The thrill

Each and every one of us loves a thrill. For some, it’s speed. For others, it’s the uncertainty of gambling. Some like skydiving. Others watch football or hockey. Anything can get our glands going, though it might be different glands for different people.

At the Slav household, those with driving licences can definitely appreciate speed and some moderate danger but their real thrill is watching things grow. Due to genes or environmental factors, Cat, too, is a fan of growing green creatures.

Most of the house plants we brought here from Sofia, even though space is limited, currently live in her room, and we just planted a new one. There may not be space for anything else but there is space for plants.

Whatever plants were too big to fit in her room are elsewhere, being looked after with almost religious dedication by Cris who refuses to accept the fact that some plants die of old age and a fruit tree branch won’t take root if you put it in water… because it just might.

He is currently conducting an experiment with a sour cherry branch that got accidentally cut off during a routine clearing procedure. Cris has a no-branch-left-behind policy in the garden. Except when it’s pruning time, which is any time a low-hanging branch bruises one of us who’s passed be or under it without paying attention.

Once, Cat brought a single leaf of sansevieria home from school, where the live decoration was being pruned. She thought it was cool because it looked so much like a sword. Cris thought it was cool because it’s a plant. Four years later we need bigger pots. No branch left behind, and no sword-leaf either.

Irina gets her thrill in the garden. Any seed or bulb that she can put into the ground is a potential thrill source if it sprouts. Most of them do and bring much joy and smugness — gardening is a constant battle with the elements. Every sprouting plant is a victory. Even when it’s potatoes in November — potatoes that were diligently planted in August, for an October harvest but refused to sprout until well after harvest time. The December frost killed them. If only plants could learn a lesson and not repeat mistakes.

The only consistent failures so far have been with some rather common flowers that you grow from seeds because they refuse to sprout in our soil. But we’re cunning. We’ve got a special soil mixture for seedlings that no seed could possibly have an objection to. If you squint really hard, you might see a tiny little green thingy in the upper left corner. That’s chamomile.

We shall prevail. And we will grow our own chamomile. Not because any one of us likes drinking it. Cat is the only one who doesn’t hate it but we all drink it when we’ve got a cold.

We will grow our own chamomile because it’s a challenge with seeds so tiny it’s enough the sprinkle the soil with them and then keep wet until they deign to sprout — as pictured above. Also, as a flowering plant it's supposed to be good for bees and other pollinators so there’s some greater-good motivation there, too.

We will grow our own lovage because no soup containing meat is worthy of the name without it and because we love perennial plants. Once they take root they’re zero hassle (and minimum thrill but those are the necessary trade-offs) . The thrill with them is waiting and hoping they’ll take root. This single plant you see is the sole survivor of a dozen seeds we planted in that pot.

As for food, well, shall we say that online shops are both a blessing and a curse. Mostly, however, they are a temptation that is hard to resist. So we don’t. We like to eat, we like to grow things, and we like to keep our land in use. It’s a classic no-brainer situation.

Last year, we had 17 vegetable beds in total. We got a pretty decent harvest from most, so this year we’re doubling down. We’ve prepared 25 beds plus four small ones for herbs. We’ve bought the seeds. We’re ready for the pests after we learned so much about them last year, from literal hands-on experience.

All we need now is spring. And possibly a standalone freezer for all the beans and tomatoes, and potatoes, and peppers, and broccoli, and okra we will be planting in a couple of months. All we need is some luck with the weather.