Gardening by Osmosis

Margaret A. Swenson | Last updated Apr 28, 2022 9:6am0

Again, I found myself at the grocery store with a bad attitude.

Are you kidding me? I fumed at the produce manager—$3.00 for a green pepper?

I stomped out of the vegetable section, bought some packets of seeds and left the store in a huff.

I stopped at the hardware store and purchased some “Soil for Seed Starting.” Visions of colorful jars of canned veggies danced in my head all the way home.

I had saved stacks of plastic cups and poked three holes in the bottom of each one. To insure there were no contaminants in my recycled treasures, I washed them in a 10% bleach solution then rinsed them before adding the soil. Then I planted the seeds according to the directions on the packet. Least I forget what each cup contained I labeled them all.

Three dollars indeed, I muttered as I added my expenses for my grocery store replacement project.

I am sure there will be exercise involved with this adventure I reminded myself. I looked around at my rearranged kitchen and thought, maybe I should build a greenhouse to grow my plants— next year, I thought more rationally. But I did have some great south facing windows in my kitchen, so I rigged up some grow lights just to be sure my future plants would each get their fair share of light.

After several weeks cute little tomatoes and peppers and some herbs sprouted. I was delighted but there were so many of them. I needn’t have planted all the seeds in the packets. Many varieties of seeds are viable for several years if they are stored in a dark, dry place.

My green babies were growing and they were hungry, but it wasn’t time to put them outside. I fed them a light blue drink about half the recommended strength on the fertilizer package and they loved it. I am sure I saw them waving at me.

As they got stronger, they needed more room. I scrounged around in my “save for someday” plastic stash and found cottage cheese and sour cream containers. I retrieved the bleach bottle and prepared the containers for a new life. They were perfect for transplanting my babies.

I dragged my kitchen table to the living room and added more shelves to make space for all my little green friends. There was so much oxygen in my kitchen I thought I was going to pass out!

Already I was realizing if each tomato plant yielded a box of tomatoes my entire house would become a catsup factory. I would have to put an ad in the Cheney Free Press for free tomatoes!

I thought about retiring from my job and just taking care of my green things. That idea would have to be placed on the back burner, which was the only place left in my kitchen that wasn’t home for a future jar of tomatoes.

The greenhouse idea was looming. I better keep my job.

I stepped on the scale before I left for work. Minus five pounds. Oh, how I love gardening!