Squashes!

Another quick post because today was so busy.

Normally I take my plant photos at night just when the grow lamp turns on, but I wanted that time for using the kitchen (you'll see); so I took these around 16:00.


Agastache:  I think the cotyledons are distinctive; they remind me of spades or something...

 

Confusing-looking Aster



Chamomile



Sage: a second seedling!  And my, he looks strong :)



Tarragon:  I'm afraid that white fuzz is taking over the soil of more cells; I may have to start some more cells over again...



Purple Basil: first picture has some "tentacle" growth, I'm not sure what that's all about...

  

Cherry Tomatoes (Sun Sugar on left; Hybrid on right)

 

Oregano



Broccoli



More tomatoes and cherry tomatoes

 

Calendula

 

The Squashes!

These are getting along tremendously well!  They all sprouted around the same time (which I guess isn't too surprising since they're related), and show the same defiantly luscious green growth!

These leaves are about as thick as my thumb (2cm), and about as tall (5cm).


Left:  This pumpkin seedling was one of the first squashes to germinate.











Zucchini: even the cotyledons are deeply grooved and thick and a healthy dark green...  These are gonna be some awesome fruit!



Butternut

 I want to point out a little ignorance or misconception I've had about seeds.  I'd always thought that when a plant grows out of a seed, that the shell around the seed would have some magical life-giving guts or roots in them.

This is not the case (at least, in general).  When the plant comes out of the seed shell, it comes out of the seed shell.  That means the shell is empty.

I find that kind of hard to believe sometimes.

But the more I think of seeds as embryos, the more I seem to understand about them.  After a baby comes out of the womb, the womb is empty of the baby.  (An imperfect analogy, I know).

Seeing this open seed shell today really got me to re-evaluate how I perceive the world around me.

I've always thought it's amazing how so much life can come from such tiny seeds; but seeing it just...magnifies the amazing-ness.  The plant and the roots came out of the seed.  All the life we see above the surface is maybe only half of what's going on.  And all that was contained in a seed.  Crazy!

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