. Then spin all the water particles off with a salad spinner. This will allow the salad oil to cling to the leaves, rather than run off into a pool of water at the bottom of the plate or bowl. If not using the salad right away, refrigerate to keep the leaves crisp and cool and compose the salad just before serving.
The second rule I follow is to always choose a good quality oil, and this is most often extra-virgin olive oil. (As a corollary to this, I never eat twice at a restaurant that will serve me a salad made with flavorless cooking oil.) I also keep walnut oil on hand for when I make a salad with walnuts, but this is a very delicate oil that is expensive and will loose flavor quickly once open, so it is not nearly as useful as extra-virgin olive oil.
Extra-virgin olive oils come from many different regions of Italy, and have many different flavors and intensities. That said, of course, always choose your favorite olive oil when making a salad, since the flavor of the oil will definitely come through in a salad with fresh greens.
A word of caution when choosing extra-virgin olive oil: always read the ingredients on the label, as not all extra-virgin olive oils are first press or cold press (which bring out the most flavor) and many companies will combine Italian olive oil with olive oils from one or even several other countries. True extra-virgin olive oil is not a blended oil.
Also, try to avoid buying older olive oils that are “on sale” because this usually means that they have been on the shelf for longer then they should be — maybe 6 months… or even 1 year or more! Unlike wine, olive oil looses flavor with exposure to air and so the freshest olive oil is the best tasting olive oil. It is likely that much of the original flavor of the olive oil put on “special sale” will have been lost at the time of this special promotion, especially if the oil is in a bottle that does not have a covering or dark glass to protect it from the light.
The third key ingredient is the vinegar, and I choose my vinegar based on the style of salad I am making.
For Italian salads, a simple drizzle of red wine vinegar along with the extra virgin olive oil and a quick mix to coat the leaves will usually suffice. Balsamic vinegar has become very popular in America, but is less common in green salads than red wine vinegar in Italy, and is usually reserved for the appetizer “prosciutto e melone” or a special dessert.
American “Italian dressing” in the bottle with a strong garlic flavor and an assortment of pungent herbs is not found in Italy. And only fresh salad greens are served in Italy (at least at the restaurants I’ve eaten at), so the lettuce leaves are not drowned in a lot of dressing, would hide their delicate flavor and make the lettuce leaf limp.
I love a good French vinaigrette, which is simply a more formal ratio of vinegar to olive oil with the addition of salt, pepper, and if desired fresh herbs and a touch of mustard. My favorite ratio of vinegar to oil is 1 Tb. vinegar for each 6 Tb/ olive oil. If you like less vinegar, use 1/2 Tb. (1 1/2 tsps). If you like more, use 2 Tb. vinegar.
What about that orange “French Dressing” sold in supermarkets? I have yet to find a French cook who promotes this type of dressing as French!
Finally, I like to add interest to my fresh green salad with ingredients that add flavor, texture and a bit of crunchiness.
Over the years, I learned the value of adding a bit of cheese to a salad to add flavor, and I especially like the Gorgonzola or goat cheese-baby spinach combination. Any cheese eaten with or along side a fresh green salad with a bit of bread, is wonderful in my opinion!
Nuts are commonly added to salads now-a-days, such as walnuts or almonds, for crunch and flavor. I love homemade croutons as well (see below for a 2 step “how to make garlic croutons” below).
It is fun to add spring fruit such as strawberries, and later raspberries, to salad as well; after a long winter without either fruit or fresh salad greens, it just seems right to put them together in one dish! Also, I love a cool watermelon and feta salad in the late summer, but that is for another blog…
Many brightly colored raw vegetables add both flavor and interest as well as a bit of crunch to a salad. I love carrots, peppers, radishes and celery. Red onions, or a more mild onion flavor such as that found in chives and chive flowers or scallions (green onions) add an expected salad flavor, and onions also add color and texture.
And, of course, tomatoes are an important component in salads when they are in season and vine-ripened. Cherry tomatoes in particular are the perfect size for a mixed salad. The salads mentioned below do not include tomatoes, as they were not in season at the time of this writing.
Almost every restaurant in Italy that serves dinner will have an “insalata mista” listed on the menu. The name literally means “mixed salad,” and it signifies that the chef will include the fresh ingredients of the day, “mixed” gently and served simply.
For my “insalata mista” pictured below, I choose baby romaine lettuce from my garden, with a few of my mixed lettuce greens for color, along with carrots, red peppers and radishes. Red onions would also have been a good addition.
I couldn’t resist making some large garlic croutons for the side by cutting up crusty Italian bread into large rectangles and drizzling on a mixture of extra-virgin olive oil and crushed garlic. I cooked them at 350° until lightly brown, but not too long, or the tiny garlic pieces will burn. Remember to turn them once while they are in the oven so each side can brown. In Italy, slices of bread are often brushed with olive oil and rubbed with a fresh clove of garlic to be served as is or as the base of a bruschetta (pronounced broo-sket-ta).
Insalata mista with garlic croutons
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Mixed Green Salad
with Gorgonzola Cheese
and Raspberries
Pictured below are mixed greens with gorgonzola cheese sprinkled throughout, crushed bits of walnut, and raspberries. Salad greens are tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar. Balsamic vinegar is drizzled on raspberries. A salad with Italian ingredients and a bit of a French flair since the walnuts and raspberries are included. Here is a chance to use your walnut oil before it becomes stale!
Mixed salad greens with gorgonzola cheese, walnuts and raspberries
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Spinach Salad with
Goat Cheese
and Strawberries
There are many versions of spinach salad, some of which use strawberries, probably because both ingredients are available at about the same time late spring, as I mentioned above. And they taste delicious together. I love this combination.
The pungent flavor of goat cheese is (in my mind) also connected with springtime, and I enjoy the combination of spinach and goat cheese.
I added red onion for contrasting flavor and for a bit of crunch I added almonds to the spinach salad below.
Instead of a sugary, strawberry-flavored dressing often found with this type of salad, I used extra-virgin olive oil and a bit of aged balsamic vinegar, which goes well with fruit and holds up nicely with the fairly strong flavor of spinach. The Instagram post is below:
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Conversational Italian for Travelers books
Last month I had the pleasure of speaking with Bob Sorrentino on his podcast for Italiangenealogy.com, and I’ve included the link to our 30 minute conversation, entitled “How to Learn Italian for Travel” at the end of this blog.
If you listen, you’ll hear about my effort to find my Occhipinti relatives in Sicily and also about Bob’s fascinating family tree. Bob was kind enough to ask me the story behind why I wrote my Conversational Italian for Travelers books, and of course I couldn’t resist including some of my tips for learning Italian near the end of the podcast!
As many of you probably know, I have been building the Occhipinti family tree with my cousin, Jennifer Petrino of Sicilianfamilytree.com for over 4 years now. Actually, I should say that Jennifer has been building my Occhipinti family tree, as she has done all the research, with me serving only to outline the information I want her to find! This effort finally culminated in a long-anticipated trip last September to the Occhipinti home town of Ragusa, Sicily, which I wrote about in the blog Your Italian Travel Tips – Visit Ragusa, Sicily and Experience Centuries of Culture.
Jennifer introduced me to Bob Sorrentino’s website, Italiangenealogy.com, and I was immediately impressed. Bob has compiled a treasure trove of information about Italian Genealogy that covers many details of the field and he makes this information free to his readers. On his website one finds information on Italian family lines, Italian history, and Italian law and politics, with articles such as, “How Professional Genealogists Determine Ancestral Nobility in Italy” and “Medieval Genealogical Research.” I was also fascinated by the research he did to find his relatives back to the 900s AD and what he uncovered about his relatives along the way. I even found a video map of the peoples who have inhabited Sicily over the ages, which I was so enthralled with that I’ve copied it to this blob at the end of this section.
Here is what Bob has to say about his work, in his own words:
I was always a history buff and enjoyed going though the family photo albums. One item in the album was my great grandfather’s “calling card” that my maternal grandmother brought from Italy. The story was that he was a Count or at least Italian Nobility.
About 12 years ago I began the research into both my parents Italian families… I thought it would be fun to not only share my findings, but potentially help others find their roots. Not being a professional genealogist, I figured the best way to do this would be to create a website and a blog http://www.italiangenealogy.blog.
The blog is fun, but it is only a one way medium, so in early 2020 I create my podcast to interview not only professionals, that can help people with research and getting Italian citizenship, but just regular people that want to tell their story.
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And now, through the magic of the internet, I’m happy to be able to share my experiences searching for my Italian heritage and my tips to learn Italian!
Here is the link to the Podcast on Italiangenealogy.com
Buon divertimento!
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Do you want to speak Italian more easily and confidently by the end of 2020?
If I am making small talk with someone I’ve just met, or conversing with a friend or family member, I find that knowing a little bit about how to describe the weather in Italian is very useful. And, now that the warm weather is upon us in Chicagoland, I’m betting that we will all spend more time than usual talking about the weather.
As I’ve said before, I believe that “commonly used phrases” are the key for how we can all build fluency in any language in a short time.
If we learn how to incorporate“commonly used phrases” when we talk about the weather in Italian we will be able to communicate just as we do in our native language!
This post is the 34th in a series of Italian phrases we have been trying out in our Conversational Italian! Facebook group. If you’d like to read the earlier posts in the series, “Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!” just click HERE
Many “commonly used phrases” in Italian
are used to talk about the weather.
See below for how this works.
As we all master these phrases, so will you. Try my method and let me know how it works. What sentences will you create with these phrases?
The basics of the Italian language are introduced in the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook and reference booksJust the Verbsand Just the Grammar
The rights to purchase the Conversational Italian for Travelers books in PDF format on two electronic devices can also be obtained atLearn Travel Italian.com.
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Let’s Talk About…
The Weather in Italian
For a general assessment of the weather, Italians use the ever-popular verb fare in the third person singular, which you will remember is fa. (If you need a refresher on how to conjugate the verb fare, you will find this in our Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs” reference book.)
In English, the verb to be is used to directly refer to “it,” meaning “the weather,” and how “it” actually “is” outside. Instead, Italians speak of theweather “it” is making with the verb fa. So, it is very important to thinkin Italian if we want to talkabout the weather in Italian!
Remember that the reference to “it” in the Italian sentence will be left out, as usual.
Below are some examples of how this works, with the correct English translation in black and the literal Italian translation in gray, so we can understand the Italian language approach to this topic.
If you want to ask someone how the weather is, rather than telling them, you can use many of the same phrases, but just raise your voice at the end of the sentence. There is no need to invert the subject and the verb, as we do in English.
Notice that in Italian the same word means both time and weather —il tempo.
Che tempo fa? What is the weather?(lit. What weather does it make?)
Fa caldo.
Fa molto caldo! Fa caldo?
It is warm/hot. It is very hot! Is it warm/hot?
(lit. It makes heat.)
Fa fresco. Fa fresco?
It is cool. Is it cool?
(lit. It makes cool.)
Fa freddo.
Fa freddissimo! Fa freddo?
It is cold.
It is very cold! Is it cold?
(lit. It makes cold.)
Fa bel tempo. Fa bel tempo?
It is nice weather. Is it nice weather?
(lit. It makes nice weather.)
Fa bello.
Fa bellissimo.
It is nice/very nice out.
(lit. It makes nice/very nice weather.)
Fa brutto tempo. Fa brutto tempo?
It is bad weather. Is it bad weather?
(lit. It makes bad weather.)
Fa brutto.
It is bad outside.
(lit. It makes bad weather.)
Of course, we may want to know how the weather was during a certain event or at a certain time. Chatting about the weather is a common pastime in any country. Why not chat about how the weather was in Italian?
To talk about the weather in the immediate past tense, we must return to the imperfetto and the passato prossimo. We have been learning about these two forms of the past tense recently, in our last two blogs in this series. For a more in-depth explanation of how to use the imperfettoand passato prossimo forms of the Italian past tense, click on the link for the verb tense you want to learn about. Or, take a look at our reference book, Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs”.
The imperfettothird person singular form of fare,which is faceva, is the most commonly used form with our general expressions.
Of course, if we want to refer to a specific time frame, the passato prossimo third person singular form of fare, which is ha fatto, should be used.
Below are general questions about the weather, this time in the past tense:
Che tempo faceva?
What was the weather?
(lit. What weather did it make?)
Come era il tempo?
How was the weather?
And our answers, depending on the situation…
Faceva caldo.
It was hot.
(lit. It made heat.)
Ha fatto caldo tutto il giorno.
It was hot all day.
Faceva fresco.
It was cool.
(lit. It made cool.)
Ha fatto fresco ieri.
It was cool yesterday.
Faceva freddo.
It was cold.
(lit. It made cold.)
Ha fatto freddo quest’inverno.
It was cold all winter.
Faceva bel tempo.
It was nice weather.
(lit. It made nice weather.)
Faceva bello.
It was nice outside.
(lit. It made nice weather.)
Faceva brutto tempo.
It was bad weather.
(lit. It made bad weather.)
Faceva brutto tempo.
It was bad outside.
(lit. It made bad weather.)
Now, let’s try to be more specific and descriptive when we talk about the weather in Italian; let’s talk about common weather conditions, such as the rain, snow and wind, and how the weather changes throughout the seasons.
Below are a few conversational sentences. Since I am living in the Chicago area, I couldn’t resist a few lines about the show we’ve had to shovel this past winter (although this does seem a long time ago by now). How many more can you think of?
È primavera.*
It is springtime.
Ci sono nuvole scure.
There are dark clouds.
Viene a piovere.
It is going to rain.
(lit. Here comes the rain.)
C’e la pioggia?
Is it raining?
Piove.
It’s raining.
Tira vento.
It’s windy.
I fiori sono in fiore.
The flowers are blooming.
Ho un mazzo di rose rosse che ho colto dal giardino.
I have a bunch of red roses that I picked from the garden.
È estate.*
It is summer.
C’è sole.
It’s sunny. (lit. There is sun.)
È umido.
Andiamo alla spiaggia!
Andiamo in montagne!
It’s humid. Let’s go to the beach!
Let’s go to the mountains!
È autunno.*
It is autumn.
Fa fresco.
It’s cool. (lit. It makes coolness).
Le foglie cadano dagli alberi.
The leaves fall from the trees.
È inverno.*
It is winter.
È gelido.
It’s freezing.
La gelata è dappertutto.
The frost is everywhere.
C’è la neve?
Is it snowing?
Nevica.
It’s snowing.
C’è la bufera di neve.
It’s a snowstorm.
I fiocchi di neve sono tanti.
There are so many snowflakes.
I bambini fanno un pupazzo di neve.
The children are making a snowman.
Mi piace sciare. Ho gli sci belli.
I like skiing. I have wonderful skis.
Devo spalare la neve ora!
I have to shovel the snow now!
Voglio una pala per la neve.
I want a snow shovel.
Uso sempre uno spazzaneve.
I always use a snowblower.
*In a simple statement about what season it is, the Italian definite article (il, la, l’ = the) is not used after È. However, in a longer sentence such as, “È l‘inverno che porta la neve,” the definite article (in this case l’) is used. (Translation: It is the winter that brings the snow./Winter brings the snow.)
Finally, there are a few rules to follow if we want to talk about specific weather conditions in the Italian past tense.
If we want to talk about a particular instance in time when we experienced a certain weather condition, we must use the passato prossimo form of the past tense.
When using the passato prossimo, the verbs piovere,nevicare, and tirare can be conjugated using eitheravereoressere, as in:
Ieri ha piovuto per due ore.Yesterday, it rained for two hours.
or
Ieri è piovuto per due ore. Yesterday, it rained for two hours.
General phrases in the past tense about the sun, clouds, fog or humidity are talked about using the imperfetto. Or, if we want to mention the weather as the “setting” during a certain activity that happened once in the past, we would again use the imperfetto (usually as the first phrase) along with the passato prossimo (usually as the second phrase).
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The expressions we have already encountered in the second part of this blog are given below again, this time with the imperfetto in the first column and with the passato prossimo in the second column.
Notice the different meanings for each type of past tense. And how the word “it,” as usual, is left out of the Italian phrase, but is necessary for the English translation.
The words gia(already) and appena(just) are commonly used with the passato prossimo to give additional information.
Pioveva. It was raining.
Ha già piovuto. It already rained.
Nevicava. It was snowing.
Ha appena nevicato. It has just snowed.
Tirava vento. It was windy.
Ha tirato vento tutto il giorno. It was windy all day.
C’era sole.
It was sunny.
C’era nebbia.
It was foggy.
Era nuvoloso.
It was cloudy.
Era sereno.
It was clear.
Era umido.
It was humid.
L’umidità è stata molto alta oggi.
The humidity was very high today.
L’umidità è stata bassa oggi.
The humidity was very low today.
Remember how to talk about the weather in Italian and I guarantee you will use these phrases every day!
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Conversational Italian for Travelers books
Ciao a tutti! It’s been another month since my last gardening blog and over these last weeks I’ve been thinning out my lettuce patch and enjoying delicious, fresh salads almost every day of the week. Some of you may have already seen my Instagram posts of my “Salads du jour” “Salads of the day”
As I have mentioned in my previous Your Italian-American Gardening Tips blog, from March 29, this year I plan to focus on tending to my new raised gardens. In this blog we’ll check in on the lettuce seeds I planted in early spring, and then set up our zucchini, tomato, and strawberry beds.
And also… we will check out how our perennial herbs I planted last year made it through the winter.
My hope is that you will enjoy the tips I’ve learned about gardening through many years of experience and be encouraged to start an Italian garden yourself — be it large or small, in a yard or on your porch, or even indoors in pots near a sunny window — after reading the blogs in this series “Your Italian Gardening Tips.”
Below are my insights on growing lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries and herbs. Please leave a comment if you want. I’d love to hear what you’ve learned about gardening!
When I last wrote, in March 2020, I demonstrated how a little plot of tilled soil can be used to spread lettuce seeds in rows. Since that time, I’ve been watching the seeds as they have sprouted and started to mature. It was a very rainy spring here in Chicagoland, so I did not have to water, except for the first few days after planting, to encourage the seeds to germinate.
As of this post, I have small radishes to harvest and also a variety of immature lettuces growing closely together.
Radish seeds planted two months ago yield small, fully developed radishes.
Radishes are one of the quickest vegetables to mature, and are not as harsh tasting if the weather remains cool. They are also good to harvest young and small before they develop a more tough, woody texture. I harvest radishes as I need them, pulling the entire plant out and choosing the largest to thin out the row and leave space for other plants to grow.
I scatter the radish bulbs in salads. The radish greens are edible, but even young greens have a coarse texture that is not appealing in fresh salads. Radish greens can be cooked on the stove-top in the same manner as other edible greens (olive oil and garlic if you are Italian) and I’ve even seen internet recipes for pesto, although I have not tried these.
Now that the lettuces have started to grow, I have been making my own “baby lettuce” salads, which I enjoy, while at the same time thinning out the rows so the lettuces can mature. I especially like to eat these lettuces young, as in my area of the Midwest the weather tends to go from cold to very hot quickly. Unfortunately, the heat will make lettuce “bolt,” which means a long flower stem will quickly grow and mature. After this, the plant dies back.
Mixed green lettuce salad with chive flowers, radishes and brie cheese
This year I grew arugula ( also called roquette, or garden rocket), romaine lettuce and mixed lettuce greens. I have yet to get romaine lettuce to fully mature (see reason above), but the young leaf makes a nice salad. Like most Italians, I like the bitter taste of arugula in salads, which technically is a mustard green. It is best eaten young, because the hotter it gets outside and the larger the leaf, the more pungent and peppery the flavor. Spinach can also be grown easily from seed and is wonderful in salads, of course, and many years I also have young spinach leaves at this point as well.
Lettuce and arugula alongside radishesMixed lettuce greens
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And how did the herbs overwinter?
Overwintering herbs is always a challenge for me mainly because the heat and sunlight that herbs love are difficult to provide indoors. Rosemary, in particular is picky. Rosemary likes a lot of sunlight and cool breezes; it needs heat, but does not like our heated homes. It grows wonderfully in the California bay area, where I’ve seen entire hedges of rosemary. At home, this year I managed to find a corner close to, but not too close to a heat source, which was also by a large window, and this seemed to work fairly well. The plant survived, but looked a lot less happy then when it was growing outdoors this summer.
Also, as the winter progresses, I pinch off rosemary and bay leaves for cooking stews, leaving much less of a plant then when they started! Since there were only small herb plants this year at the nursery, and not much variety, I am glad my rosemary and bay plants survived indoors.
My potted herbs lead the pathway to my raised garden out back again this year. I love having herbs right out my kitchen door, fresh and ready to use from spring to the first frost in the fall. It takes only a morning of planting the annuals (and a little watering during dry spells) for a month’s long reward!
The rue, oregano and mint I planted outdoors last summer are perennials and loved our mild, rainy winter and have reappeared. Rue and oregano are already many times their original size! And the chives I planted about 10 years ago in a pot and have left outdoors in all types of weather, have predictably come up once again this year and are showing their lovely, spikes of purple flowers.
Original rue plant 2019Rue, May 2020Original oregano 2019Oregano, May 202Chives flowering May 2020
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Planning Your Vegetable Garden
Before I plant my vegetable garden each year, I always draw a diagram that allows me to determine how much space I have for what I want to grow. Most times, I have more ambition than space! The drawing allows me to realize this. I also (usually) check the seed packets and a gardening book to make sure the area I choose will give the plants the sunlight they require. I love the book Growing Fruit and Vegetables,by Richard Bird, but have also found lots of helpful advice on the Internet.
My raised garden with the lettuce patch is in a shady area of the yard, and in the more sunny raised garden next to it contains sugar snap peas for my spring greens. I planted zucchini along the side of the raised garden that gets the most sunlight. Even here, I will probably not have enough space and will end up with vines growing on the lawn, but which looks a bit messy in a suburb, but it is the best I can do for now! I am going to try to train the vines to grow into a small area between the sunny part of the garden and the raised bed. We shall see…
Below is my “idea” of how my garden should look. You will notice that I’ve made notes and “inter-planted” leeks and shallots between the rows of lettuce in the lettuce garden and seeds for an Italian turnip that is eaten like a broccholi rabe (cima di rapa) between the pea bushes. The pots along the perimeter of the raised bed will start herbs from seed that I could not find in the nursery this year (more on these in later blogs).
Lettuce and zucchini garden 2020
Oh, and I almost forgot the Swiss chard in the perimeter of the zucchini mounds. I’ve had good success in the past growing Swiss chard and cavolo nero (the so-called black Tuscan kale that has lately become so popular) from seed, with both plants producing stalks with large, colorful leaves that last through even in the hottest Illinois summers into the fall. These large, leafy greens have the added benefit of providing a natural “fence” that shelters the garden a bit from onlookers. My plans for sorrel, cardoon and turnips had to be scratched for next year as I realized later that I will need a place to train my zucchini vines.
Because I like a large number and large variety of tomatoes and peppers, I built another raised garden in the sunniest part of the yard. It is also a bit sheltered, just beside a fence, which will help protect the tomato plants from the fierce wind and thunderstorms we get in the Illinois summers. I also love strawberries and these fruits come up nicely each year in Illinois (although they are best when covered with sheets during episodes of frost), so I planted these in the middle of this raised garden.
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Planting Zucchini
Zucchini grow wonderfully from seeds in the hot, humid summers of the Midwest. A few stray seeds have even been known to germinate in my compost heap! I started growing zucchini in my home garden mainly for the zucchini flowers because zucchini flowers were not available at our local farmer’s market 10 years ago. They’ve become more popular now, but are often wilted in the heat of the market, and have to been cooked right away. So instead of purchasing them, I’ve been growing zucchini for their flowers every year since I found out how easy it is to do.
There are only a few things to know about zucchini to ensure a large crop of zucchini to pick throughout the summer.
First, plant zucchini after the threat of frost is over in your region and the soil has warmed up.
Second, zucchini love rich soil. I always weed and then loosen the top soil and mix in cow manure. I know, not a fun job but put on your gardening jeans and long gardening gloves and use a shovel with a long handle! Every time I do this I think of my Grandfather Occhipinti dragging my father along on the subway from Manhattan to their garden plot in Brooklyn, along with bags of manure for their summer vegetable garden. That must have been a sight (and a smell), no doubt!
Third, and maybe most important: there are both male and female zucchini plants. Bees must fertilize the female flower from the male flower for the female to mature into a zucchini. (See blog from last year about zucchini). For this reason, it is best to mound up the soil and plant the seeds around the mound, rather in a row. The male and female vines will be close to each other for easy fertilization.
This year I found a company called Seeds from Italy that imports Franchi brand seeds from Italy and will mail the seed packets directly to your door. Below are the zucchini types I will try to grow.
Zucchini seeds from Italy
I am particularly excited about the zucchini variety that yields large flowers for making stuffed zucchini flowers called “le bizzarre. ” This will be my first year attempting to grow cucuzza, the popular very long, southern Italian gourd that grows in the summer and is eaten like a squash. More about this particular squash can be found in my blog from last year, Your Italian-American Gardening Tips (with Recipes): Oregano (Origano) and Zucchini (Zucchina)
Unfortunately, I did not discover the flyer that came in the package with the cucuzza seeds until after I planted! The flyer advised, ” Because the seeds are so hard, germination can take as long as four to six weeks. To speed germination, scarify the seeds before planting: the easiest way to scarify is to rub the seeds on coarse sand paper, just enough to weaken the seed coat without damaging the interior part of the seed. Then soak the seeds for 24 hours to further soften the seed coat… Germination of scarified seeds occurs in about 10-14 days.” So, I will follow this process and replant at another sunny location in my yard, as advised, along a support by my fence for these vines that can grow 25 feet or longer. Even the best plans may need to be modified!
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Planting Tomatoes
This past Memorial Day weekend, I got lucky and coincidentally planted my nursery-bought tomatoes the day after a furious spring thunderstorm with hail. It is possible to plant tomatoes earlier in Chicagoland, and many gardeners set Mother’s Day weekend as their target day for planting. This year was a bit cooler than most years in May. Also, because one year previously my entire tomato crop was ruined by a hailstorm, and had to replanted just 3 days later, I always plant very late in May.
In general, tomatoes need to be planted after the last threat of frost is over. They need a manured, fertile bed, lots of sun and lots of water. And with these three things the results will be so far superior than any store-bought tomato you will ever come across! I think it is the amazing flavor of a home-grown tomato that has kept Italian-American gardeners at it all these years more than any other vegetable.
Things I do:
I save my egg shells all winter, and then put them in a paper bad and crush them while inside the bag with a meat mallet. The calcium in the crushed egg shells is said to prevent bottom rot, and I’ve never had a case of this so it may be true. It may also create a sharp environment that slugs do not like to slide over, and I have not had a problem with slugs in the past either. It is best to work the egg shells into the soil at the same time as the manure about a month before planting. Calcium should leak out of the shells as they disintegrate over time, providing a steady source of this nutrient throughout the summer.
Marigolds are said to attract beneficial insects that prey on garden pests, so I plant marigolds in along the borders of my tomato patch. I’ve also read that if you sow marigolds as a cover crop and then plow them under before planting, they will repel harmful nematodes, such as roundworms, that like to feed on the greenery of growing vegetable plants.
Just planted tomatoes and marigolds May 2020
Before planting a nursery-bought tomato plant, I pinch off any tomato flowers or tomatoes that may have started to form, to give the plant a chance to grow a bit before producing.
I plant the tomatoes as deeply as the first true leafy branch to encourage root growth. I set a tomato cage around the cherry tomatoes. The rest have a steak set next to them so I can tie the stem loosely to give the plant support as it grows. There are other methods to support tomato plants, of course.
Watering to get tomato plants through dry spells is essential. It is best to water in the morning so the plants have water available during the hottest hours of the day. Watering at night may also lead to mold formation.
Always check they information each particular tomato variety comes with. The “cordon variety” of tomato (not cherry tomatoes) will produce a side shoot (sucker) between the main stem and the fruit bearing stem. If these are not trimmed off, the plant will grow bushy and not produce much fruit. The best way to tell if you need to pinch off a side shoot is to watch the tomato plant as it grows.
So what happened to our San Marzano tomatoes that were planted from seed?
The good news is that almost all of the tomato seeds germinated nicely. Their stems are spindly, so next year I will buy a grow light to help them to grow straight.
I transplanted the San Marzano seedlings into containers I had left over from last year. When I first brought the transplanted seedlings outside, I left them in the shade as directed. But, I think I brought them into the sunlight too quickly afterward, as the leaves started turning white around the edges, equivalent to a “plant sunburn,” according to my reading. So the seedlings are back indoors to harden off for a bit. There is a third raised garden with marigolds planted in the perimeter waiting for them.
San Marzano tomato transplants
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Planting Strawberries
There is really not much to know about planting strawberries, except that it is essential choose a variety that will grow nicely in your region and to use a berry fertilizer. I like having a strawberry patch since my family loves strawberries and it seems like the ones in the grocery have become larger and larger and have less and less flavor as each year goes by. Home-grown strawberries will be smaller, but taste more like the highly prized “fragole di bosco” or wild “strawberries of the woods” hand harvested in Italy.
There are many different varieties of strawberries that fruit at different times, some more continuously than others. It is best to go to a local nursery that you can trust with someone you can talk to before choosing your strawberries since, if properly planted they will come up again for many years.
There is a professional seed store I used to go to in Peoria, Kelly Seed and Hardware, that sells just the root and shoot of a berry plant. The strawberries I bought from them over 10 years ago are still producing. Soak the root in water for 24 hours and then plant the root underground, leaving the shoot above ground.
Or, just go to your local nursery and buy a strawberry plant that has already been started in a small container. Remove from container and plant at ground level, as you would any other container plant. The plants I bought for my new strawberry patch were the last flat of berries at the nursery near me, so really no choice this year. They are “ever bearing” type and the label says these berries produce fruit in June and then in the early fall.
Plant strawberries in a sunny location. My strawberries in Peoria like a bit of shade in the afternoon from companion-planting with asparagus. I will put a bit of straw under them when they start to produce berries to keep the fruit cleaner, although this is not absolutely necessary. Water as you would any new transplant. The instructions on the strawberries I planted advised pinching off any strawberry flowers that develop for the first month. So, I will likely not have many (or any) berries this June, as I planted too late in the season.
Runners will develop after fruiting to create new plants. They can be removed once you have enough plants established and planted in another part of the garden if you wish.
After strawberries have fruited, my gardening book recommends cutting off the leaves and disposing of leaves and straw to prevent the spread of mold and diseases; although, I have to say I have not often (ever!) done this.
In the spring, when the plants start to come alive again, fertilize and cover with an old sheet to protect from frost when necessary. Below is my strawberry patch. Since I planted late this year, I’m hoping for some berries this fall!
I hope you enjoyed reading about my gardening adventures so far this year.
Do you have a garden?
Do you have a gardening story to share or any gardening tips?
Please leave a comment! I’d love to hear!
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