Garba, garbera and vencís (sheaves and stacks)

What is

Three pieces of the step between mowing and beating.

• Garba: bundle of ears cut and tied (DCVB).
• Vencís (vencí; in Catalan general vencill): the tie of the garba, made with a bunch of stems of the same cereal or espart (DCVB, Mall.).
• Garbera: the ordered pile of garbes, next to the field or threshing floor, to keep them from the rain until threshing (DCVB).

How is

• Garba: sheaves together, ears to one side, tied in the center.
• Vencís: a vegetable cord without an industrial knot, twisted by hand.
• Garbera: construction of garbes with the ears facing inwards. In Mallorca the ridge formed by the garbes above is called carena, like the roof of a house (DCVB).

How is fa

• The reaper cuts with his falç and leaves sheaves.
• Another tie with the win made at the moment.
• The garbes are carried to the threshing floor and set up in a garbera, covered with its hull.

Com s'usa

• The garbera waits for the threshing with the batre cart .
• Vein garba: barley or oat garba and pomegranate but not dried, for livestock (Manacor, DCVB).

Vocabulary

• garba: make of harvest.
• garba trutja: crooked or poorly made garba (Petra, Campos, Manacor, Llucmajor).
• garba de vena: forage (Manacor).
• vencís / vencí: tie of the garba (Mall.).
• garbera: garbe rick.
• carena: crest of the garbera (Mall.).
• «No comencis sa garbera que no hagi passat Sant Pere»: saying (Mall.).
• «Comprar en garba»: buy in bulk, without choosing (Aguiló).
• «Girar-se la garba»: change luck for the worse.
• fer garbera: children's game: throwing each other on top of each other (Alaró).

History

• 1168: «IIII garbes de ciuada» (DCVB).
• 1434: "una garba de quatre ganiuets" (BSAL, DCVB): garba also as a "bunch" of objects.
• 14th century: Eiximenis cites "the garbera del blat."
• Years 1950-1960 (to be verified): the harvesters eliminate garbes and garbers.

On veure'n

• In village harvest and threshing festivals (Sant Joan, Sineu; to verify).
• Museum of Mallorca, ethnological section (Wall) .

Why is it design

• Binding made of the material itself: the vencís is wheat that binds wheat. Zero external parts.
• Ephemeral architecture: the garbera has a hull like a house; It is built for a month and falls apart.
• Transport and account unit: the garba is the module that is loaded, counted and paid.

For the project

• Photograph or reconstruct a garbera with careina: pure form of the agricultural landscape.
• Victory as a design lesson: unite without adding.

Sources

• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=garba
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=garbera
• dcvb.iec.cat/results.asp?Word=vencill

Working text from the Disseny Indígena knowledge base, machine-translated from Spanish.

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