The Seed Table
This is a little off topic, but the story of the week is the Seed Table. This is actually our coffee table, at least what it looks like when it isn't covered by books and newspapers, coffee mugs, etc...
The table came about around 9 years ago, shortly after being married, and still childless when we had time to pursue this kind of project. The idea was mine--a table with compartments under the glass to hold seeds--and my husband designed and built the table, using a piece of circular plate glass that we already had hanging around. The process of collecting seeds was fun. I used excess seeds from vegetable packets that hadn't been planted, grass seed, bird seed, thistle, sunflower. I collected seeds from the flower garden--Siberian Iris, Daylily, Cleome, Marigold. We scoured the kitchen cupboards for things like sesame seeds and poppy seeds and tiny celery seed. One evening we sat sorting all the beans from a bag of bean soup mix, coming up with a colorful assortment of new additions to the table. After a friends saw the table, I received at work one day a mysterious inter-office envelope containing a zip-lock bag of red lentils. They gave a nice shot of color to the table. Apple seeds, grapefruit seeds, tangerines--no fruit was eaten without sorting out the seeds and washing and drying them for the table.
When we moved, the table went with us, legs carefully removed, and the table was tipped just enought to fit through the doorway and transported flat in the back of the station wagon.
Alas, nine years later, insects finally found the seeds. We discovered an infestation in the yellow lentils and the ryegrass seed. The table had to be cleaned out and debugged. I didn't plan on spending my vacation week cleaning out the seed table. With small dixie cups and spoons, we salvaged the seeds that didn't seem to be infested, vacumned out the squares and sprayed the whole thing. Seeds were returned to the table, but now many squares remain empty, waiting for new discoveries of seeds. I went on a seed hunt in the gardens and came up with dill, daylily, and more cleome. Later I discovered the morning glories going to seed and collected enough to fill a square. There are still available slots--Carol, if you happen to have any more of those red lentils....
