Search This Blog

Monday, March 15, 2010

Details, details



















Do you know any accountant-types? The people who actually do balance their bank accounts to the monthly statements, and do it monthly; who think it's not OK to ignore the $0.68 that's out of balance, unless of course it recurs the next month and then it could be reconciled and duly noted; people who save their receipts and match 'em up; who compare last year's expense account totals to this year's to date, and make mid-course corrections in the office supply budget?

In the garden there are tiny details as well, such as the fluctuation in pH of the water, the texture of the soil according to the USDA scale, the ripening of weed seeds, nematodes in general. These things are small or obscure, easy to miss; but like seemingly small errors in accounting they add up to significance if not attended to.

Then there are the tiny things that don't add up to much but are rewarding to the gardening accountant when they are noticed. In celebration of the deadline for calendar year corporate tax filing, I choose the tiny blossom of Dodonaea viscosa, not showy in any way but it gets the job done making seeds for the hopseed bush. Filing on time is a simple pleasure, but so too is the automatic extension, in case the lure of the garden in spring proves more powerful than balance sheets.










A lacewing (chrysopa sp) placed an egg among the flowers like an understated exclamation point, or a footnote to a financial statement.

5 comments:

Dreamybee said...

I would have had no idea that was a lacewing egg. Seems a little precarious, bobbing around on that long stem!

AYDIN Ă–RSTAN said...

This reminds me, I'd better start working on my taxes.

Christine said...

How wonderfully clever of you! I did some garden accounting of my own the other day- moving ladybugs from the Clarkia account to the Eriogonum account to help balance the aphid surplus.

Anonymous said...

i love this post for being so very clever!
and your comment, christine, brought me another smile.
cynthia

vanessa cardui said...

Yes, accounting is fun! Thanks for your comments. Get going Aydin, the month will fly by before you know it. Ha, Clarkia account, Eriogonum account. byw Christine I have procured some Eriogonum giganteum for my garden and eagerly await the bloom of them. Actually, the stalk of the lacewing egg is surprisingly strong and flexible and serves to protect the larva from predation.