Flower Power

Back in August, on Ava's last day of camp, she did a cute little project where she planted a sunflower seed in a baby food jar. When I first saw her little attempt at horticulture, I wondered if the seed actually made it's way into the tiny jar, sparingly filled with over-watered soil. But, she was adamant that the seed was in there and that she was going to grow a sunflower.

When we got home we sat the jar in the kitchen window where it could soak up some sun. We waited. We watered. Nothing. We forgot about it, but there it sat. About a week later a tiny sprout reared it's head. Ava was so excited! I was a little surprised. So, we watered and waited some more.

This little sprout started to pick up the pace and was growing noticeably every day. This made for some entertaining 3 year old conversations. Looking back now, I wish I would have taken pics, what a neat little flip book that would have made. Anyway, getting back to my story- the little stem was getting pretty long but it was so fragile & weak that it couldn't support itself. What to do, what to do. I consulted my mommy brain and had an idea. I got a birthday candle and stood it next to the weak stem. Seemed to work fine. Good. We watched and watered and waited some more.

As the days rolled on by, the skinny little stem was starting to outgrow it's little home. Besides, the bday candle wasn't cutting it anymore. What to do, what to do. We decided to replant. Daddy & Ava replanted into a bigger, little pot. But again, the bday candle wasn't holding. So I decided to use one of Ava's paint brushes. Seemed to work. Good. We watched and watered and waited.

A few days passed. I realized that this, now stalk, was starting to flirt with the bottom of my kitchen blinds. I raised the blinds a bit. A few more days passed. I raised the blinds again. Now the stalk had become strong and thick and the little bday candle and paintbrush were out of their league.

This brings me to today. This sunflower stalk has outgrown my kitchen window! Ava is so excited and very proud of herself! She can't wait for it to flower. I really hope we get a sunflower at the end of this. What makes the whole project just a little sweeter is that she planted this little seed a few days before her baby brother was born. So far, great little project. I have a feeling we have a little gardener on our hands.