The Czech word okopaniny is derived from word “kopat”, which means “to dig”, where “kopa” is the root and the “t” at the end signifies that the word is a verb. When the end is changed to “niny” it is no longer a verb, but a plural of a noun. This particular noun “Kopaniny” does not mean anything in itself, except that it is the name of a village near my hometown. The prefix “O” changes the word again; in this case, it indicates that the aforementioned digging is performed in close proximity to the thing the whole noun describes.

As far as pronunciation goes: “o” is pronounced as in “odd”. “ko” is pronounced as “co” in “cork”. “pa” is pronounced as in “pass”. “niny” is probably unpronounceable for an English speaker, because the n before i is pronounced as Spanish ñ but as regular n before y, and both i and y make the same sound, as i in “bit”.

The word “okopaniny” is a collective noun for a group of tuber or root vegetables that require fluffy soil that needs to be worked with a hoe, often in close proximity to the crops to both control weeds and to loosen the soil for better performance. And the main crop in this category is potatoes.

Which is why I was thinking about all this linguistic nonsense today, because I have spent several hours with a broad hoe in hand, hilling up my indeterminate potatoes.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

I planted them in deep-ish trenches, and now I essentially reversed that – what was initially a trench is now a valley and vice versa. In the first picture you can see unhilled potatoes on the left, and hilled up on the right

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

This work is, of course, a great opportunity to expand my collection of stones of various sizes. I almost have another bucket full, hooray.

© Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

I fear I overdid it with fertilizer, despite following the instructions on the packaging and actually weighing it; the potatoes are a bit too tall for comfort, especially the variety “Agrie”. Many plants are so tall that I could not hill them up effectively, so there is a serious risk of getting green tubers. It would be ideal to fill the valleys now with rotten straw, moss, or hay, or something similar capable of retaining moisture but not containing too many nutrients. Alas, I do not have anything like that. I might have some nutrient-rich compost in about a month or so, because I am hot composting all my mown grass again. But if I overdid it with fertilizer, adding nutrient-rich compost will only compound the problem. It won’t kill the plants; it will just mean I get a lot of useless foliage at the cost of tubers.

We shall see. Tomorrow, it should rain, and I really hope it will; the garden needs it. After the rain passes, I will spray everything with fungicide to prevent blight.