Zoe the Zucchini

This week’s challenge was to take care of a plant.  I did my best, but the crazy storms we’ve been having wreaked havoc on Zoe.

Zoe

Monday morning, I actually brought Zoe in from outside, watered her, and then sat her on the table to have breakfast with me.  I even told her a long story about this zucchini plant that started small grew up big and strong (motivation).  This special treatment didn’t last all week.  Tuesday, though, I still checked her water level and brought her inside for a bit (because, you know, plants love to come inside).  Wednesday, we had a crazy storm and when I went out to check on Zoe, her little pot was full of water, so I had to drain it on its side because the pot she’s in doesn’t have a hole in the bottom (that’s a problem).  Thursday, I checked the water level and it still felt moist, so I didn’t add any water.  That night I went home to Canton.  I thought about taking Zoe, but I decided not to.  Friday, I came home, checked the water level again and it still seemed moist (of course, it had been really humid, but I didn’t want to drown Zoe, so I didn’t add any more water that day).  Saturday, there was more rain, so I set Zoe closer to the door so that the ledge would cover her from the rain, then, I moved her back out after the rain had stopped.  This morning, I woke up to another really intense storm and when I went down to check on Zoe after things had calmed down, her pot was completely filled with water again and two of her stems were broken from the wind!  I was sort of devastated, so I drained the pot once again, trimmed the two stems that broke and added some extra potting soil to the pot (I’d lost quite a bit in the two bouts of draining).  This wasn’t such a good week for taking care of a plant.

It was kind of fun though, getting my hands in some soil and checking on the Zoe every day.  Plus, I’m pretty sure I see the beginnings of some blossoms and that’s exciting!  I have decided that I need to continue this challenge until Zoe bears fruit, so I will continue to update as thing happen.  I also, in the near future, need to get a much larger pot with some sort of drain or plant Zoe in the ground.  I’m already scouting some ground in my front yard, but I’m afraid she might accidentally be mowed down.  I just want Zoe to make it long enough that I can eat some zucchini that I actually grew myself.  Wouldn’t that be cool?  I think so.