6.21.2010

I grew a sprout and I liked it

Welcome to Tara's sprout-rageous blog!! This all started when my Japanese teacher asked me to compose a letter about my hobbies. After thinking for a while about what to write, I realised I have an unusual and (maybe?) interesting hobby: sprouts!

I'm crazy about them! In addition to planting seeds bought from the store, I get hyped about taking random food and putting it in the ground. :) I've done everything from sprout garlic and potato to plant banana and alfalfa. I'd never even heard of alfalfa before a couple of weeks ago when we bought some for our burritos, but I thought, hey, this thing's already sprouted--maybe if I put it in the ground it will grow. Turns out, not so much. But it didn't matter--growing a plant isn't the goal of sprouting as a hobby. In fact, I'm a terrible gardener. What I love is the experimentation aspect--seeing what's possible when it comes to seeds and sprouts. I'm just as happy when an old clove of garlic sprouts to incredible heights for a week and then dies as I am in the unusual event that a plant actually survives.

However, I want to get this blog off to a good start, so I've posted a picture of my pride and joy: the lemon sprout! One recent night during dinner preparations, I grabbed a lemon seed off the cutting board and planted it. Several weeks later, this little sprout emerged! It was at a time that there were about 5 other things planted in my special mini-planting pot, so I'm still not 100% sure it's a lemon. However, the leaves smell of citrus, so that's a good sign! This sprout baby grows slowly, but I have all the hope in the world that it will continue to be healthy. Because let's face it, in the world of sprouting, it's nice to have a triumph now and then!