It's not a hard day, and the title pun is kinda cringe, but it was all I could come up with, so there you have it. A couple of months back, a very dear friend gifted me a few coffee beans from her coffee plant, as a nod to our shared passion for caffeine.
The beginning of an aromatic story.
She even wrote me a little poem about coffee which was very sweet. So after playing around with the seeds a little bit, and watching about a dozen videos at 4 AM about planting coffee, I decided to give it a go, and planted them in a small pot, which I set in the sun and watered dearly.
You think you know where this goes, but it's not that, because there followed a long period of draught/overwatering while we were out of the country, and overall very poor care. Needless to say, my coffee died before it was born, and I was very sad about that, but figured it wasn't meant to be.
This morning, I set out for this lovely little plant shop with nothing in mind. I wanted the walk, as it was prepping for a storm, so I wanted to enjoy the weather. I figured there. Maybe I see some lovely succulent for my mom's reading nook, maybe not.
I always love going to shops and cafes and places where the people in charge actually like what they're doing. This same friend told me about a cafe where the staff goes on team-building at coffee farms and whatnot (and here, I thought barristas were mostly summer jobs for college kids).
The little plants shop was just that sort of place. I found my lovely little mint plant here some months before, with the lovely woman in charge guiding me towards finding the right pot, and instructing me on proper care. This time, it was an older gentleman in charge (perhaps her husband?) and I thought 'oh, he won't be someone who talks to me about plants and gets all lovely and makes me walk out with loads of plants in my arms'. Couldn't have been more wrong.
We got to talking about the ivy in the window, and next thing I know, he's getting some down for me. At which point, I've worked up the courage to ask about the coffee plant. I'd seen smaller coffee cups with coffee plants inside, but he talked me into getting this bigger one (it was, I admit, a good deal). I fell in love with it on the spot.
Between you and me, I'm already thinking about the day I'll need to repot this into something bigger. And then that lovely huge coffee mug will be all mine.
Could I say no? Maybe, but I got some lovely greenery, a huge coffee cup (what I consider proper size), and walked home with a huge smile on my face, so all in all, it was worthy spending to me. As I say, I like people who are passionate about what they're doing, who genuinely care. It's this small shared moment of a hobby or a passion that makes me love indie, local stores.
As for my little incipient coffee plantation, I don't know if it will last. I'll do what I can to see that it does, though.Granted, according to this chart I found in a lovely coffee shop in Edinburgh, it would take at least 18 full-grown coffee trees to keep me in coffee for a year, so we're probably a long way from that.
Still, it's a start :)
PS: I'm glad I discovered the place. I used to spend quite a bit of time in the area, as an ex lived down the street. I always thought it was a funny coincidence that the flower shop was named Ekaterina (a variation of my own name). Never went in while I was with him. I guess I wouldn't have appreciated it as much at the time.
