Date: Sun, 06 Nov 2016 15:26:49 -0500
From: “N.A. Booko”
Subject: The Re-emergence of Eddie’s Little Cabbage . . .
Things and objects take on a life of their own when you are not looking. My keys have a way of tossing themselvesin weird places. My favorite shirt is pre-wrinkled at the moment I want to wear it. It rains when I want it dry. (notbeen bothered with that one lately). Feet hurt just when you need to take them for a walk. Things disappear in thefrig- That bag with five Brussel sprouts can elude you for weeks.
My friend Eddie, an expert gardener, grows all manner of munchie, crunchie delectable vegetables in his homegarden. Best green beans and okra in the county. I don’t get handed enough of the corn to be a fair judge, butI’m sure it is always wonderful too.
This past spring Eddie gave me a small head of fresh cabbage. About the size of a softball. Hard as all get out. Apale white and greenish softball. I usually cook my cabbage for breakfast. I like the idea of something fresh that early in the morning. I cut a fourth of Eddie’s little cabbage and ate it. Over a period of two weeks, only the thick stalk was left in the plastic bag. It hopped, skipped and jumped around in the frig for months. Then found a hiding place.
Three weeks ago, it presented its self- A plastic bag with a strange dark green oozie-gooosie thing inside. I almost threw it out but finally realized it was the stalk of Eddie’s little cabbage, trying to survive. Trying to send out sprouts and roots. It looked most peculiar. Rather than toss it out, I decided it should be planted. It was trying so hard to survive.
Now, to my delight, it has sprouted out, formed a dark green rosette just slightly larger that the original softball size. It is such a refreshing sight. Upon close inspection today, there seems to be little sprouts at the base. I know the day will come that I need to harvest my little second life cabbage- not quite sure how I feel about that . . .
N.A. Booko
N.A. Booko live, writes in Chatham County and asks:
Did you know microscopic marine phytoplankton play a critical role in regulating today’s carbon cycles, yet not enough is known about the process. These tiny organisms consume carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and move it to marine sediments in the deep ocean in a process called “the biological pump”
I had that little bit of information- didn’t know what else to do with it.