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The slow transformation from the white wonderland of winter to the colorful paradise of spring was one of Miyabi’s favorite natural sights to experience in real time.
During the winter, harsh cold and frequent snow storms made it difficult for many trees and flowers to sustain themselves properly. Under the pressure of these freezing weather elements, the stress was simply too great to handle. Therefore, these plants preferred to lie dormant within the snow-blanketed soil and wait for better weather.
Lavenders, however, happened to be very picky about their environment. These plants were terribly weak against the cold, so their seeds would remain in the soil as long as possible until they believed that the risk of a frost had truly gone away. Which was a real shame, because the unique purple flowers of the lavender plant were a sight to behold.
So this Spring, Miyabi took it upon himself to grow his own batch of lavender flowers.
As the overseer of the Hanasaki Forest, the boy was very experienced in taking care of both the flora and fauna around him. Years and years of careful observation about his environment had blessed him with a green thumb that went unmatched by others around him. Springtime was the best opportunity he had to put his skill to the test, and he was eagerly looking forward to seeing the fruits of his labor by the end of the season.
Thus, Miyabi got to work on his gardening project. To start, the lavender seeds needed to be tricked into thinking that the winter season was over before they would begin to grow. (He had read somewhere that this process was referred to as “stratification”.) The erratic temperature fluctuations of the changing season made this somewhat difficult to accomplish outdoors, but Miyabi had prepared for such a case. He had been storing a small packet of lavender seeds in the cool, controlled environment of the Stars’ shared refrigerator for the past month to mimic a natural winter climate.
To complete the seeds’ illusion, Miyabi needed a good container to sow all of them into. Problem is: he wasn’t sure what he could use as a planter for all the seeds he planned to grow. He didn’t have spare pots laying around, and he wasn’t feeling particularly eager to make a trip to the store to buy some seed trays…
Luckily for him, Shien soon came around to drop some fresh groceries off at the Stars’ hangout spot. Among them was an egg carton with plenty of evenly-sized wells… perfect for seedlings to grow in. “Shiepi, can I have that egg carton when it’s empty?”
“Eh? Oh, sure thing, Miyabi! Just wash it first so it’s not sticky with egg residue, though.”
And that was that. True to his word, the jackal beastman would leave the egg carton out for Miyabi to use once it was empty. He trimmed the lid off and rinsed the carton clean as best as he could. A quick trip outside with a hand shovel rewarded him with some rich, nutritious soil to fill the wells with.
Alright, on to sowing the seeds. Miyabi poked a shallow hole into the dirt of each well and dropped one seed inside it, taking care to cover it back up with a loose layer of soil. Once all the seeds had been safely planted, he partially filled an empty spray bottle with water and gently moistened the soil. The finished seed tray was moved to the bright, warm environment of a sunny window. All that was left to do now was wait.
Lavender was a special plant, so the time it took for it to germinate was expected to be long: about 2 to 3 weeks from the time the seeds were planted. While he waited, he made sure to keep the soil damp (not soggy!) and at a comfortable temperature.
(Miyabi would sometimes notice that the dirt in his makeshift seed tray stayed moist despite his forgetting to water it on his busiest days. It took him catching Rikka in the midst of watering it for him to realize what had been going on. He smiled knowing that his friends were looking out for him and, as Astel once joked, his “leafy green kids”.)
The eventual appearance of one, then two, then many happy sprouts was great cause for excitement. Miyabi gave the seedlings a few more days to build strong roots in their wells, before proceeding to transplant them into bigger pots of fresh soil with the kind help of Izuru (who didn’t mind getting his hands dirty with a bit of earth). Together, they carefully popped the plugs of root of each seedling out from their cramped wells and nestled them into small dirt craters they dug in the new pots, leveling the soil afterward.
Miyabi, of course, wasn’t planning on hoarding all of these wonderfully-growing plants. It was much more fun to share his hobby with his friends! He gave the other Stars a young lavender plant to look after, making sure to leave one for himself as well.
As the Spring grew warmer and the landscape outside bloomed with color, Miyabi enjoyed receiving frequent status updates from his friends about how their plants were faring. They all seemed to be growing taller and taller every day, earning new leaves and pushing out cute little buds from which they would soon debut their flowers.
And when those fragrant purple petals finally peered out from the delicate shell of their buds? Miyabi considered his lavender gardening project to be a beautiful success. ❀