You Don't Know How Much You Know

You don't know how much you know until you start talking to someone in a teacher/student capacity. I spent the better part of yesterday combing through the forums from 2017 to the present looking for answers I gave to students about specific topics, and there I found a treasure trove; a big, fat, deep rabbit hole of good information. Sometimes I have to take another look to make sure it was me who posted the information because it's like, uh-huh, yeah, that's great -- oh, I wrote that! Some forums are super active, like, there are students there who are seriously engaged and passionate and ask all sorts of questions, stuff you maybe hadn't thought they were up to yet, and other forums are places for crickets and full moons, quiet, but with the knowledge that they're out there lurking, watching what is happening but not making a sound. I prefer a mix of the two, somewhere in between. Anyway, the point is, I found a bunch of stuff to add to the APWs. I'm still working on the sustainability and environmental issues with natural perfumery. That requires more research. 

Sh*t moves fast in natural perfumery. It's like a hive mind thing too. One starts doing things, and the next thing you know, while you're writing a book about it, it's passed you up and created a whole new movement, and there you are, holding a stack of useless wilted papers in your hands. Or -- and this is my favorite -- you come up with something, put it out there, think it's a failure, stop doing it, forget about it for about five years, and then find out everybody's making YouTube videos about it like it's all brand new. Eh, such is life.

Things are starting to finally sprout. All the vegetable garden seedlings were looking kind of wilty and growing really slow, then the weather switched, and all of a sudden they were going like gangbusters. We've got 90 onions. Ninety. Nine-zero. Also garlic, summer squash, red long beans, loads of tomato plants, calendula, strawberry, lettuce, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember. But my favorite is the black hollyhocks. Finally got some to sprout -- 9 beautiful mixed bag black double blossom and single blossom hollyhocks. Woot! Sprouting hollyhocks is almost like making a pot of beans (that's how I remember how to do it) -- you have to soak the seeds for 12 or more hours before planting. Well, you don't actually 'plant' them either, just kind of lie them on the top of the soil and keep them wet until they sprout, then you're off to the races. And what are they good for? Well, they're beautiful. Regal, really, and the flowers can be plucked and used in incense as a binder and for a nice purplish color, and for dying natural fabrics, like muslin or cotton.