Thursday, January 8, 2009

Nostalgic Seed Drawers



As i am in my hometown at present i tend to be swept up in a sea of nostalgia (spurred partly, i'm sure, by my chosen occupation as historian-in-training) Although now in a different house to the one i grew up in i float back to memories of that blissful abode. Fruit trees of variously climbing heights, a veggie garden, so many different flowers that seemed to bloom all year round. From these days i recall a special set of drawers that lived on the patio. They were black, with oriental curves, or at least mangled dark coated iron, as i recall, then again they could have been neon pink with green polka dots and i would only recall them the way my rose coloured nostalgia glasses intend me to. Inside these drawers was a mass of half used seed packets. Possibly exotic, or perhaps the mundane staples. Surely most of these had long since passed their useby date, wherein maybe one seed in a thousand would have a hope of germinating. Still my mother persisted in keeping them, and i guess they worked, because her garden was immaculate.

Now it is my turn, and thanks to a lovely present from my birth father and his family, this set of small drawers with oriental artwork, i can carry on my mother's hoarding tradition, albeit inside my apartment.


Where does my darling mother store her seeds since moving house a few years back? Well, synthetic grass doesn't need much in the way of seeds, and the garden beds are ornamental (with only a small but useful veggie patch) Drought like conditions dictate the sparsity of this garden. So the seed drawers have long since passed. I did spy the mortgage lifter tomato seeds i gave her for Christmas next to the breadmaker in the laundry but i am not sure if they will ever have a similar home like the one in my memory.

And don't worry, pics of the parents smaller non balcony garden (including the fake grass) will be up soon.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful and useful gift!