... and her Minions From Ash.
Finally something to show after planting my tobacco seeds indoors in mid-September. In the true spirit of The Resistance, I've taken a leaf from other bloggers' and smoking ban warriors' pages and named my plants in the best way possible to shove two fingers up at our persecutors.
Audrey Silk from America's NYC Clash smokers' rights group named her home grown tobacco garden after Smokerphobic snob Barmy Bloomsberg.
And Leg Iron named his plant after Witch-finder General Dreadful (Deborah) Arnott.
Mine are named in dishonour of the head of our health department and those in her ideological front group.
The seed supplier told me I'd be better off growing the plants indoors under a grow light as I planted out of season. Spring outdoors seems to be the best time. I chose to leave both Malevolent Milton and her Minions from Ash in my office to watch as I smoked and worked. Light came in from one window but the poor souls didn't like the winter gloom and didn't develop much.
At the brink of death, I caved in and went to my local hydroponics shop and bought a over head grow light that my other half set up for me. Malevolent Milton went under it as I left the Minions from Ash to wilt without help - just to see if they could make it on their own.
Milton soon settled in and stayed unmoved for about a week and then suddenly began to grow to the size pictured above. Ash's healthiest leaf from it's biggest puny plant, about the size of a small fingernail, poked out desperately searching for light but I left it for a while longer.
Satisfied after a few days that the Minions were not going to develop without any help, I succumbed and moved them next to their buddy Malevolent.
Leg Iron advised me to plant in big pots and these are the largest I have. Some of the Ashites may not survive but I would expect one to suck the life from the home made compost and ruthlessley take what's good from the others to save its own neck.
Milton's small bottom leaf began to yellow so I picked it and now, with no clear idea of what I'm doing, I'm curing it as an initial experiment. I've got it in a damp disposable kitchen towel. So far it's just wet, a bit broken, but not going brown.
I'll check on it tomorrow and report back if there is any change.