There has never been a year during our life together that my wife has failed to grow some plants. The Saturday morning years ago when we harvested and processed some 80 lbs. (36 kilos) of red ripe delicious tomatoes will forever stick in my memory. Even she admitted afterwards that we had planted too many tomatoes.

She has cucumbers up and growing out back and even if they don’t produce any cucumbers before we leave, some of the neighbors will get to enjoy them. For years we have enjoyed fresh basil during our travels and this year will be no exception. the small 1/2 pint (240 ml) glass canning jars contain tiny peat pots with basil seeds. The tape across the top is her response to a problem.

You can see a tiny seedling growing on the right side opening. Alas, that is not the first seed to sprout. That one was harvested by a bird. My wife puts the seedlings outside as soon as they sprout. Unfortunately our five bird baths draw a large number of birds of different species to our backyard and for some reason one of them helped itself to that little seedling. My wife’s response was to put adhesive tape across the top of the jar, ingenious and effective fix to the problem. So far it is working great. Women are so smart!