My favorite plant in the garden this year turns out to be this one. It's a Castor plant and I guess it's what they make castor oil out of. I started it from a seed that a friend gave me. All of the little red cotton ball looking bunches on top end up being the seeds so I guess if I'm not careful I'll have a whole yard full of castor plants. It's huge and is really sort of a tree. It makes these huge palm tree looking leaves and since I love it so much I have allowed it to shade pretty much half of my what is supposed to be a mostly sun garden. I'm wondering if it'll die back or will it just stay there through the winter and continue to be a tree? I know, I could just google it, ask jeeves, or research it on some gardening website but I've decided to abandon technology and just do it the old fashioned way and wait and see. I mean, after all, we were perfectly capable of living our lives fairly successfully before the 80's when it all became "easier" because of technology. The other day I was in the grocery store searching for olive bruschetta to complete a new recipe I'd discovered. I found an olive spread and began to wonder what the word bruschetta actually means. So I asked a young mom who was shopping nearby. After thinking about it for a minute she whipped her iPhone out and looked it up. Which is fine! She didn't find out exactly what I wanted to know but her information did help me make a final decision so I was glad she could help me. But what if I'd had my own handy dandy internet in my pocket? Would I have engaged another actual person for help? Would I have made her feel needed and helpful because of my query? Would there have been actual communication between two (albeit a wide spread in age) moms going about the common task of making a home? Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic about the whole thing but I think the subject is at least worth a look and a thought.
In the meantime I'll watch my favorite plant and discover (the old fashioned way) the surprising and miraculous works of God in my garden.
