FLC

So if you are not in-the-know that stands for Funny Looking Cucumber. It is pretty basic green-thumb lingo, but I realize not everyone exercises their horticultural side, but I wanted to flex a little chlorophyll-fed muscle and show off our great prizes we are cultivating in our back yard.



First off is the Jalapeno (jal-a-pee-no--I think, in case you are not Tex-mex savvy either). This little guy grew not one-quarter, not one-third, but one-half of the predicted size based on the card that came with the plant. We waited about two weeks with no growth despite the PGH (plant growth hormone) injections. Seriously I did try some sort of plant food, but to no avail. At any rate, the plan is to slice it up and have a jalapeno cheeseburger tomorrow for lunner (a brunch at 4 PM, if you weren't previously aware).



Next comes the FLC. This little gem started growing about a week ago and quickly surpassed the jalepeno in size despite the frequent pep talks and growth rallies we held in the corner of that spicy nugget. It has a great bulge and a funny curvature that reminds us of a "J" for JJ who, incidentally, planted the thing about a month after everything else in the garden. This great thank you to its benefactor will hopefully survive the onslaught of kids 5 and under who will be here for tomorrow's BBQ so that we can enjoy it in a week or so.



Anyway, we have learned a few things: we planted too much in too little of a space for the fertility of the soil down here--more grew than we had planned and we did not have the heart to play God and pluck up what we felt were the weaker plants. Instead we are letting natural selection run its course and so we may end up with nothing more than a 1.5 inch jalapeno and a J shaped cucumber. We are OK with that because we have also learned that every single one of us loves to watch the plants grow and check on them daily--what a great earth, what a great gift we have to be able to cultivate and develop the land we live on!