Notes of
Concern…
…Jackson Blair
ARUGULA or STEAK
Summer is springing out all over!
I was at the nursery the other day selecting colorful plants
for window boxes and urns. It is an annual venture to which I look forward.
You walk into a large nursery filled with many colors and
lots of fragrances, not to mention the artful way the nursery owners have
displayed their wares.
It is an assault on your senses.
A good assault!
I am a lazy gardener. I like to see plants already in bloom.
I want to evaluate the color combinations. And I want to picture them displayed
at my place.
I am told real gardeners work from seeds or from cuttings.
To me that might be admirable but requires a lot of faith in one’s own
gardening abilities. And it requires a lot of work. I am a man who prizes
efficiency.
My wife had requested that I plant some arugula for her at
our summer place. I ventured forward from one nursery to another looking for
some arugula that someone else had started and some that already showed growth.
It was a fruitless search.
Every time I explained what I wanted I was taken to the seed
rack.
I finally succumbed. It was either buy seeds or face the
wrath of my wife.
Easy choice.
A little package of seeds.
Lay out $1.99 and walk off with something the size of
one-half a standard size envelope.
When I got to the garden I read the directions. This was an
astounding moment.
It appears that inside my little envelope were many, many
little seeds. Each of these seeds was supposed to be planted one half inch
apart and one eighth of an inch deep.
Like that was going to happen!
I could never see me with a measuring tape in hand dropping
little seeds one at a time into the newly turned over dirt while measuring the
width and depth of each little hole.
With superior male reasoning I assumed that some of the
seeds were probably good and others probably wouldn’t grow. If one clumped the
seeds together would it not mean you would simply have a fuller patch of
arugula?
No need for overkill here.
More importantly, if I followed these directions I would
have to dig a trench the whole way across the yard to get these little seeds
placed as the instructions indicated. It would be like putting in a sewer line
to the road.
I got a long window box.
I used my finger to create a furrow.
I dumped the seeds along the furrow.
I watered.
Voila! arugula seeds planted in two minutes.
Now the success of my arugula experiment is in the hands of
God.
If success is not to be mine I will just go to the grocer
and buy my wife whatever arugula she needs for her salad.
But I secretly think that my approach to planting arugula is
going to revolutionize the healthy- eating industry and cut down significantly
on labor.
Bottom line-who eats this healthy stuff anyway.
You don’t have to plant seeds to acquire a good steak!
The
writer welcomes your comments, ideas and suggestions.
Please
take a moment to share your views on the topic by emailing
www.blair-notes.blogspot.com
