Anniversary Present

For my third anniversary of being married to Grant, I asked my mom to send me some flowers… the kind with the bulbs still attached. And she did. Unfortunately, UPS and I had a hard time hooking up and the box took almost 2 weeks to get into the apartment. It visited the apartment building daily for about a week and then finally Grant was home one day to let the box into the door.

So imagine a bunch of plants wrapped in wet newspaper, put into a black plastic bag, and stuck in a cardboard box for two weeks. What would it be like to open such a box? I’ll give you a hint. It has something to do with slime. We had to open the box outside because it stunk so badly. I had to use the hose outside wash the decomposing newspaper and plant matter off of the stocks. I then planted what remained into the pots I had prepared beforehand, watered them, and waited. About a week later, there was no change. About a week after that, however, I came outside to find growth! Check it out. (hyperlink to flickr)

In addition to those future beauties, I have planted the typical crop of tomato plants. (hyperlink to flickr) Amazingly, the strawberry plants from last year survived my abuse and lack of watering. Back in April, I “fluffed” the soil, by that I mean I dug up the plant, worked in some new soil and fertilizer, and then replaced the plant. Now we’ll be enjoying strawberries (hyperlink to flickr) all summer.

Growing food at home is great, but it’s not enough to feed us. Going to the farmer’s market for fresh produce has really spoiled us but it has also taught us some lessons about appreciating each season of the year. Once the tomatoes stopped at the farmer’s market in the late fall, the ones at the store were just not as appetizing. I almost felt bad expecting a tomato forced to grow at the wrong time of year, in a hot house, to meet my expectations. As a result, I’ve gone almost 5 months without any tomatoes! I don’t even have a craving for them because I know that it will be worth the wait for fresh tomatoes in July. When the grapefruit hit its peak back in March, I was in heaven. But now that they’re not in season anymore, I can’t stand grapefruit again.

I understand that we live in a country where we feel that we are entitled to have whatever we want, when we want it, including food. Why else would we have these massive grocery stores with the never changing produce sections? But what a difference it has made to me to know that I will enjoy something so much more because I have waited for it to come at its own time. And it is then, and only then, that I will know how it was meant to be, instead of how I would have demanded it be. Isn’t that so much better?