Green Thumb (and the magic celery)

I recently posted a tour of my yard, complete with pictures, and in the past I've posted about my garden and other plantings.  And while I share these things online, I also share them in real life.  So I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when someone remarked "You must have a real green thumb".

My thumb is not green....

                      nor are any of my fingers.






Now, we all know that when someone says you have a green thumb, they mean that you grow things... but it did make me wonder -- where did that saying really come from?  After all, not everything that grows is green... and it's certainly not green when it first begins to grow.  Yes, I know, seedlings are green.. but seeds are not. And things that grow, are typically grown in dirt... and when I plant things, I most certainly get very dirty... so why don't we say that people who plant things, have black thumbs?  And why thumbs?  My fingers generally get much dirtier than my thumbs.

So I hopped on the great big internet research center, to see what I could find.

First, I found that, in England, the phrase is "green fingers"  (which is why I showed you that even my fingers are not green.).

And I found all sorts of discussions about planting seedlings -  which are green, and you use your thumb and forefinger to pinch back plants, and statements that green is always associated with growth....  none of this was very satisfactory.

And then I found something about some king or other who really liked peas and his favorite servants were those who could shell the most peas, and shelling peas gave you green thumbs.

Nope, that didn't do it for me, either.

And then I found something that said that the saying comes from the fact that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person’s thumb (and fingers) if they handle enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flower pots has a green thumb.
Hmmm... still not a terrific answer... but I'm ready to move on.

Because what I REALLY want to share with you is my magic celery.  When I gave you a tour of my yard, I also explained that I recently saw something online about growing new celery -- that you can actually put in your garden and harvest -- from the butt end of a celery bunch.  I didn't believe it, so I tried it.. and it works.
Here are pics of the progress so far...

June 4, 2016

June 11, 2016

June 14, 2016

As you can see, the growth is quite dramatic!  The instructions say to plant it outside once the outer leaves start to rot away... so I'll be planting it this weekend.

But it gets better!!
I actually have room in my garden for perhaps half a dozen celeries... so while I don't know that I'll do that many, I decided I would do at least one more.  And clearly, celery butt #2 did not want to get left behind.  Note the dates on these pics...

June 12, 2016

June 14, 2016

June 15, 2016

That's right, boys and girls.. this is what I've got in THREE DAYS!!   Actually, more like 2 and a half.. because I cut the base and put it in the dish Sunday afternoon.. and the June 15 pic is from this morning.

So..  you can call it green thumb, green fingers, green hand... whatever you want... it's not me, it's the magic celery!  I will be planting both of these in the garden, this weekend.

And by the way, in case anyone cares, I NEVER drink green tea.  It's usually Typhoo tea, it's always black tea leaves.