Watching Life Take Shape. Surprisingly Quickly, No Less.

Apparently I'm on a hands on science kick...

My brother David and his girlfriend brought home a tiny grow-your-own basil kit for our little guy to plan. He may have picked it up from World Market, or perhaps someplace else.

All I know is, the kit came with a tiny plastic cup that looked like a planter, an itty bitty package of basil seeds and some "growing medium" (read: compact dirt). I have to admit, I was skeptical. Was our little guy going to be disappointed when this project went nowhere?

What the heck, we gave it a try.

First off, the growing medium expanded when water was put on it, which was so fun to watch that was probably worth the price of the whole project. And then we dropped our 6 tiny seeds on the dirt and waited.

Wouldn't you know it, within a day or two, we had small, clear, gelatinous masses in the dirt. Holy smokes, something was growing! Maybe it was basil. Maybe it was mold. Who cares, we did it!

Over the past few days, we've had a great time checking up on the progress of the seeds, making sure they are moist, and moving them to the window sill that is getting the most light.

I'm amazed at how quickly these seeds actually did something. Apparently, I missed that day in biology class when we talked about how seeds turn into plants.

All I know is, this has been a truly awesome project. Something you should absolutely do with your little ones. And man, am I lucky to have such a thoughtful brother and brother's girlfriend.

Here's how the plants looked today: