The Magic Of A Single Seed

No this isn't a Jack and the Beanstalk remake nor is it really about gardening. It is actually a story about an amazing journey that my wife Caroline, our 3 kids and I took this past 2 months, and are still on, all because of a single "magical" seed. It demonstrates how you can take unexpected and fascinating journeys when you allow yourself to say WHY NOT!

A MAGICAL SINGLE SEED: A couple of months ago when my children were wrapping up their final days of school, my youngest daughter Abigail, who's 9 (and a comedian at heart), brought home a pot of soil with a sugar snap pea seed that she had planted in it as part of a science project. We weren't sure what to expect but she dutifully placed the pot on a sunny window sill and carefully began to water it every day.

Each morning she would wake up and go straight to the window to see if anything was growing. After several days of being disappointed, she went to the window one morning and she jumped with excitement and laughter as she gazed in amazement at a small leaf beginning to break through the soil. It's like magic!!! My other 2 children, Daniel (my techie) who is 14 and Madeline (wicked smaht) who is 12, began to share her interest and excitment and each morning they would all go to the window together to check on the little pea's progress. Abigail continued her nurturing of the little plant and soon, though very spindly and fragile looking, it had grown about 3" tall. She was so proud of herself and even showed more confidence as she would talk about her plant and how to take care of it.

A few days later, she went to check the progress of her plant and to her shock, it had shriveled and died overnight. She was really upset and confused by this. We're not quite sure what did the little plant in. After consoling her for a little while on the loss, she came to me and asked if she could get some seeds and try again. I told her, WHY NOT, and that it was a great idea! I even told her we could start a little vegetable and herb garden as a family project. Her face lit up like it was Christmas morning and she ran to gather everyone up to talk about the idea.

The whole family got together and excitedly discussed each of our ideas as a group and together, we decided what we wanted to try and grow. We talked about various vegetables that we consume on a regular basis and how there could also be a financial benefit from our little garden because we wouldn't have to buy the vegetables and herbs anymore. Ultimately we decided on cucumbers, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, banana & bell peppers, okra (my southern roots), green beans, sugar snap peas, strawberries and various herbs (scallions, cilantro and basil). Yeah, pretty ambitious but hey, WHY NOT ... there's nothing wrong with lofty goals. We also decided (because we are big on teaching our kids new things that have real world applications) to actually track the cost and how long it would take to get a ROI on our garden. Mom provided the cost of our chosen vegetables and herbs for the weekly shopping trip as the target.

Everyone excitedly researched each species we had chosen to grow and gathered the information we would need to start our garden. Madeline created a shared garden iCalendar to track our project from germination to harvest. We then went out in the yard and after some discussion about sun, ease of care and setup, we decided on a location on the south side of our house would be perfect for a 4'x10'x12" raised garden bed. The preparation of the ground for the new bed was going to take some hard work and planning but everyone was very excited and willing to chip in. We also decided to germinate our seeds in a starter tray which would give us time to prepare our outside garden area.

SIDE NOTE: I am originally from down south and have lived and worked on farms before so I knew that we were behind several weeks in the growing season but the goal wasn't necessarily a bountiful vegetable harvest, but the memories and experience of sharing something with your family. So .... WHY NOT! What really was going to surprise me was the broad effect of this seemingly small decision and how many other things would be triggered because of what started as one small seed planted by my 9 year old.

PLANTING BEGINS JUNE 28th: Abigail and I were tasked with doing the shopping for all of the things we would need to start our garden. With checklist in hand (actually on the iPhone) Abigail and I made our trip to Lowes with excitement. We parked and began walking hand-in-hand to the store. Smiles on both of our faces. We carefully selected seeds for each of our agreed on species of vegetables and herbs. The bell peppers were really chosen because it said there were the potential for various colors of peppers to be produced, including purple (Abigail's favorite color). We collected up all of the things on our list that we needed to start the germination and hurried back home where everyone was waiting with excitement.

We talked about how many plants of each thing we would try to germinate. After looking at the germination tray, it had 36 pods so we laid out how many of each seed to plant. We each took turns planing a row of seeds. We also needed a way to store the leftover seeds so Daniel came up with a great idea to use a tray that he had for storing legos which allowed us to separate and label each one. Madeline identified the germination times for each seed on the packages and recorded it on the family garden calendar. Abigail and Mom labeled all of the seeds and planters. We all had a lot of fun planting and talking about the different types of seeds and how we couldn't wait to taste the first harvest.

GERMINATION: Over the next week we all took turns watering and moving the tray outside each morning so the seeds had the optimal heat for germination. Because of Madeline's research on the germination period for each plant type, we had an idea on when to begin expecting to see growth. It wasn't long before our patience paid off and we began to see the leaves breaking through the tops of the soil and were amazed at how much the plants were growing every day.

GARDEN PREPARATION: With our germination starter tray well on its way, we had a few hours of hard labor ahead to dig up, prepare and build the raised garden area. After Daniel and Madeline determined the volume of soil we would need for our 4'x10'x12" deep bed, Abigail and I were off to Mahoney's to get the chicken wire fencing and soil. We had lumber, stakes and weed barrier from a previous project which kept the costs down. We came back and began marking off and building our raised bed and at the end of the day, we all stood back, tired, dirty and proud of the progress we had made. Our friend and neighbor of 21 years who had been monitoring the project surprised our kids with their very own composter the next day. Madeline began researching what could be composted and what methods were recommended to get the best results. Daniel and I found a location that was perfect for the composter and set it up.

LET THE GROWTH BEGIN: We transplanted the seedlings into their new home and began the process of caring and protecting them. We were blown away by how well everything, except the strawberries, began to grow. Through this phase of our family garden we all had to practice discipline and responsibility because of a water ban situation in our town. The only way we could water the plants is by filling bottles of water and watering each plant individually. We did this 3 times a day for the first couple of weeks and usually we did this as a group. Some would ferry the water bottles back and forth and some would do the actual watering.

CHANNELING MY INNER BILL MURRAY "CADDY SHACK": One evening I came home and saw a chipmunk looking back at me from inside the fence of the garden. I was really surprised because we took extra care in securing the fence so they couldn't get through. Turns out that the chipmunk actually burrowed under the bed and through the weed barrier we installed and came out right next to the banana peppers. My wife found an article that mentioned one deterrent was cayenne pepper, so we sprinkled that around the plants and around the area where the chipmunk hole had appeared. We then filled the hole back in and waited. This method seemed to worked for a couple of weeks but then the hole reappeared in the same exact place. After re-applying the pepper treatment, it seemed to work for a couple of days but the chipmunk was not giving up. So, channeling my inner Bill Murray in Caddy Shack, I took the hose and unleashed a torrent of water down the chipmunk hole. Afterwards, I back-filled the hole and placed 2 mouse traps in the same vicinity of the hole thinking there's no way he can escape me now! Ugh, the next day, I go out to find that not only had one of the traps had been sprung, but it was mangled and torn apart. No sign of the chipmunk! It's been a few days, chipmunk free now but I'm on high-alert and hope that I don't have to draw on my military background and go on night maneuvers.

HARVESTING BEGINS: After the water ban was lifted in our town, we were able to use the water hose connected to a spigot that is located on the opposite side of our house in the front. Before we knew it we had numerous baby vegetables and the growth rate of our plants was astonishing. On August 25th, just 52 days later, we harvested our first delicious cucumber and ate it in a salad that night. We also noticed several new tomato buds and green bean pods. A week later we harvested another 5 cucumbers and took 1 green bean to taste. The kids were so proud when they presented our neighbor with a huge cucumber that they had grown, and a promise of more to come, as a thanks for the composter and for just being a great neighbor and friend.

Almost every morning, we would go out as a group and check on what new discoveries were awaiting us. On Monday morning we went out and I noticed what I thought was a strange looking leaf on one of our tomato bushes. Turns out that it was a Tobacco Horn Worm (not to be confused with the Tomato Horn Worm which has a black tip on its tail instead of red like the one above). A couple of leafs over from the Tomato Horn Worm was a little frog hanging out sunning. We removed the worm and sent him on his way because they are not friendly to gardens

PLUMBING ADJUSTMENT: After a couple of weeks of unrolling and rolling up 75' of garden hose every day, we decided to add a spigot to the back side of the house to make it easier to water our garden (did I mention, I've been on my own since I was 15 and in my youth, one of the many skills I learned was plumbing, electrical and carpentry?). So on August 26, Daniel, Abigail and I mapped out the best path for our new water supply line from the nearest source in the basement. The water line project took several hours but gave me an opportunity to share my knowledge of plumbing with each of them. They assisted with measuring and cutting and preparing the lengths of pipe, cleaning the connections, importance of dry fitting, applying the flux and sweating the copper joints. A very useful and money saving skill to have. We used about 35' of 1/2" copper pipe, eight 90 degree elbows, one 45 degree elbow, one 1/2" sweat to 1/2" threaded adapter and one 1/2 brass spigot to traverse the basement obstacles. So the puzzle wasn't a cake walk but it was fun working with my children as they discovered new things for the first time. The very next morning we went out to check on the progress in the garden and found this beautiful flower on one of the okra plants.

WRAP UP: Now, as I mentioned in the beginning, this isn't a story about a garden, nor a chipmunk crazed gardener. This story could have also be a LOT shorter had I said WHY, instead of WHY NOT on Day 1.

This story is an amazing reminder that one "magical seed" or idea, can lead you to some fantastic places and down paths you would have never thought possible. In this seemingly simply process of my daughter planting a single seed, our entire family was sent down a wonderful path of exploration, learning and growth. My children have learned lessons like the cycle of life, responsibility, teamwork, business concepts like ROI, perseverance, determination, basic plumbing, being a good neighbor, conservation, composting, insects and gardening to name a few. As a family, we have also grown together and been surprised and amazed at things we have discovered from flowers to insects.

I know for me, personally, I have grown as a father and husband and have been blessed to have been able to share this journey with my wonderful family! I hope I never lose the WHY NOT attitude.