When I posted to Allison the challenge of growing her weight in food, it was a bit of a whimsical idea. To me it seemed totally impossible, but a fun goal, similar to making helium-filled meringue cookies that float in air: worth working towards for the sake of learning about the mechanics, but not a goal you take too seriously. The more we talked about it, and thought through what it would imply, the more interesting the idea became!
It isn't the first time Allison has gotten a crazy planting idea and with great enthusiasm converted our apartment into a nursery. About 6 months before we got married she decided that it would be fun to grow all of the flowers for our wedding... on the fire escape of our old apartment. Historical photograph:
The fire escape (sadly) didn't provide enough room for all the plants that the bride had in mind, and so showing her usual streak of persistence: shelves went up in front of the window, more pots and seeds came out, and eventually flowers followed. Every windowsill was occupied with plants, on multiple levels. The kitchen floor became 'planting central', or more accurately 'dirt mixing and distribution central' and it at one point became necessary to note that potting soil does not belong in the bedroom!
When we take on a new project, one of our strategies is to check out the relevant section from the public library. I think at some point Alli has taken out just about every 'container gardening' treatise that greater boston has to offer. Several months went by, during which one of my favorite quotes from Allison was "I expect when I get old, little kids will think of me as the 'crazy plant lady'", to which her sister replied "Allison, you already ARE the 'crazy plant lady'!"
When wedding day rolled around, we had learned a lot about keeping a house together, and how many plants we can tolerate in our living quarters before going completely insane. While we did decide in the end to buy the bouquets, we had a fair number of zinnia, impatiens, and other flowers to decorate the chapel - and tons of little seedlings which we decorated and gave away as wedding favors. Add to the other lessons: its not wise to doubt Allison's persistence when it comes to planting things!
So the 'Growing Her Weight in Food' project is actually a modest progression from the previous endeavor, and we are blessed now to have a whole balcony to experiment with. Despite being a little behind on where Alli thought we'd be at this point, the persistent streak is coming out, and I'm sure there will be a creative way of catching up. Hence, another quote from this week: "James, what would think of growing mushrooms... on our coffee table?"
Skepticism (I'm forced to admit) was first in my mind. But then, that wedding experience does suggest that it'll work out ok. I did say at some point something like 'for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, with tomatoes hanging out the windows, and mushrooms on the coffee table...'
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