A New Kid in Town

Posted on by

Move over Jack and the beanstalk, there’s a new kid in town!

A few months ago we had a small, forgotten sweet potato that had “eyes” on it. I thought, “Idaho is famous for potatoes, lets see what happens when I plant this little guy.”

A week or so into the experiment, this is what it looked like:

Laurie's potato experiement

Today, this is what it looks like:

IMG_8844
The sweet potato is the green plant with the long vines crawling along the window sill and the ground.

It has a daily growth spurt!

What have you nurtured that’s growing well for you?

There really is a new kid in town. Our son enjoyed his June visit so much that he relocated from the midwest to Boise this week. Woot woot!

© lauriebuchanan.com

69 thoughts on “A New Kid in Town”

  1. Laurie,

    Wow ! How wonderful to have your Son close by! He is a little spurt that has grown to maturity! Blessing on you all !

    There are seeds I planted just a few weeks ago, now germinating and rumbling in my being to come to fuller presence, many I wrote about last week in my blog. It is with activity and attention that these project see the light of day.

    Reply ↓

  4. Woo Hoo! Evan has re-located, and I’m guessing you probably never expected this is happen now. Cliff’s brother and sister-in-law have moved to Jacksonville recently, and we are renewing relationships long dormant. Growing by fits and starts, we see progress though.

    What’s growing well in my garden? My sweet potato vines grow riotously, but they’ll never produce vegetables because they are ornamental, adding a pleasant chartreuse to the darker greens on the patio. Being rather than doing, they just ARE!

    Reply ↓

  7. I LOVE sweet potatoes! They’re so expensive I’ve been thinking of starting a few in the garden for fall. I recall growing them as hanging plants when I was young and living in my first place with roommates, just for their lovely lush foliage. Maybe it’s time to try some in the ground!

    Reply ↓

  8. I remember putting sweet potatoes in jars of water as a teenager, then stringing the vines across my room and they grew. Ahhh, those old memories! Lately, what seems to be growing most for me is my midsection – without my nurturing. And the grasses in my flower beds. Why does the frost not nip them like it did my black-eyed susans? More seriously, I nurture my furry girls and they are doing well; I nurture my friendships, which are rewarding. I nurture my freedom to spend my day as I choose.

    Reply ↓

  10. Echoing other voices, I celebrate your son joining you in Boise.
    Me? I don’t have a garden but I do have a blackberry patch that I planted several years ago. This year it out did itself. It yield enough blackberries for me and the birds. : )

    Reply ↓

  12. I have been nurturing my “no worry” zones this past season, because lying around in recovery has been very hard on this active person and so the mind keeps compensating with worry instead of action. I did manage to walk a mile this morning!

    Today I am concentrating on the feelings that our house has sold for the perfect price and we have “closed” and are able to move into our new/old (no stairs, smaller house) and start putting on the new roof and a mechanical system before winter. So many folks came by this past holiday weekend – certainly one is the perfect buyer!

    I like that your son headed your way and joined ranks with you all. Idaho seems to draw families together. My freshman roommate in college lived in Nampa, then Boise and now Meridian because being so close to her 2 grandies is most important to her and brings family close! How lucky you are… I hope it is a fabulous spot for him as well…

    44 pounds of blueberries this year in the freezer and 18 lugs of apples this year headed to the cider pressing party this coming weekend. Years of nurture – now a new yard with pounds and pounds of grapes! Kiwi and pears

    Reply ↓

    • Patricia — I have joined your mantra: “Certainly one is the perfect buyer!” I love that generous bounty that you’re freezer and apple press are enjoying—WOW! And next year it’ll be grapes, kiwi, and pears!

      Reply ↓

  13. You kinda buried the lead in this post, Laurie, but your loyal readers sniffed it out right away. 🙂 Rejoicing with you that your son plans to move to your city. How wonderful that he follows you rather than vice versa. Many a parent has moved only to discover that the child in question takes a job in another city or town.

    I love observing rapid growth in places where it was not originally intended. My neighbor has a compost bin. We contribute our vegetable waste to it. I love watching new pumpkin vines and tomato plants grow along the sides of the bin. The carefully managed garden holds much harvest, but these “volunteers” are the gifts of untended growth. The vines alone are beautiful. Home you get to eat at least one sweet potato from yours.

    Reply ↓

    • Shirley — Evan is due to arrive tomorrow night. As we speak, he’s approaching Yellowstone where he’ll stay the night. Your neighbor’s compost bin sounds so earth-friendly. I know there’s a blog post in there somewhere! My friend Sandi told me to wait until after the first frost to dig in the earth to see if we have any sweet potatoes. I’ll let you know! 🙂

      Reply ↓

  14. Great that your son is moving back to your city. I rejoice that my son (in his mid-30s) lives in the same city as me – Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

    New kid on the block. Have to say the potted peppers I planted this year. New type and they surprise me – can eat them when yellow-ripe but one is also turning red. Usually I plant the green to red ones or the all green ones.

    Cheers.

    Sharon

    Reply ↓

  17. Thrilled that your son is moving near you!! What fabulous news, Laurie. Nice sweet potato plant, too. We’ve been nurturing our garden all summer and soon will make some salsa.

    Reply ↓

  18. When I moved from Miami here to North Carolina with a house and yard I thought I’d become The Farmer in the Dell. Flowers, vegetables everything was a complete failure. The only thing I grew was angry.

    Reply ↓

  20. I have 4 transplant “kiss me over the garden gate” starts that I have moved from our house on the bench to our new home in the mountains. They are special to me and I have done all I can to assure they re- seed for the winter. (including putting an umbrella over them so they didn’t get too hot this summer) I will always be amazed by natural beauty.

    Reply ↓

      • very nice….both of mine are talking of moving to Europe for a few years….Aghhh what do you do but smile and say how wonderful….and cry on the inside….

      • yes….my daughter and her husband have a five year goal to retire, they will be in there mid 40’s, but have been very smart about finances and her husband did the Iraq war and makes a good pension….they want to do the canals in Oxford….my son and his new wife just got back form a month long trip to Europe, and aftica and middle East to tell me they are in love with the Germans and their country….my husband is from there so we have family there…but with all the influx of he poor people in Syria it may be impossible….yes I am saving my pennies…they wanted to know if we would move to Europe…LOL don’t you love kids…lol

  23. I don’t nurture plants well at all, but I seem to have done very well with my children. Books, too, I suppose. 🙂
    Congratulations on your sweet potato vine, and on your son being nearby.
    (My husband and I are thrilled that our younger daughter and son-in-law now live close to us.)

    Reply ↓

  24. Laurie, you are going to come in one day to find that Sweet Potato reclining on the couch, drink in hand, asking what you’ve got to eat. It has surely made it’s self comfortable and at home. Oddly enough, things are doing well this Summer, despite my lack of hovering attention. I have so many gardens growing else where that I haven’t lavished the kind of care on my own growing beds I normally would. Poor things get a lick and a promise and struggle on with last year’s ambition. Of course, Miss Big, the Hardy Banana Tree continues to be my showiest of perennials, at nearly 12 feet tall and taking up her 8 foot circle of allotted space, she flaunts her large, floppy leaves at the slightest breeze and waves at everyone who passes by. My relationships with my nearest and dearest seem to be on an even keel and I am very grateful for that. I’m overjoyed that your son will soon be back under your eyes again!

    Reply ↓

    • Sandi — I love your Miss Big and hope you can take a little starter with you when you relocate. Other than the paper towel holder, we’ve got Eoghan’s studio apartment move-in ready. If he continues to travel at his current rate of speed (or lack thereof), we expect him to arrive sometime Wednesday evening.

      Reply ↓

  25. Hi Laurie

    It’s great to have the kids home.

    Jewelia is coming home for a 2 week visit next week, and Will moves back to the South Island next month, so he will only be a two hour drive away, instead of a 12 hour drive with a 3 hour ferry crossing.

    Great to see that growing conditions are favourable in your part of the world.
    Our region is in drought, the deepest on record, and I mowed my lawns last weekend for the first time since the end of November last year. There wasn’t a lot of growth, but they were looking a bit scruffy, with patches of growth where there was any sort of dip that could collect water and give it a chance to soak in. We had a little bit of rain last month, but it still only totals to 14 inches in the last 14 months – way less than loss to evaporation – the ground is seriously dry a long way down, water tables at record lows.

    Our sparrows are doing well, but only because of bags of wheat brought in from further south where the rainfall is normal (our drought zone is only about 80 miles wide, we’re just in it).

    Its getting warm enough that I need to put serious energy into the garden, but it hasn’t happened yet, still the chance of a strong frost or two yet.

    Reply ↓

    • Ted — Your turn toward a warmer climate marks our turn toward a cooler one. It’s so interesting to think of you and Ailsa on the opposite side of this giant rock we call Earth.

      Having Will much closer on a permanent basis, and Jewelia in your nest again (even if only for a visit) is wonderful! I always enjoy watching Facebook for photos of you and yours!

      Your draught sounds like the one that California is having. Nasty business…

      Reply ↓

  26. Laurie I am so happy for you that your son is moving your way . I can clearly remember that post you did of his last visit …just think of the new adventures that you can all have together , such fun .
    I had four neglected spider plants in an old pot I dragged with me from my old house . I can’t think why I bought them …I threw so many things away . There they sat covered of dust and plaster a storage room for months …I did keep them watered but only when I though about it . Then I saw four pots …I remembered my little plants so I gathered together soil , pot , plants and a little time …oh and a regular drop of water . They are a delight I am so proud of them .
    Cherryx

    Reply ↓

  27. How exciting and wonderful to have your son move to be near you!!! I remember when my son lived a mile away… now it’s a thousand miles… But I continue nurturing my children via Skype and texting and email. 🙂

    Reply ↓

  30. Sweet potatoes are (and you of all people well know that) are quite the healthy food option! Great to have cultivated them on the home front!

    Well, the answer to your question are my adored kids, two of whom are presently attending college. No more resonant nurturing can exist.

    Terrific post my friend!

    Reply ↓

  31. Laurie, it appears that everything you have nurtured has blossomed! The vine looks so vibrant. How wonderful your son is moving back home. All I can think of is love grows here. 😊

    Reply ↓

  32. How lovely to have your son nearby. I’m lucky all three of mine are close enough to visit easily. As for my garden the most prolific growers this year have been the of eye daisies whose seeds I gathered on the boardwalk one sunny morning. Many would call them weeds but I call them wildflowers.

    Reply ↓

Leave a reply to Amy Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.