It appears that my great plant army is rising one sprout at a time. They have answered my powerful call and have begun to rise up [maniacal laughter]. The onions, peas, and corn were the first rise. The lettuce may be sprouting as well. However, due to my ignorance, I am completely unsure as to what is lettuce and what is a weed. I’ll be watching them closely over the next few weeks. However, both the marigolds and potatoes required some intervention, both of which will be the subjects of their own articles in the future.
The onions were the first to break the surface. Within a few days, tiny shoots like this one were shooting up out of the ground. My three year old son took great interest in the onions, and so took it upon himself to plant several by himself. This resulted in my surprising discovery of onions shooting out in random places across the garden, as well as a place where it looks like he threw a handful into one hole.
The peas were next to grace us with their presence. Besides being extremely photogenic, they also seem to be very uniform, each sprouting on the same day and maintaining similar heights as they grow. They are so uniform, that they’re rather boring to write about. After all, who wants to read about how uniform my peas are? Not even Martha Stewart would bother mentioning the uniformity of her peas. I’m sure her producers would scoff at the idea of devoting any time to the subject at all. It’s just not interesting, hardly worth mentioning.
Finally, the corn came up, but thats hardly any feat worth writing about, as corn seems to grow just about anywhere. Not to mention that the sweet corn kernels that we planted were given to us by my father-in-law… who is a farmer… who grows corn for a living. I’m sure that the seeds were some breed of super-corn, bio-engineered to give the highest yield regardless of growing conditions.
The marigolds were being difficult. I had vegetable sprouts coming up all over the garden, yet no “Bambi beating blossoms” to protect them. Being the impatient person that I am, I promptly sojourned to my nearest garden center, and picked up several flats of marigold starter plants. Then, like a cold hearted Marxist dictator, I ripped out the seeds that have failed to fulfill their function, and replaced them with the more mature and equipped marigolds.
I now understand why deer hate marigolds. They are the color of frothy urine and have a smell to match. I understand why deer hate marigolds because now I, too, hate marigolds. Not only will they keep deer away, but any living thing with a nose as well. However, shock troops aren’t picked for their beauty (unless you’re Gaddafi), but for their ability to perform the task set aside for them.
Despite my efforts, it seems that this project just might work, which is encouraging because, the next stage of planting is coming up quickly.
The Geek's Garden 