Plants down

The desperate desire to become a plant daddy -- pardon the terrible terrible term -- is an affliction not many a modern man encounters. And yet here we are.

We've grown a squash plant in a small plastic pot, it's about to flower now which is not good news because once it flowers it will use all its energy flowering and not focus on fruiting. The carrots that we sowed are long-dead though not entirely due to our errors -- it was the annoying squirrels that dug in deep into the pots we'd left outside looking for acorns who ended the misery. What's the big deal with acorns anyway, what are they even. PN's chilli pepper plant was in dire straits, they ended its misery last week and instead sowed a pot-full of seeds that have now germinated.

I'm excited about friend A's urban farm in Boston. I acquired a plot in the nearby community garden back in Boston, alas I got the message today I wouldn't be able to claim it if I was unable to be there physically. There's still a month left in my pilgrimage, so that is not an option. I'm surrendering my patch, and I can't attend to A's farm which I was excited for over the entire winter. Now I'm brown.

I want to plant plants, sprout them, microgreen them, grow them under special lights, hydroponic them, plant outside, chillies tomatoes lettuce mushroom I'm eager for them all. There's no place to. And if there was ever, the uncertainty around everything adds another dimension to this.

There's a house on the market, about an hour-and-half drive from where I'm write now that's quite affordable, by sad ridiculous North-East standards. It comes with nineteen acres -- 19! -- of land. Oh what I'd do with that. It's not like I want to grow them to sell them or even have a lot of them. They're like pets that don't demand much, stable reliable trusty friends who can't have emotional issues no matter what's going on in the world. Besides nuclear war of course, though at that point this conversation would be moot anyway. Unfortunately that's what it's come to now, the consideration of possibility of a goddamn irradiated hellscape where you can't grow out your favorite plants. Awful.

In the long term though, if I want to do farming-adjacent activities, it'd make good sense to have a basic understanding of plants at least, and some experience with taking care of them. Hoping that some of the options I'm considering work out, so I may be in a position to play more with plants, compost, earthworms, all that ecosystem. Fruit of the Earth and all.