You Grow Girl™

Wednesday was my 29th birthday. Naturally I received a few plant books. Bonnie sent me "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office" and "Garden Decoration from Junk". I'm already planning to make a modified version of the rope bed edging project out of tree branches (rather than dowels as suggested in the book) that Davin found on the curb.

Another friend, Jason, gave me "The Origins of Fruits and Vegetables", a book I was actually planning on buying. If you're at all interested in history as it pertains to the use and domestication of food plants (ethnobotany) then I suggest this book. It is filled with beautiful artwork and fascinating information. Did you know that kiwi fruit originated in China and it was called mihoutao or yangtao which roughly translates to monkey-peach?

I'm leaving today for vacation! We're going to a cottage north east of here. It's a cottage on a lake with a canoe and some forest. I'm extremely excited. While the weekend cottage is an extremely popular tradition in these parts, my personal experience with it is extremely limited. I've only ever been to a cottage twice in my lifetime, one of which was last year. It's not that I'm not any outdoorsy person -- on the contrary. The problem is that neither Davin nor I have a driver's license. So we are perpetually stuck in the city. Unless we can take a bus, train or plane there, it's not happening.

As a result of my inexperience, I don't quite know what to expect and have overprepared to some extent. Last night we went out for a few supplies and came back with all sorts of gear from a compass to one of those survival blankets. We got a little carried away looking at camping cups and other crap that we'd never use again. I used restraint. I put together a fairly comprehensive first aid kit. I'm prone to scraping, cutting or hurting myself in some way, so some kind of first aid kit always comes with me on trips. This time I added some extras. I've got it in my head that something could go wrong and I'd better be prepared.

I'm very excited about all the plants I'm going to see. Sadly mid-late summer isn't really the time for woodland flowers, but hopefully I'll see something interesting. Just being in all that oxygenated air and in amongst trees will be great.