My seeds have arrived! I ordered seeds from a catalogue for the first time, from Dominion Seed House in Georgetown, Ontario since it is so close to home. The brown packet appeared in the mailbox today. Hurray!

Almost my entire order is vegetables: Zucchini (Quirinal), Spinach (New Zealand), Swiss Chard (Rainbow), Leeks (Lancelot), Butterhead lettuce (Buttercrunch), Bok Choi (Joi Choi), and Beets (Touchstone Gold). It’s only a start, of course–I’ll need plenty more veggies yet.

But all veggies all the time would be rather dull. So I also ordered some Calendula (Apricot Twist) and Morning Glory (Carnaval do Venise). Sweet Genovese Basil will make terrific pesto this summer, so I needed those seeds, too. Then the girls (daughters Emily and Sydney) looked over my shoulder and insisted that we not only needed Sunflowers (Soraya) but giant King Kong sunflowers, too! And no garden would be complete without an experiment, so I chose Stevia (Rebaudiana). Truthfully, I have no clue about growing stevia, but a friend suggested it and I am always up for an adventure.

It may not look like much–just some white seed packets stuffed into a brown, padded envelope–but in my hands is the potential for huge amounts of life, beauty and nourishment. Sometimes those things that are plain and small have amazing potential just waiting for the right moment to emerge.