“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

Last month when I went to see friends in Philadelphia I brought back with me 8 different types of herbs that they had in their garden.  They were: Basil, sage, oregano, rosemary, mint, tarragon, thyme and lemon mint.  

I didn’t plant them right way, I kept them in the fridge until I returned to the office.  That was probably mistake number 1.  I didn’t have enough soil or vases, so I ended up using some Tupperware containers and borrowed some soil from my other plants.  Probably mistake number 2.   Four of them I planted on the same vase with a ficus plant.  Probably mistake number 3.  I overwatered the solo ones, mistake number 4.

Here are the ones with the ficus when I was planting them: On the bottom left you can see the rosemary.

I was never successful with growing herbs but I figured the glorious sun that comes in the morning in my office would be my ally.  The glorious sun was not enough to give them all life when I was so careless about planting them to begin with.

Fast forward to this Monday. By then only 2 seemed to look like it could actually grow: the rosemary and the basil. All others looked like they were dying a slow death.

“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” — Martin Luther

The building sent a couple of guys to come in to apply a film to a newly installed glass window.  When I saw them coming in I ran to move the plants out of the way, as some are on the window sill.  I joked that I had to make sure they were okay.  

They did the work, and as they were leaving I was in the kitchen. I thanked them and offered them coffee or a soda.  One of them asked for water, and the other seemed in a hurry to leave.  He seemed annoyed that the other asked for water and he had to wait.  It felt weird. Something seemed off.  I just figured he was hungry and wanted to get to his lunch, since it was lunchtime. 

After they left I went to put my plants back on the window sill, and when I looked down at the ficus I noticed that the rosemary was missing.  There was also some soil around the vase.

What???

I asked my co-worker to come check it out to confirm I was not imagining things.  We  thought of different scenarios.  One of them was that perhaps they accidently hit it with the ladder and destroyed it.  But where are the remnants?  We looked in the garbage and saw a can of some spray they used, but nothing else.  

I immediately suspected the young guy that was in a hurry.  Perhaps he was cooking pork or fish tonight.  Rosemary is great on those.  Or perhaps he is trying out some exotic cocktail.  I just had a passionfruit and rosemary cocktail that was to die for.  Or perhaps he wanted to smudge his house and confused it with sage.  Or perhaps rosemary is the new weed. I pictured him sitting on his couch and smoking it that night.

All joking aside, whatever happened to it, I don’t know, and I guess I will never know.  I just know that I had a tiny rosemary plant when they got here, and I no longer had it when they left. 

My co-worker wanted me to get a hold of them and asked them about it.  I didn’t want to make a big deal, and appear like a lunatic.  Also, the did was done. No answer would change it.  And, sad to say, it was probably going to die anyway. As of today only the basil still stands.  

Next time I am getting the planter and soil first, and then getting the herbs.  Also, I probably should read about how to plant them, instead of thinking I can just throw them in a pot and hope for the best. And last, I will watch anyway coming near my plants like a hawk now.

***

Tonight I have a date with a semi retired attorney.  He sounds fun and easy to talk to.  He texted to confirm tonight’s date and said: bring you appetite.  I said: I haven’t eaten in 2 days.  He also gave me his full name and business website.  Turns out he has only 5 star reviews.

Stay tuned to see how many starts he gets from me.

“When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you
don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not
doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or
less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have
problems with our friends or family, we blame the other
person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will
grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive
effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason
and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no
reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you
understand, and you show that you understand, you can
love, and the situation will change” — Thich Nhat Hanh