1.A Diet of Worms and Butterflies

"Vermicelli" is a very fine kind of spaghetti. Rather like the word "spaghetti" "vermicelli" can be divided into three main elements: the ending -"i" is a marker of "plural" (in Italian "vermicelli" is a plural word, so Italians say that the "vermicelli are ready", etc.), "-ell" is a suffix which, like the "-ett-" of "spaghetti", is associated with "smallness" or "delicacy" (the "-ic" which precedes it is merely an 'empty' element linking "-ell" to "verm-"). This leaves "verm-", and those who unsuspectingly tuck into a plate of vermicelli might be more hesitant to do so if they realized that "verm-" is from the Italian word "verme", meaning "worm".

"Vermicelli", means, literally, "little worms", and is so-called because of the worm-like shape of the pasta. "Vermicelli" seems to have been a perfectly normal way of saying "little worms" in Italian for several centuries, and the first recorded instance of the word in the sense of foodstuff dates from the mid seventeenth century (nowadays, a more common modern Italian diminutive of "worm" is "vermiciattolo").

Resemblances in shape are behind a number of other pasta names: "lancette" are lance-shaped or spear-shaped and the word is made up of "lancia" "lance" + diminutive "-ett" + the feminine plural ending "-e"(by the way, the same word can mean "hands of a clock" in Italian). "Fusilli" are shaped like little spindles and the word comes from fuso "spindle" + diminutive suffix "-ill" (a southern Italian dialect variant of the "-ell" that appears in "vermicelli") + plural -"i". There is also farfalle, literally "butterflies", used to describe a butterfly-shaped pasta (the same resemblance in shape is behind the use, in Italian, of "farfalla" to mean a "bow-tie").

Few cuisines are as imaginative and based on such a wide variety of diminutive objects as Italian.

2.Solarizing Soil

An effective way to kill or supress many fungi, nematodes, bacteria, weeds, and insects is to moisten and heat the soil. One procedure, known as “solarizing” the soil, consists of placing a transparent plastic tarp on the soil surface. The plastic tarp uses the heat of the sun to raise the soil temperature.

Solarizing is most effective when done for four to six weeks during the hottest parts of the year. Because you cannot solarize soil when a crop is growing, consider solarizing separate portions of your garden at different times – either in late spring before you plant a late crop or in midsummer to late summer in areas of the garden where you harvested an early crop.

To solarize soil in vegetable gardens or planting beds, begin by leveling the soil. Remove weeds, plants, and crop debris, and break up large clods of soil. Then wet the soil, because moisture helps the heat to penetrate the ground and makes pests more sensitive to high temperatures.

If you are covering a small area in a garden, wet the soil before putting down the tarp. If you are covering a large area, it may be more practical to wet the soil after putting down the tarp. Insert a hose under one end of the tarp, or use trickle irrigation, in which water seeps out from the sides of specially designed hoses.

Place the plastic tarp on the soil, eliminating air pockets. To anchor the tarp, bury the edges with soil. Leave the plastic in place for four to six weeks in full summer sun. If you leave the plastic in place any longer, the tarp may become brittle, may tear, and may be difficult to remove.

The tarp should be transparent because black or colored tarps will not heat the soil sufficiently. The ideal thickness for the tarp is 1 mil, although a tarp this thin can sometimes tear easily, especially in high wind. If wind is a problem, use tarps that are 1.5 to 2 mils thick, but avoid 4- to 6-mil tarps.

When solarizing small areas, you may find it easier to cover only the planting beds with strips of plastic, leaving between-row or between-bed furrows uncovered. If you solarize with strips of plastic, it is most effective if the planting beds are 48 to 60 inches wide and oriented north to south.