The Measure of Things

Every day we need to measure something. If you plant seeds you measure the depth of the hole and if you cook you measure the ingredients. I collect old recipe books and most give measures as a pinch, smidgen or dash.

Now a pinch of something is clearly taking the thumb and forefinger and pinching the salt, sugar etc. The problem comes in with the size of ones fingers. Will my recipe be saltier or sweeter than somebody with a smaller hand?

My problem was solved when our friend Meta came to visit bearing gifts, a set of measuring spoons that measures a dash, pinch and smidgen. Based on these spoons, there are two pinches in a dash and two smidgens in a pinch.

Measuring Spoons from New Zealand

Now my pinch and Hildagonda’s* pinch will be exactly the same.

When sowing seeds I just make rough rows estimating the depth of the furrows and much is left to the seedling to do the rest after planting and watering. That was until Keith came home bearing a gift, a dibber.  A dibber dear friend   is a pointed wooden stick for making holes in the ground so that one can plant seeds, seedlings or small bulbs.

The dibber dates back to Roman times and the design has basically stayed the same with a few changes in the handle of it. My new dibber is the classic design, the straight dibber, well it was Keith that bought it so it would be the classic design that appealed to him.

The dibber was made by Tobias Beyers, Meta’s brother and Keith bought it at the family’s art exhibition in Pretoria.

The Dibber from Pretoria

It is quite poetic how the creativity of friends adds to and influences the creativity in one’s own environment that will in turn influence others that interacts with that environment.

The gifts are practical works of art that will contribute to the art produced in our kitchen and garden.

As long as we have hands we should use it to create beauty

*Hildagonda Duckitt, South Africa’s first lady of food born and raised at Groote Post about 150 odd years ago.