The Biggest Yet:

I don't remember if this guy came in right under or right over 2 pounds...but somewhere around there. Yes, Dad has been weighing our harvest. :) This fella is a Big Zac, and that's a quarter next to him for scale.

We've been saving seeds from all the best produce, and hope to have lots of plants to sell in our new family gardening business next spring. If all goes as planned, we'll have several thousand seedlings. (Hey - if you live near us, be sure to check us out next spring! Trust me, we don't have space to plant all those in our garden!)

A few days ago, Dad and I were sitting at the kitchen table, sorting seeds as Mom worked on supper. He was getting seeds from one of our Big Zacs, making a lovely soupy red puddle - dotted with small plump seeds - on a plate, and I was counting seeds from a yellow squash that I had raided earlier. The seeds were pale and smooth under my fingers, like pearls.

"Daddy... are you really going to try to have at least a thousand tomato seedlings next spring?"

"Yup - and, well, you know how many I already have."

I glanced at the seed-filled cup next to him and nodded. "We already have plenty. They're such a beautiful sight! ...And you're gonna let me try yellow squash, and zucchini, and maybe flowers... Dad...what are we going to plant them in?"

"We'll start them in dixie cups. You can't get much cheaper than that, unless you make your own. We can transplant them to bigger containers as they grow."

I smiled, picturing our little work shop in the basement this past spring - how it was loaded with tiny green seedlings, and how fun it had been to tend to them, and see them grow. Then I imagined that on a grander scale, with a thousand or more seedlings. How fun it would be! Plants everywhere...

Then I paused.

"...Dad...where are we going to fit a thousand seedlings?"

Dad chuckled. I'm sure he has plans, but all he said was "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."