Björn Vrooman Sep 18, 2014:

I also have to add that there is one source using "gemüsefähig" as a positive statement: It's an Austrian community proud of its "gemüsefähigen Böden". Sounds horrible to me, but I guess what is true for BrE and AmE speakers is also true for Germans and Austrians:

Separated by a common language.

PS: Alternative, looking at the list of farms on the page again:

"grow(s) vegetables in wine region/mild climate". Gets you off the hook completely.

Björn Vrooman Sep 18, 2014:

continued... Now, please see the following (but the entire!) paragraph from the asker's original source:
"Bodenpunkte von 50–80 BP; Seehöhe von 147–170 m; gemüsefähige Böden im Weinklima. Jahresdurchschnittstemperatur 9,9 °C; Niederschlagsmenge 500–600 mm."

Not ideal for wine according to my last link, but I guess not bad either.

Considering that most of the other links on the asker's source page include terms such as "Schwarzerdeboden", "Sandboden", or similar, I simply think the "Böden" after "gemüsefähig" was just there as a fill-in-some-word solution. They just needed to say "gemüsefähig" because they say something about herbs, fruit, and other stuff in the other paragraphs! So, it's simply a general category. You just need "different types of vegetables" or similar.

You could use "conducive" in combination with "Weinklima" and omit "Böden" altogether: "wine region/mild climate conducive to the growth of vegetables". Does this work, Andrew?

But then again, many types of vegetables can be grown under much rougher climate conditions. All very fuzzy.

Björn Vrooman Sep 18, 2014:

@Johanna and Andrew Thank you, Johanna! I am actually inclined to agree with Andrew's answer as well based on the second suggestion, but combined with "Weinklima". This word has been bugging me for the past two days.

I mean, you talk about growing vegetables and, all of a sudden, you switch to vine grapes?!

I looked up Weinklima again (is there any apt English translation here, except for "wine region/mild climate"?) and found this link:
http://www.suedtirolwein.com/de/suedtirol-wein/weinbau/klima...

And:
"Reben benötigen mildes Klima, 'Weinklima', mit weder tropisch-heißen noch nordisch-kalten Temperaturen.

In unserer Weinbauregion im südlichen 'Wonnegau' (allein der Name spricht für sich ...!) und im angrenzenden Zellertal liegt die mittlere Temperatur im Winter um 0 Grad, im Sommer um 20 Grad Celsius.

Zusammen mit der Niederschlagsmenge von nur circa 450 mm pro Jahr und entsprechend vielen Sonnenscheinstunden bietet unserer Klima den Reben optimale Wachstumsbedingungen."
http://www.weingut-fuchs.de/wissen/botanik_der_rebe.php

Johanna Timm, PhD Sep 18, 2014:

Raising the level... ...of linguistic accuracy by paying very close attention to the etymology, collocations, and register of German source terms is really helpful. So thank you, Björn!

gangels (X) Sep 17, 2014:

All together now Let's not make fun of Björn's life work.
To fan the flames some more: "soil lending itself to vegetable growth"

Lancashireman Sep 16, 2014:

The nature of KudoZ The asker provides a snippet of context, and answers are then posted on that basis. Well done for tracking down and reading the original source. Certainly 'soil' can be omitted, but that is the prerogative of the asker.

Björn Vrooman Sep 16, 2014:

@Andrew Then I'd kindly ask you to explain. I've already looked up most dictionary definitions (noticed subtle differences between BrE and AmE here) and googled it too, in order to see the word used in a text.

I also asked you based on the original source (which I included) whether you couldn't just leave out soil here and stick to Weinklima + conducive.

Lancashireman Sep 16, 2014:

Björn: "it's not about likelihood or contribution" I suggest you revisit 'conducive'.

Björn Vrooman Sep 16, 2014:

Ad hominem statements are getting us nowhere.

Also, Heidegger was concerned with Kierkegaard's works: fear and anxiety have no relevance to a question about soil types.

gangels (X) Sep 16, 2014:

If I had to read Heidegger or Starke, I'd definitely would plumb for Heidegger

Björn Vrooman Sep 16, 2014:

Other reference I've even found the asker's reference:

http://www.reinsaat.at/index.php?id=53

Do you notice something there? The description of this certain farm looks like a general statement, and a dull one - most of the other descriptions read much nicer. I don't know whether they just don't know what they grow there or if they don't grow much because the soil is not referred to as that and that type of soil, as in the other examples.

If you want to use "conducive", maybe you can leave out soil altogether and combine the word with "Weinklima"?

Björn Vrooman Sep 16, 2014:

@Andrew I know you removed the discussion post, but I'd like to explain a bit because I think we had a misunderstanding here.

I did not object to your phrase but to the one gangels used due to its word order (first vegetable, then growth). See:
"Gemüsefähige Böden sind außer für Wurzelgemüse in den klimabegünstigten Ackerebenen Mittel-, Ost- und Nordthüringens ausreichend vorhanden."
http://www.tll.de/ainfo/pdf/owlg0303.pdf

To me, "außer für Wurzelgemüse" sounds better when added after "vegetables", not "growth". I've edited my statement below, so as to include your suggestion as well.

However: After revisiting "conducive", I have to say, the word may be too strong, too ("ideal" is definitely not correct). Why do you suppose I asked for capable (which usually means "fähig")? One example:
"Da die Bodenansprüche relativ gering sind, eignet sie sich für nahezu jeden gemüsefähigen Boden"
http://www.cosmiq.de/qa/show/21863/Wie-und-Wann-erntet-man-G...

That really sounds as bland as it can get. It simply means you can grow vegetables, nothing more - it's not about likelihood or contribution (as in "conducive"), it's about (cap)ability or whether possible at all.

Björn Vrooman Sep 15, 2014:

@Edith Thank you! And, yes, I entirely agree with your rephrasing. That's why I think your answer is the best solution. Not sure about "capable" either, just thought I ask because I got a few search results (related to real estate) here.

I also found hardly anything in German about it (basically, only texts from our Austrian neighbors).

Best wishes

Edith Kelly Sep 15, 2014:

Björn ich denke, im Kontext ist suitable besser als capable, aber so richtig sicher bin ich nicht. Gemüsefähig ist auch nicht gerade ein gängiges Wort. Eine Umschreibung ist besser als der Versuch einer direkten Übersetzung, auch wen länger.

Björn Vrooman Sep 15, 2014:

Other reference... ...albeit not so may hits as well: "soils capable of growing..." (don't know whether you agree, Edith). Or, slightly rephrase the answer by gangels: "conducive to growing" - or "conducive to the growth of", as Andrew suggested in his answer. Don't know why most answerers try so hard to mirror the exact same word structure in English?

See:
"The land is described as deep stoneless permeable calcareous coarse and fine silty soils, capable of growing sugar beet, potatoes, field vegetables, horticultural crops and cereals."
http://www.uklandandfarms.co.uk/properties/38473/99998_10000...

Edith Kelly Sep 15, 2014:

Tony you mean eggplants?
I personally would say: Soil suitable for growing vegetables ....