If At First You Don't Succeed

Well I am sad to report that the basil is not recovering. And although I will take some if not most of the blame, I do think it has something to do with the fact that the sun has not really been around for most of this week. Regardless they have withered almost beyond recognition and I might just have to turn them into compost and put them out of their misery. I have to say it’s a tad discouraging. However, after a nice pep talk from Liz I decided not to throw in the trowel (yea Dave, that was just for you).

So, I have embarked on a second attempt at gardening with renewed hope. This attempt is what one might call remedial but hey, you gotta restart somewhere. Let me introduce you all to Spike (Cookie the real Spike in still #1 in my heart):

Spike is the pet version of a "Grow-A-Head" . . . (http://www.grow-a-head.com/index/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1). I got him as a birthday gift from my aforementioned Green Thumb Mom. I highly recommend Grow-A-Heads for anyone ages 5 to 85. Fun for kids of all ages.

Anyway, back to Spike. He has Rye Perennial Grass seeds planted in his head along with coir dust, peat moss and fertilizer. These last items are there to ensure that almost no matter what you do Spike will grow grass hair. The process is divinely simple: soak Spike in water, cover Spike with plastic container (provided with kit), keep Spike’s vase full of water and his wick totally submerged, remove container once hair appears. I figured it would be fun to plot this journey together so I will keep you posted on Spike’s hair growth. I already have a request from my brother to turn it into a mullet as soon as possible.

In case you were wondering, coir dust is a renewable resource made from coconut husks. Formerly a waste product left behind during coconut processing, coir dust is often used as an all-natural alternative to peat moss. Cool, right?