Me… a botanist?

Weeks before I moved into the house in Nashville, the sellers had made it pretty for potential buyers. The lawn was well-manicured, shrubs were trimmed neatly, and there were flowers. Those flowers lasted all of a few weeks after my move-in day. Why? I only watered them once. Call me heartless but I had just never cared about plants or trying to keep them alive. Day by day the colors faded. The petals wilted. It was that experience that brought out a truth about my personality. I am not a plant guy. I guess it’s not that I CAN’T keep them alive, I just don’t want to. 

But last week, as I’ve been living on the family compound for about 10 months in Florida, I thought I should put seeds in a little garden area in the corner of the backyard. At first, I was going for lima beans but there weren’t any at Lowe’s. So I went with plan B… string beans! I followed the directions almost perfectly, even soaking the beans for a few hours (on the package it’s recommended to soak them overnight). I planted them late one afternoon and within a few days…

This post could also be called… “tell me you’re old without telling me you’re old.” I can’t remember the last time I was excited about vegetables but I guess I’m turning over a new leaf. Get it? OK, wow. So anyways, the bigger plant on the left side of the garden… we don’t know what that is because I didn’t plant it. My sister thinks it’s a seed from when she and her husband tried growing pumpkins and strawberries over a year ago. Interesting that it popped up months and months later. But the little green leaves on the right side are the beans. So a few days after the beans started growing, I doubled down and planted cucumbers, too, on the side of the strawberry/pumpkin/seed/plant. My fingers are crossed that they will all grow into big healthy plants that provide a few greens for us to munch on. Hey, these veggies might turn from a snack into life saving food if the zombies show up soon. 

Thanks for dropping in… 

-Out of the Wilderness