11 Sowing Seeds

Clare and Dante

 

“ Each pair will get a thirteen centimeter pot, fill it with soil, wet the soil, and plant approximately fifty seeds. ”

Dante and Clare beamed. Planting seeds already, and it was only February! It wasn ’ t yet a year since they had planted their first seeds back home, though it seemed so long ago.

“ Any questions? ”

“ Yes, can you go through it all again? ”

It was Minnie. An audible sigh escaped somewhere in the back of the room. Genevieve, the instructor, stared in disbelief. “ Which part? ”

“ Well, so we ’ re planting onion seeds ? I thought onions were planted from bulbs. ”

Minnie seemed to be showing off again. What was a bulb? Clare wondered.

“ Yes, m any people plant onion bulbs. Others start with seedlings. What we are doing here today is planting seeds to grow the young plants. That ’ s why we are putting so many in a small pot. When the starts are ready and the ground outside suitable, they will be transplanted into the garden, much farther apart. We will also sell some of our starts at the farm festival in April. ”

“ Oh.”

The class seemed relieved that Genevieve ’ s succinct summary satisfied Minnie.

“ Anything else? ” Genevieve asked, undeterred.

Clare glanced around. No questions. Everyone seemed as eager as the children to finally be getting their hands dirty.

“ Clare, ‘ member how we had a ceremony when we planted the tomato? ” Dante asked as they stood in line to get a pot.

She nodded her head. “ Of course, how could I forget? ”

“ D’ ya think we should say a blessing this time? ”

“ Sure, why not? Lots of people say a blessing before every meal. Why not a blessing for each planting? ”

Sowing the onion seeds didn ’ t take long. T he anticipation of the first planting always lasted longer than the act itself. It was just a small pot filled with a special mixture of soil, saturated, sprinkled with the seeds—exactly fifty—according to Dante, covered with more soil, and patted down. There was no garden to prepare or weeds to pull. A simple prelude to spring, the first tiny seeds in a tiny pot.

“ Now?” Dante asked.

“ Yes, ” Clare answered. “ Do you want to do it? ”

“ Okay.” They closed their eyes and held hands. “ Thank you God for these onion seeds. Bless them and help them grow. ” He paused, pondering if it was enough. “ And take care of Mama. Amen. ”

“ Amen. One more thing. ” Clare wrote the name of the onion variety on a bamboo sti ck . “ There. All done. ” Clare sighed as she poked the stick into the pot .

“ What ’ s wrong? ” Dante asked.

“ Oh, nothing. I was just missing Lily. It ’ s the first time we ever planted seeds without her. I wish she were here. Remember how she was in such a hurry to plant more seeds? Remember those pictures she sketched and everything? ”

“ Yeah, ” Dante said, nodding. “ She still has the seeds. Maybe she will plant them this spring when it warms up. ”

“ Maybe, ” said Clare wistfully. “ Maybe she will. Lily ’ s not the kind of person to give up just because things get tough. ”