More gifts

These are just one day's exchange. The beetroot are from the man on plot 43 (?). I can't remember what variety they are, but it's something that describes its enormous size. He gave me three giants, which filled my preserving pan, and had to be boiled for over an hour. I pickled them all, but now have practically no jars left, and no spiced vinegar. I'm not sure whether they'll taste as good as the small ones - we shall see. It made me feel very Russian, peeling and slicing these huge monsters. I could imagine living on them throughout the winter.

The bucket of plums was from Joe, as I said. And the white currants were from Helena (plot 37).

More on exchange

I was digging away quite merrily on the Salvation Army allotment yesterday, when I heard Franco let himself in with an annoyed clang of the chains on the gates. He hates the fact that we are now supposed to lock the gates, and as I'd just locked them for the second time after they'd been left open, when he called me over, I thought he was annoyed with me.

"Young lady, young lady!" he called, "I don't know your name..."

I told him. "Maria?" he said.

I corrected him, for what it was worth - not a lot where my name is concerned - I shall probably be Maria now for the rest of my life with him, but I have been called worse - far worse.

He pointed to a pile of brown twigs on the path. I've got used to our mutual path being littered with planks, plastic bags, tubs full of water, weeds, and recently, even an old car mat.

But he explained that the twigs were the tops of his perpetual spinach plants which he had allowed to flower and set seed and dry out, and he was now offering to let me help myself to whatever I needed for the following year. "Sow them in April," he said, "no earlier."

I thanked him very much, and helped myself, resolving in future to save more of my seeds, like the Italians do. After all, why pay more?

Exchange and the Gift economy

The concept of exchange is, of course, vital in Social Anthropology. The Gift economy is rife in allotment society.

Here's one example from yesterday alone:

Joan told me that Big John (No. 79) had done some work on their front door for them - the paint had peeled off or something, and Big John had touched it up for them, but wouldn't even accept any payment for the paint he had bought and used. They had bought him a litre of whisky for doing it. But John had done a lot of digging on Big John's allotment while the latter was away (partly because he's done all his winter digging and was at a loose end), so it seemed a fair exchange to me. However, in the spirit of Mauss's The Gift, the bottle of whisky represents the bigger gift topping the last one, which leaves the recipient happily indebted to the giver, and thus perpetuates the cycle of gift-giving. That's in Social Anthropological terms - in human terms, all it means is that John and Joan were more than grateful to Big John for his generosity, and wanted to show him their appreciation.