Sunday, January 13, 2008 | by nathan

Food, German and Grown

Today was the kind of day you just live for. Brian and I got up early and played with Sam for awhile, then decided that we’d walk to Ingrid’s Kitchen for their Sunday brunch buffet. We’d never walked up there, but it was easy, and fun, and it was a beautiful day, complete with my favorite weather combination, cold and sunny.

Ingrid’s is hands-down one of the best places in the city. If you EVER, EVER, EVER want to go there, you may let me know, and I’ll ALWAYS go with you. Especially for brunch on Saturday or Sunday. And if you ever come to Oklahoma to visit me, all you Nokies, it will be on the List of Things We’ll Do, non-negotiable. This morning’s brunch consisted of eggs benedict, saurkraut with authentic German sausage, handmade biscuits and bread, casserole, and bread pudding for dessert. I mean - I ask you.

After brunch we walked home, winding through our neighborhood and the one adjacent, admiring the lovely little nook of Oklahoma City in which we live. When we got home I went to water the plants I’d started last week, and discovered SPROUTS! "HOLY GOD I MADE SOMETHING GROW!" I cried. Check it out:

See, I had ordered a bunch of seeds from Organica Seed Co., a wonderful little place I highly recommend. Last weekend we went to Lowe’s and I bought seed starter kits and a bunch of soil, and I put a bunch of seeds in my neat little pots, which, when the soil outside is ready, I can just drop into holes and watch it all go to town. I planted cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, Bolivian rainbow peppers, asparagus, yellow strawberries (I didn’t even know that was a thing!), plus some purple basil and some dill.

Anyway, I was sure it would all be for naught, but I faithfully watered it all and tried to keep it warm and happy.

And holy cow. We have sprouts. The tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and dill have started to come up. We’re still waiting on the peppers, strawberries and asparagus. BUT HOLY COW!

Here’s the deal: when it all gets going, I’ll have to start gently pulling up the tiny little plants and re-potting them so they don’t crowd each other out. If this all goes as well as it could, this whole experiment has the potential to get WAY out of hand, so I’m prepared to give some of these neat little plants away to loving growers. So, give it some thought - you don’t have to answer now. But consider the following: in March sometime, you may be required to come to my house, help me till up the plot in which all this wonderful food will grow, and as a reward, you’ll get to take home your VERY OWN PLANT! YAHOO!

I was digging up my plot today, thinking about how much I hated it when my dad enlisted my help in tilling his garden, and how much I wish I’d listened and watched more closely while he’d done it all, because HOLY CRAP, I have sprouts, and I need to call him to ask what the hell to do next. If I ever have kids - or if I ever babysit YOUR kids - they’re totally helping me with MY garden, and they’re totally going to hate it, too, but at the age of 27 they’ll look back and wish they’d paid closer attention.