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Gardening: Mary's Little Eggplant

Friends by Proxy Dirt

In the nursery rhyme of my child hood, Mary had a little lamb. But my new friend and gardening buddy, Mary has a little eggplant. And she is as proud and loving of it as if it were her woolly cuddly lamb.

Mary came to me this spring through a mutual sister gardening pal and

in response to my invitation to have someone or a few someones share my yard for gardening.

As our young publishing company and www.thimbleberrypress.com (and please, become its fan on facebook) has begun to develop, my kid grow up and need more of my time during her teen years, and the demands of this blog increase, my gardening time has diminished. I have sat longing to go outside and get my hands on the dirt...but other duties at the keyboard and steering wheel have called. So I have been thrilled to have Mary come to garden.

Mary is a dear. And a brilliant dear--who is also a medieval scholar. I love to look out my bathroom window and see her folding bike parked beside the sheds and see her loving her plants--herbs, flowers and vegetables into bloom and fruition. I sometimes feel that I am out there with my hands in the dirt instead of hers. We are friends by proxy--proxy dirt.

That Dear Little Eggplant

Mary sent me these eggplant photos two days ago and I was as thrilled as if I were at a birthing! Here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, through the magic of the internet..and it does seem magic to me still, I can share in the thrill of that first vegelette transforming from bloom to tiny egglette. That is Mary's love and the trans formative amazement of dirt, rain and sun on a tiny seed to nurture it into its fulfillment.

Gardening has done that for me--even proxy gardening--taken the little seed of possible, and nourished it into becoming.

I think I will always be a becoming...we all always are really. It is a false premise that we become and then are finished. No--like Mary and my friendship and the little eggplant--we are all always becoming. And that is a delicious thing.

Contest: Can you Guess Mrs. Buttersworth's first name?

If you can, you will have some cash and a year's supply of yummy syrup.

Since Mrs. Butterworth became known in 1961 as a pancake syrup, her first name has been kept a bit of a secret. But if you can guess just what that first name is, you can win some great prizes.

Mrs. Butterworth's name was passed down over the years only to various managers within the company that makes "Mrs. Butterworth Syrup" and was unknown to the public. The current contest was Inspired by a boy's question, asking the first name of Mrs. Butterworth, sent to the marketing department at Pinnacle Foods.

The contest requires a guess at her first name and an explanation as to why that name came to mind. The winning entry will be posted on www.mrsbutterworthsyrup.com. 

The winner will receive $500 and a year's supply of Mrs. Butterworth's Syrup.

The contest runs through July 17 and a winner will be selected shortly thereafter.

ENTER CONTEST:

 

 

Book Giveaway: "On Our Way Home" by Sebastien Braun

Vaboomer has another Book Giveaway -- a beautiful children's book,  "On Our Way Home" by Sebastian Braun. 

A tender story about coming home at the end of a wonderful day out, for fathers and their toddlers to share together. The illustrations are so sweet and beautiful. (Hardcover) Daddy Bear and Baby Bear walk home through the forest.

On the way, they see many wonderful things - the golden leaves falling from the trees, the big yellow sun going down and the beautiful stars twinkling overhead. When they get home, Daddy tucks his sleepy Baby Bear up in bed.

This warm celebration of the relationship between parent and child is perfect for reading at bedtime.

 

To enter drawing (July 22),  send email to: contact@boomermade.com.

View Vaboomer's other Book Giveaways