My Babies!!

Our more-complicated-than-Normandy moving house continues; this past weekend we practically emptied out our entire garage and transferred it into a shed which is a tenth the size. I was quite impressed at how easily we achieved that, and especially because it involved throwing out a lot of rubbish! It also meant I got to climb up a ladder and retrieved things stashed away in the roof of the garage, which was an ironic inversion of a few weeks ago when I went under the house.

Enough To Drive You Potty!

Anyway, another part of out move involved shifting our entire collection of pot plants, which was no mean feat. These included huge terracotta monsters, as well as a plethora of pointy sharp cacti ready to eviscerate you at the smallest slip. And there was pot upon pot of bloody half-dead orchids, which we had only a few years before moved the other way. Anyway, amongst these I found an old friend- my very own Cabbage Tree. I had all but forgotten it existed, but there it was sitting in a pot (though not potted, it was still in a plastic bag). 

Bit Of A Lean

Upon seeing this, it reminded me of my two other plants, which are actually planted at the house I am moving to. So I went up to see them and boy had they grown! Cabbage trees obviously grow a lot more slowly, because these other two were pretty much full-blown trees. One was a bushy Coprosma and the other a Kowhai tree, which has developed quite a lean over the years. Seeing these old friends brought back some memories, so I thought I'd share their origins!

Way back when in year 7, my year group made Science Fair projects. No, not your nerdy-American-kid-building-a-rocket science fair project, but actual scientific, research-based projects with a great deal of technicality and insight required. I was lucky enough to have a great deal of help from my Mother, who not only teaches science but runs her school's Science Fair and helps run the main Auckland competition. Since I was in the Manukau one, there was no conflict of interest.

Anyway, I had had an idea once looking through a book of science projects; there was one where you planted a seed and covered it with plastic. The condensation that formed on the plastic would then help water the plant. An interesting idea, which I adapted to my own context. The previous year I had seen my brother win an award at the finals, during which I noted there was a prize for a project with native New Zealand plants. Being the enterprising young person that I was, I decided my project should make use of native seeds!

The Coprosma Bush

So I went about collecting information and seeds; I settled upon Kowhai, Comprosma, Cabbage Tree and Flax seeds. I planted them in ice cream containers, quite closely packed in neat little rows. I would analyse them, measure them and look after them with all the care of a mother hen. The focus was really on assisting germination, and the system worked in some way or another. I can hardly remember the results but there was something of an increase in success rates. So all the information was graphed and presented on a project board; the best part of it was the nice job of painting it I did. Come the awards, I came away with a Highly Commended in my category and I did win that prize I was aiming for. 

Smaller Than The Other Kids

In the aftermath I was left with quite a lot of seedlings, which was something of an issue. I didn't want just to throw away these plants I had raised from seeds, but I couldn't plant them all at home. So eventually when they started to grow too big, we planted the good ones in those black potting bags to give them some more room. Eventually, the opportunity arose to donate them to a planting initiative out East near Whitford. I knew they were going to a good home, but to keep me from missing them too much, we kept three. Two of those we planted when we moved house, the other stayed in it's bag. And to this day they are still going strong. 

So that is the story of my babies- forgive me for neglecting them of late, but they've done gone and growed up all of a sudden, and moved out! At least I can keep a closer eye on them now!

Q.E.D.