Russian Word of the Day

The Russian word for garlic is чеснок. Garlic is not only delicious in certain dishes, but also a very good remedy средство for colds because of its antibacterial properties. My aunt found garlic to be very useful in treating her own flu symptoms. She took a few cloves of garlic and diced them finely with a knife. Afterwards, she placed the diced garlic between two thin pieces of cloth and tied it around her nose and mouth. She walked around with this mask for fifteen minute intervals three times a day and by the following day her flu symptoms were completely gone. Usually when I had a cold, my aunt tried to persuade me to try her garlic remedy but I always refused and told her that she was crazy for tying a handkerchief full of garlic around her nose. «Оля! Пожалуйста попробуй мое чесночное средство и твой грипп сразу пройдет» “Olga! Please try my garlic remedy and your flu will immediately go away”. Even though I could see that her remedy always worked, I refused to try it and preferred suffering until my immune system took care of the flu.

It is important to note that the word гриб refers to the word mushroom while the word грипп refers to flu. These two words sound very similar, but they obviously have different meanings.

Also part of my new urban garden is basil, which in Russian is базилик.

The Russian word for cinnamon is корица.

What color is cinnamon? It's brown, right? And what is the Russian word for brown? It's коричневый. Wow, what a coincidence.

As part of my introduction to urban gardening, I decided to grow rosemary, which in Russian is розмарин. I chose this plant because it's tough and drought tolerant, and I wanted one plant that I wouldn't accidentally kill right off the bat.

I was raised in a city and am completely bereft of farm knowledge. Such a situation is not to be tolerated! I decided to begin a bit of container gardening as my first step in the process of remediating my ignorance. Today I purchased a peppermint plant.

The Russian word for mint is мята. Peppermint is перечная мята (mentha × piperita). Spearmint is мята колосистая or мята колосовая (mentha spicata). Из мяты делают чай «One can make tea from mint.»