Wednesday 20 March 2013

Grow Write Guild Prompt #1: Write about your first plant

Here is my first Grow Write Guild response. It is nothing fancy, I just answered the questions that were given. This one was hard because I don't really remember all that much about it even though it was only about six years ago! If you want to know what the questions were, the original post is here.
Enjoy! :)

Although I know that I've planted things before (I have photographic proof, see below), when I was much, much younger (I also vaguely remember coming home with a bean plant in kindergarten and grade three), the first plant that I remember consciously planting was a tomato plant, bean plant, and a zucchini plant.
You want my shirt and glasses. I know you do.
I was 20 years old when I grew my "first" plants.

I grew it in Niagara Falls, Canada, at my parents' house (also my house).

 I purchased some seeds from either Johnny's Select Seeds or Urban Harvest, both online. I started them from seed in those little pop up peat pellets on the lid of a Rubbermaid container on the floor beside a heater vent and the sliding door (I figured the sun in the afternoon would be good for them). I purchased and had read You Grow Girl! (I'm not sure exactly what prompted me to purchase the book, but I think it had something to do with my interest in environmentalism, or with my gradual increase in knowledge about the food industry due to a food allergy). The book suggested I buy Black Brandywine Tomatoes, so I did (I don't recall why I purchased the Zukes). I bought the beans because I knew they would be easy. I knew nothing about the tomato or zucchini plant before I bought it. I only knew that the tomato would grow to be a weird-looking (as I thought at the time) one.

I had no emotional attachment to the tomato, bean, or zuke (In fact I didn't even eat tomatoes at the time. I'm not sure about zucchinis, and my beans only came out of a can).

I thoroughly enjoyed growing the plants. My favourite part was watching the tiny green stems push their way through the barren landscapes of the peat pots. It was astounding to me that something so tiny could push through all that dirt. One thing we (my husband [then boyfriend], and I) did, that we still do, is we created a map of all the things we planted on a separate sheet of paper and we gave each plant a name. And the name HAD TO be alliterative. Or else. I think there was a Tom Tomato. And Zorro Zucchini? I still find it hard to come up with names. And I may have talked to my plants a few times that first year. I swear I'm not the only one who does this so stop looking at your computer screen like I am a little off. I still love the smell of warm moist soil, I still freak out when I see a new stem pushing it's way up through the dirt, and I get very excited when I receive my seed catalogs in the dead of winter. And I am no longer afraid of bees. I love seeing bees in my garden now. Especially bumble bees! And weird small bees that I never noticed before.

I remember getting a number of zukes out of our zuke plant, quite a few beans, and a number or tomatoes as well. I know we had planted other things that year, but these are the three plants that I recall with certainty.

The plants are all dead now. We ate the zukes. I think my husband ate the tomatoes, but I can't be certain. Only the beans live on through their offspring. The beans have also gone on to live in an uncle's garden too.

8 comments:

  1. This post touches on so many things I'm experiencing right now - I'm planning my first garden of my own and my basement is full of tomato, pepper and onion seedlings (my eggplants still haven't germinated; I'm a bit worried. The zukes will be sown in a couple of weeks.) I'm finding this project of Gayla's really fun; you will find my response to prompt #1 here:
    https://whenitsathome.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/choose-your-own-adventure/

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    1. Be patient! Sometimes it takes plants a little longer than usual to peek out! Asparagus can take up to three weeks! Haha It is great fun!

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  2. Great post! You are definitely not alone with talking to your plants. Or with freaking out every time something green pops up out of what looked like empty soil. You should have seen the dance I did when I noticed my onions had sprouted this year!

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    1. Haha, it is good to know I'm not the only plant whisperer out there!

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  3. Amy (Get Busy Gardening!)28 March 2013 at 13:36

    Funny! I'm still scared of wasps, but not bees. I used to love the bumble bees too, until one chased me all the way to the house once, and now they seem to be more aggressive in my garden. Now I stay away when I hear them coming. Here's my post from the Grow Write Guild exercise... My First Plant

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  4. Yeah, I don't blame you for being afraid of wasps! The bumble bees here are pretty relaxed. I can break off a flower head and hold it up near them and they will come and collect their pollen and then merrily fly away. I wonder why they are so aggressive in your garden? Maybe there was some sort of environmental factor that made them that way. Or maybe that bumble bee that chased you away thought you smelled good! He wanted to collect pollen from you!

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  5. Amy (Get Busy Gardening!)29 March 2013 at 14:08

    LOL! There are a few HUGE ones that have been around for a few years. I think I pissed one of them off a few years ago when I was digging up some chives that were blooming. That's when it chased me, and a few of them have been aggressive ever since. I think they must be smart. I hope they will forgive me soon, I don't like to be afraid of them.

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  6. Hahaha beware the wrath of the chive loving bumble bees! You should play some flight of the bumble bee to them. Maybe then they will forgive you.

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