Hooray! I am so happy! I went to work like normal today, checked the fridge (not really a fridge, it's a passthrough chamber that connects to the cleanroom) and started some paperwork. I'm the Quality Control Technician. I would love to drop the 'technician' part of my title. It means I'm just another grunt trading hours for dollars. I would love to get paid for results or for creating new devices, but that's another story. Anyway, I checked the terrarium I have in my cubicle and saw a small, barely noticable tendril peeking its hairy head up out of the soil and gently lifting a pebble out of its way in search of light. I had almost given up hope that any would sprout. I planted the darn things last year before Christmas! So the terrarium is only about as wide as my thumb and as long as my hand. I planted four very large seeds in the damp peat, covered them with the packet of sand and finished it off by placing the pebbles on the sand. The pebbles came in the box with the sand and everything. I got it from Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby was boring for me - until I discovered the trains and rockets in one of the back isles! As the trains were expensive and the rockets... I have small children, you understand. So lurking in the back isles I discovered a trove of cheap treasures. Grow your own Triops! Grow your own edible cycad! Grow your own... you get the idea.
So: Dioon Edule. It is commonly known as the chestnut palm, among other things. It grows in Mexico and is near threatened (slightly rare.) Check Wikipedia for more info. I found that although it is edible, and the seeds may be ground into flour to make tortillas, the female plants bloom every ten to fifty years! I thought I waited a long time for it to sprout, but I'll be waiting even longer for my Dioon tortillas. I'll be patient.
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