The Persistence of Radishes

Remember the radish I blipped on Dec. 12, with the link to runner-ups Minimalist Radish and Glitzy Radish?

The star of that blip was a radish from a bunch I'd bought the day before -- Dec. 11 -- at the Bellingham Farmers Market. The stars of today's blip, ensconced on the Glitzy Radish gold plate, are the tops from two radishes in that same bunch.

I trimmed these tops from the last two radishes on Dec. 28, tossed them into the compost bucket under the kitchen sink, and enjoyed the still-tasty radishes in a salad. The next morning, as I added egg shells to the bucket, I noticed that the radish tops were still looking very lively, not bedraggled, as most vegetable matter becomes fairly quickly in the compost bucket.

So I rescued the two tops, put them in a upside-down jar lid with a little water, and put them on the kitchen counter. Every once in a while I topped up their water, and thought, "Surely whatever is keeping them going will run out soon!"

But it hasn't. They've both added new leaves near the base. No roots have formed, but I'm tempted to pot them and see what happens.

I haven't named them, in case you're wondering, but I am rather fond of them. Blipping them seemed the least that I could do, given their perseverance.

I think they're much prettier than Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory, which was among the treasured art postcards in a collection I had as a teenager. From melting clocks to radish tops that won't give up... there's probably some deep meaning in that!

(Just after I posted this, I saw furnacelass' entry for today, and was amazed by our synchrony!)