Stevia before planting, and before my son Leo comes home from school in the Netherlands for the summer to destroy it. Every year I have to buy more of it, since he eats it by the handful, right down to a nub.

It’s one of the herbs I’ve started buying as plants. It’s sweet and delicious as hell. But it’s a stingy germinator to grow from seed, and it takes up so much room under my grow lights to get enough of it to sprout. I do like growing special varieties from seed, like Candy (extra large size) or Sweetie Star (great flavor with no aftertaste), both of which are available from Richters Herbs in Ontario.

But Leo (nicknamed Corn; he REALLY liked eating it when he was little) doesn’t care which type I grow. He’ll eat it all anyway, right now to the ground if I don’t stop him. And he’s 21!!! I’ve just written him that since the stevia is here, the countdown for him coming home has officially begun. 47 days. I’m so mad that his summers are so short, but I’ll take all the time I can get. The 2nd photo of him was from when he was little (I posted this classic one on Mother’s Day, and I’m still sighing in nostalgia over it), and the 3rd and 4th photos are from when he was home for Christmas.

I’ve just warned him via text that he doesn’t get to eat the stevia down to nubs when he gets here, and here’s his reply: “Nah, those things are gone the day i get back unfortunately. Not much we can do about that tho, deadlines and quotas and such.”

And this is why I call the 5 of them the DKTD (Damn Kids These Days!) Ooh, I miss them when they’re gone!!! I can’t wait until Corn is home to go in my herb garden and eat it all.❤️