Story Notes: Gardening with Rose · 9:01pm Aug 11th, 2019
Rather late, and I do apologize. Two cons, and getting everything set up for books took a while.
Horizon posted the pic on Discord
I’ve been given to understand that there were human harnesses to pull wagons, such as the gus and crook. Talon and Thorn mentioned that in a comment in Silver Glow’s Journal, and it looks like a loop around the waist, with a chain attached to a hook. It’s probably something that Sam would not be familiar with, though.
Based on human anatomy, it might not be so bad for pulling a wagon, but stopping the wagon would be a problem.
Since one of my pre-readers was unfamiliar with the concept of U-Pick orchard--basically, in Michigan at least there are orchards where you can go in and pick your own apples rather than have them picked for you. As I recall, they charge you a specific rate per bag. There are also other berry farms where you can do the same; near my parents’ house, there’s a U-Pick blueberry farm. There are also Christmas tree farms where you can pick the tree you want and then cut it down, rather than pick from the selection at a parking lot.
I would assume that they also have those things in British Columbia, but I’ll confess that I don’t actually know that.
EDIT: A.P.O.N.I confirms that there are U-Picks in BC.
Cantle Street is named after part of a saddle, specifically “the raised curved part at the back of a horse's saddle.“ (Google) As I recall, they have a Stirrup Street in canon, so. . . .
Ponies with socks--the coat coloring, not actual socks--isn’t all that common in the show, even though IRL it’s not terribly uncommon. Likewise, they’re not necessarily going to have them on all four legs.
Honey Dipper herself is named for the profession: a slang term for someone who works with sewage is a honey dipper (and the wagon which carts said sewage is a honey wagon). Honestly, if you can deal with it, I’d assume it’s not a bad job to have. You’ll never lack for work, and I have to imagine that the pay’s pretty decent, because there aren’t that many people that want to do it.
In terms of dealing with sewage, there are a few historical options, and I’d assume that Ponyville uses them all. You can dig a traditional outhouse, which is basically a pit in the ground. Normally, when the pit gets full, you dig a new pit nearby, move the outhouse over the new pit, and cover over the old one. (These days, said pits are usually lined with concrete and emptied when they get full, because having sewage leach into the ground can be problematic from a disease point of view.) A simpler solution, but one that needs more frequent maintenance, is a pailhouse, which is where instead of a pit, you’ve got a pail, which you change out when it gets full.
In either of those cases, you have to get rid of the waste somewhere. I’d imagine that in first-world countries, it’s trucked to a sewage treatment plant; historically, it was dumped somewhere away from the city and that was that. If properly composted, it can be used as fertilizer and there’s no risk of disease.
This means that Honey Dipper’s got a great gig. She’ll never lack for work, ponies pay her for hauling it off, and then ponies pay her again for composted manure to use as fertilizer.
It’s also worth mention before I leave the subject that many cities back in the day did have laws about when manure could be collected and carried through town--even though it was necessary, nobody wanted to see it.
A winding tower is a name for any kind of support structure to carry a pulley. In mines, they’re often also called headframes, poppet heads, or pit heads. Arguably, the little structure over the top of a pit well could be called a winding tower.
Green Beer is partially fermented beer, and it was popular back in the day before refrigeration was common. It often had a little bit of fizz, and it would keep for a couple of days before it went bad. One example would be Pennsylvania Swankey, and you can find out how to make it here:
Dumping wagons do of course exist, and back in the old days, if they were built properly, they’d gravity dump when they were loaded, and then the bed would drop back down when the load had slid out.
Speaking of wagons, Bittmeyer and Small is a ponification of Billmeyer and Small of Etna (or York, source uncertain) Pennsylvania. They built railroad coaches back in the day, which isn’t the same as a wagon, but it isn’t that far different, either.
Interestingly, Studebaker (the auto manufacturer) started out building wagons, and they’re probably not the only automobile marque to have done so.
To my knowledge, we’ve never seen public showers in canon, but there’s no reason why ponies wouldn’t have them. We know that they’ve got the soaking tub at the spa, but I’d imagine that they wouldn’t be using that to actually get clean. Most likely, the spa would have some sort of shower room so ponies could clean off before relaxing in the hot tub, or just clean off in general, and there’s plenty of historical and cultural precedent for this on Earth.
Courtney, the Vancouver mermaid, is real. Her webpage even says she’s a professional mermaid.
Wax for hair removal does often contain beeswax, as well as various other ingredients. Straight beeswax doesn’t work all that well--I know this because I tried. There are other techniques available as well, such as sugaring, however, without the advantages of the internet, it’s unlikely that Sam would be able to replicate them without a lot of potentially painful experimentation. Historically, of course, people have had various methods of hair removal for fashion reasons; I’d imagine that ponies generally don’t.
They do have mascara and eyeshadow and lipstick and hoof polish.
According to my sister-in-law, in India there are people who cut vegetables. Upon further explanation, they’d be domestic staff, not the travelling vegetable-slicers I first imagined . . . but for ponies who aren’t unicorns, there could be a market for a pony--or person--who came by and sliced up your vegetables for you. That could be a real time-saver for pony chefs, since using a knife by hoof or mouth to cut vegetables would be quite a bother.
Likewise, while it seems like a simple thing, there’s every possibility that for earth ponies and pegasi, thinly-sliced vegetables are a luxury, something that you get at fancy restaurants or maybe have for a really formal meal when you want to impress your guests, but not an everyday thing.
From what I remember of my grandfathers stories you had to hope that there were some people at the lift to help you stop it. You also hoped that the men at the face would give you a push to get it started. Once it was going it wasn't hard to keep going but if it stopped along the way you'd have a hell of a job getting it moving again, and god help you if it de-railed at some point.
I can confirm their existence in BC.
BC does have U pick farms, although they might use another name for it.
In Quebec we call them « auto cueillette »; auto picking, short for autonomous picking.
I had been wondering if you had made your research thoroughly and had tested wax épilation or nude gardening.
There are some wagons that had automatic brakes. As long as there was tension on static lines to the harness or tree, they are levered "open." When the lines go slack, they press against the wheels. Used for extremely heavy loads, as I understand it.
Chefs have much better things to do than chop stuff. In a large kitchen, there is almost always a sous-chef who does that job, so yes, your idea is perfectly reasonable.
Actually, I'd imagine ponies would use a mandoline for preparing thinly sliced vegetables. It would probably be even easier for them to use then for a human since the wall of the hoof would help project them from accidentally injuring themselves.
Yeah & I grew up in Amish Dutch country. ALL their farms had roadside stands (often manned by kids). You could pick your own produce & get a bushel of corn cheaper than the store would charge for a dozen
Pick your own orchards are pretty common here in Minnesota and over Wisconsin. Each October is best time to pick up several gallons of raw cider that's uncontaminated with a witch's brew of preservatives and home-ferment it. Or just get the apples and press the juice out yourself if you have the setup.
5104048
Makes sense. I’d imagine that most of the pulling would be uphill, so at least stopping wouldn’t be a problem (getting dragged back by it would be, though).
Oh, so the cart was on rails? I suppose that makes sense; steel-on-steel is about as low-friction as you can get, although I hope that they spaced the ties (sleepers) to be suitable for walking.
5104065
Excellent!
5104083
I don’t know if they use French in BC, although it’s been some years since I’ve been there (like, almost 30).
The former, yes; the latter, no. I’m terrible at gardening, and I don’t think the neighbors would have appreciated anyway.
5104084
I kind of figured that that would be a thing that could be invented, but thus far hadn’t been able to find any confirmation that such a thing had been invented historically. I’d imagine that such a concept would occur to the ponies, and it also might have some way for them to manually set it as well. That’s conceptually similar to surge brakes on trailers.
Oh, yeah, in a commercial kitchen that’s totally reasonable. Thinking on it, that might be a career path for Sam, although maybe not in Ponyville, it would depend on how big their restaurant staffs are (and to a lesser extent, if ponies in general would trust food chopped by Sam).
5104090
I had also considered that, to the point where I had decided if I ever wrote a story about a pony who was a travelling vegetable chopper, she’d be named Mandoline.
If the pony in question wore shoes, they might wind up damaging the blade of the slicer.
5104109
Reasonably popular with people who have medium-sized gardens, too. There’s a guy just up the street from me that has a quarter acre garden or so who often sells at a little stand.
And you’re right, it’s usually cheaper and better than what you can find at the grocery store, at least when it’s in season.
5104113
I forgot about the cider (mostly ‘cause I don’t like the taste). I used to live about a mile from the Franklin Cider Mill, which IIRC is still running their press with a water wheel.
franklincidermill.com/wp-content/gallery/around-the-cider-mill/dsc09361.jpg
We’ve got a 20 ton press at the shop, that should do the trick.
5104302
As far as I know, they don’t really use French in British Columbia. Manitoba does have a relatively big French community though.
I am disappointed; you have lost all credibility and from now on I will not take you seriously when you pretend to research your fic
If you name a character Mandolin, all I will be able to think about is the musical instrument.
Or into a river that hopefully drained into the ocean and not into a body of freshwater that was used for drinking. In Chicago, the dumping river led back to Lake Michigan. As you might imagine, there were lots of disease outbreaks. The initial solution was simply to move the cribs (freshwater intakes) further out. Which works for a few years, then they'd have to move them again. Mining under a lake in the 1800s wasn't really a simple task.
At some point they said 'fuck it' and reversed the flow of the Chicago River, so that it dumped (ultimately) into the Mississippi river instead. Which, dumps into the ocean. Technically the only thing that's changed since they did that in 1900, is that the sewage is processed first.
5104312
Brings to mind something I read in Reader’s Digest “Life In These United States”
Man had a stand with the sign “Yard Goods For Sale” & was selling cider
Smart-ass comes up & says “Give me a yard of cider”
Vendor measures a yard on his counter, dips his finger in his glass of cider, & draws a line a yard long.
Smart-ass “OK. Wrap it up & I’ll take it”
5104308
Those things are evil, and I have the scar on my thumb to prove it. Even with the hand-protector/guide thing, if your hand doesn't get a glaswegian shave, the protector is likely to get nicked and you wind up with plastic bits in your food.
It's challenging work, out of doors - I guarantee you'll not go hungry.
5104331
I don’t think they do, either, but like I say, it’s been a very long time since I’ve been there.
I method wrote it; that should count for something.
Could be worse. Could be a lute.
i.imgur.com/1wZdo.gif
5104356
Yeah, I gotta say that Chicago wasn’t all that smart when they decided to put the sewer outlets and fresh water inlets in close proximity. Of course, I’m sure they weren’t alone in that. Probably Detroit would have gone that way, took, but the decently high flow rate of the Detroit River saved them.
I actually bet there are a lot of towns on the coasts of the Great Lakes that had a similar easy solution that became a problem, only they weren’t as big as Chicago, so nobody really remembers it much.
At least y’all never had a governor actively poison a city’s water supply, so you’ve got that going for you.
5104368
If he thought that far ahead, the seller shoulda slid it off the desk into a baggie for the guy.
5104603
See. that’s where the hoof (and horseshoe especially) would come in, safely protecting the pony from the blade.
And don’t feel bad about the flesh shavings; I had a friend who had a wicked cool scar across the palm of her left hand ‘cause she’d been slicing a bagel and didn’t stop when she should have.
5105537
5106284
rule number 1 of siting outflows and intakes: poop water goes downstream of drinking water.
London had that issue for a long time, as everything came out of (and went into) the Thames. including everyone's favorite waterborne disease, cholera!
Extra Credits on youtube did a history series on John Snow and his contributions to epidemiology (considered one of the fathers of the field) and city-scale sanitation.
5109338
Yes, that’s a wise rule.
As cities grow, you can’t just dump all your waste in the river that runs through town and expect a good outcome. As I recall, it was in London that cholera was first understood to be a waterborne illness, when a priest (IIRC) was able to trace an outbreak to a particular well.
I wonder if he’s the guy I’m thinking of that traced the cholera outbreak? (Too lazy to search at the moment :P)
I personally prefer to imagine that the ponies have already figured this out, despite my preferred technology setting being while a lot of understanding of disease was still in its infancy.