Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Green Thumb; Thumbs up

Holy crap, guys. I'm growing stuff!

For Easter, my mom filled my  basket (bag) with lots of cool kitchen-y stuff...a zester, a new tea kettle, an adorable apron, a candy thermometer, etc. Also in this basket o' goodies were three tiny little pots and seed packets. My mom had given me the gift of life! (ha! puns!) I was gonna grow chives, parsley, and basil. IN MY OWN HOME.

I was so excited. And then I got home and realized....I have never successfully kept a plant alive before. I couldn't remember really even trying, but it seemed likely that I had tried, and the plant died and I just blocked it from my memory so I would never have to remember what a huge embarrassing failure I am. I had a total moment of panic. I stared at the tiny, adorable little pots for a while, then I set them down and slowly backed away from them.

I stayed away for an entire week before I decided that the possibility of making pesto whenever I wanted to (for almost free!) was too enticing to let my fear of failure prevent me from even trying. So I planted the little buggers and put them in my bedroom window. I repurposed the "hey cat, stop doing that" spray bottle as a "please, please grow tiny plants" spray bottle and put it on my nightstand so I would remember to use it. AND I DID. And a few days ago when I woke up and went to water them, I saw this:


They're growing!! woot woot! I did it! My guess is that the chives are in the forefront, basil to the right and parsley to the left. Since I know absolutely nothing about plants, I'm just assuming that's what they are based on the shape.

This is way too gratifying of an experience for me. It's a little weird, right? I mean, should I really be this proud of myself? I've kept two cats alive for 2 years now, and no one ever bought me a congratulatory gift. So what's the big deal with plants? Because I totally feel like The BF should be buying me a present with a card attached that says something like, "wow, you did it! Great job! You are so good at stuff you've never been good at before".

I can't explain why I find it so thrilling, but I do. I really, really do.

I used to think gardening was so lame. I couldn't think of anything that sounded like a worse pasttime to me. I wouldn't have even made my Sims do it if you couldn't eventually grow your own food, and also I like my Sims to be experts at every skill possible so they can own/run the entire Sims world. ANYWAY. This has totally turned me around. I get it now. When people tell me they love gardening, I will no longer picture Martha Stewart or some other crazy old lady with her gardening gloves and knee pad-thing. I'll just nod my head knowingly. "Yeah", I'll say. "I totally get that. I grow my own herbs. Suck on that".

3 comments:

  1. I think we bought the same herb kit and nothing ever even sprouted. (We don't have windows in our kitchen and I suspect/know lack of sunlight was a contributing factor.) You'll be adding homegrown spices to your food in no time!

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  2. Basil can bite me. Takes forever and then dies if you splatter french fry grease on it. Chives much more satisfying. The sweet peas growing in the kitchen window are developing flowers this week. Pretty cool.

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  3. Jessamy, you're growing sweet peas in your kitchen??! That's awesome! Do they require a lot of attention?

    I'll try to keep french fry grease away from the basil!

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