Green leaf=happiness

About a month ago, i was making something that required horseradish. I've used the stuff in a jar before with good results, but the grocery store didn't have what i needed. They carried a horseradish sauce that had all sorts of stuff in it. I wanted just horseradish in a jar, kept with a bit of vinegar and salt. None to be had.

Plan B found me in the produce section, and there i found some horseradish roots. I picked one, and once i got home, i cut off what i needed for my recipe. There was a bit left, and as we like cocktail sauce with shrimp, i decided i might as well prepare the rest in the empty horseradish jar. So, i peeled and grated all but the very end of the root that had thin little white roots dangling like a straggly beard. The root had actually been two grown together, and i untangled the straggly bits, making it easy to separate the two like cloves in a garlic bulb.

I got a bit of potting soil and used two small yogurt containers for pots, figuring i might as well try and grow them out. Last spring, i had gotten some roots to plant from a nearby nursery. I dutifully kept them refrigerated and waited for most of the snow to melt before putting them in good sized pots and burying the in the garden outside. They never sprouted. I had nothing to lose if i tried sprouting these and kept the little pots on the kitchen windowsill.

I watered them every so often, usually weekly, and last week i found myself wondering why i should bother? I'd give it until spring before i considered it a total failure.

Yesterday, while chatting with Himself on the phone, i happened to look at the little pots. One had a green leaf stretched to the light outside, a long, slender leaf! I was surprised how happy it made me.

Its appearance reminded me that it's nearing time for me to consider starting some seedlings.