Thursday, April 1, 2010

Transplanting, Oma, Discothek

I have been transplanting peas, lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage and the like. Some plants don't like to be moved. The way I look at it is like comparing some family members' reactions to situations.

My next older sister, you can uproot her from anywhere, put her into almost any situation and she'll be fine. She's kinda like a weed now that I think about it.

Now my Grandmother (Oma) was one that was rather set in her ways. Either she likes it or she doesn't, there is a right way (HER way) and a wrong way (any option other than her way), you have just a few minutes tops in a new situation before she makes up her mind. Into her 80's she would go a few weeks every year to go hiking in the Alps. Her version of excitement was a wicked game of Canasta with fellow old german biddies, or pilfering flower seeds on her walks.

When you are transplanting, you are relocating the plant, and for the finicky ones, you are trying to convince them they can be happy in their new setting. This usually involves some pampering and special treatment until they get situated.

Here's an example: My sister (weedy) was living in Germany a good distance from our Oma. Far enough away that visits are occasional and not daily. Weedy went to Hamburg to take Oma out for a lovely meal for her birthday. Now somehow Weedy stumbled upon some friends while they were window shopping before dinner. Oma liked them right away and invited them to join for dinner.

Weedy has a thing for good wines. Let's just say everyone was feeling extremely good by the time the meal was done. Weedy's friend made a comment about dancing. Oma now more than a little tipsy actually squealed she wanted to go out dancing. Weedy's exceptionally handsome friends each took Oma by the arm, said they knew a great place, and off they all went to the DISCOTHEK!

It took her a surprising amount of time to figure out Weedy's friends were gay, it took a surprising amount of time for her to notice the disco was mainly gay men, and very little encouragement needed to coax her to go out and shake her groove thang. Oh yes, Weedy called me. A moment like this you have to tell someone immediately. (BTW, to the lovely men that cheered my lil' old grandmother on at the disco, I have to say thank you. It took her 2 weeks to recover, but she had a blast. The canasta group at that point determined she was the wild one of the bunch.)

Transplanting... it can be like taking an extremely reserved proper old lady to a setting way out of her norm. Compost teas, especially vermicompost tea (like wine) if applied well can make the experience more enjoyable.

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