Ever notice how stupid things can get in one’s way when trying to do something? Such as the great difficulty I had in deciding on a title for this blog post? It totally interfered with my writing. Sheesh. I’d thought of “Second Coming,” and “They Rise Again,” and “Peppers Spring Eternal,” but nothing seemed quite right. Not to mention, I wasn’t exactly talking about the rebirth of the (now composted) former pepper plants. No, in the jungle that was Mike’s indoor nursery, he discovered several other wee pepper plants who had taken refuge in the exuberant foliage of their Nightshade cousins (that is to say: the many tomato plants Mike had sprouted). And there was much rejoicing.
It’s not everyday, really, that one gets a second chance in life. Needless to say, Mike is as giddy as a schoolgirl at the prospect of peppers (maybe that really was needless to say. Sorry Mike). In any case, the other good news is that these peppers are as robust as the others were sickly. These plants really look as though they could live long and prosper.
A Plucky Pepper
We also added a couple of new lettuce-style plants to our garden Friday night. We attended an Agri-Fun event as part of our local Apple Blosson Festival celebrations, and each of the boys got to “plant” a seedling into a little pot to take home.
Agri-Fun Plant
Our elder son thought it was great fun to assist in transplanting his treasure.
"Little Mike" and Big Mike
Whereas our younger son was anxious to hand off the planting duties to Papa, as he had much more important things to do with his Friday evening:
Dandelion Bracelet Construction
In spite of all our growing goodies, we are still kind of at a crossroads now, in some ways. Things are sprouting, things are growing. The “sqinach” is coming along nicely. And yet…it’s really a leap of faith to imagine that we’ll actually be able to harvest anything from our little experiment. Sure, a bean here and a pea there: we can imagine that. But enough to actually make a meal from? Meals, even? It’s just so hard to picture going from wee sprouts to plates full of produce.
It certainly makes me aware of how fortunate we are to live in a part of the world in which our survival doesn’t depend upon the success of our gardening. Our children will eat regardless of how happy our plants are!
And we will eat well, too! For the summer months we are taking a break from our CSA share at Taproot Farms, and going with the Heart and Soil CSA. There is nothing in the world like local produce. Here’s hoping it’s in addition to our own harvest, rather than in lieu of it!
Predation in Action: with a carbon-based organic repellant
Love the links… especially Live Long and Prosper :o)
I set my cukes out today, but they look deathly ill tonight.