What a lame title. But it’s all I can think of right now.

It’s only Tuesday, and I have already worked 22 hours this week I’m tired, crusty, and not just a bit cranky.

However - the good news is that I came home to sprouting plants tonight! The only thing that made me happier was getting tackled by a combined 90 pounds of English Springer Spaniels when I came home tonight. Dogs have an exceptional sense for when life is beating you down, and they make up for it with saliva love.

On to the plants. So far, the basil, corn, sunflowers, tarragon, thyme, and tobacco have sprouted. It’s odd to think that a mere thimble-full of soil, some water and a bit of seed can sprout into life in four mere days, but it’s true.

The corn is the most vigorous right now. The stalk is straight and firm, and I’m guessing it will be the first to be transplanted. Do you think it will look odd with a half-dozen corn stalks growing in my front yard? The corn we planted is “Ruby Queen” - a bright red corn that is supposed to be delicious. We’ll see how well my first foray into corn goes.

Next up is the tarragon. I’m not entirely sure what tarragon is (other than being an herb), but the misses was terribly interested in having more fresh tarragon for cooking, and I’m not one to say “no” to a request like this. The seed package simply says “excellent flavor” - not sure I can argue with that.

It’s time for thyme! (lame joke, I know. Just shut up and laugh.) Another mystery package telling me that it’s “GUARANTEED TO GROW.” Seed package writers aren’t a creative lot, so here’s hoping that the “excellent flavor” makes up for the literary lameness. Upon closer examination, I’m told on the package that this is “common thyme.” I’m not sure whether to be insulted; I feel so ordinary now.

We planted our sunflowers 12 hours after everything else, but they’re growing like weeds already, and in fierce competition with the corn. Sunflowers was the misses’ idea; I’m not a huge fan of them, and I always equate sunflowers with dope fields (don’t ask why - someone told me a long time ago that dope growers plant sunflowers around their fields. Who knows.) I guess the corn in the front yard will be sharing dirt with a bunch of happy yellow flowers.

Basil. Not just any basil, mind you, but sweet basil. The package tells me to “use to make pesto,” so I’m guessing I’ll be eating a lot of pesto this year. We grew basil last year, and I think several colonies of beetles feasted off of it. The misses discovered that beetles do not last long in vinegar, and she took to putting little containers of vinegar in with the herbs. Many, many beetles died under her hand, and some of the basil was saved.

Last is the tobacco. ‘Baccer, if you’re from the South. There’s been no small amount of time contemplating whether I actually want to have the notoriety of having grown tobacco - but alas, curiosity has the better of me. The plants are absolutely microscopic right now (much like the seeds, which resemble coarse dirt).

And there you have it - a diary of my plant life. Everything else is still “thinking about growing”; I suspect there will be more exciting photos to come over the next few days, as the rest of the seeds decide to make their sprouts seen.

Is this exciting blogging, or what?

2 comments
Posted in Blog
Written on Tue, 06 March 2007 at 10:47 pm
Tags: plants, seeds, tobacco
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