The Row That Changed Its Name
Chapter 1The Copy
Tamar's chart was the neatest thing on the potting-room table.
Four ruled lines. Four plant names. Not a single smudge.
She had copied it from the chart beside the window, then brought it to Mrs. Weiss with the seed tray.
"Ready for the outdoor labels," she said.
The tray held four rows of seedlings in separate cells. Mrs. Weiss was getting the garden beds ready, and the girls would carry the small pots outside later.
Rivky picked up the wooden label marked RADISH.
"Which row?"
"The first one," Tamar said.
Rivky looked down at the tiny green leaves.
"These don't look like the row we called radishes yesterday."
Chapter 2First From Where?
Tamar moved her chart closer.
"I copied it exactly."
Rivky did not put the label in.
"Maybe I remember wrong."
Mrs. Weiss came over. Her headscarf was tucked neatly behind her shoulders.
"Before we put labels into the pots, show me what 'first' means."
Tamar pointed to the row nearest her.
Rivky went around the table and pointed to the row nearest herself.
They were pointing at opposite ends of the tray.
"That's not first," Tamar said.
"It was first from the window."
Mrs. Weiss looked at the chart.
"Did yesterday's chart say which end to begin from?"
Chapter 3The Wet Corner
The original chart still hung beside the window. Across its top, Mrs. Weiss had written: BEGIN AT THE BLUE CORNER.
Tamar's copy began with the first plant name. She had thought the line at the top was only a reminder for people standing by the window.
A blue spot marked one corner of the tray. It was now on the far side, beside Rivky's elbow.
Yesterday it had been beside Tamar.
"I turned the tray this morning," Mrs. Weiss said. "A little water was dripping onto the floor. I wanted the wet corner over the sink while I checked it."
The plants had moved with the tray.
The words on Tamar's paper had not.
Chapter 4No Fast Swapping
Tamar reached for the four labels.
"Then I'll put them in backward."
Mrs. Weiss held out her hand, and Tamar stopped.
"Let's check the original order rather than swap quickly."
Starting at the blue corner, they read each name from the original chart and laid its wooden label beside the proper row.
RADISH was at the far end from Tamar. LETTUCE came next, then CHARD, then PARSLEY.
Rivky pointed to the little parsley seedlings.
"Those are the ones I remembered."
"You remembered something worth checking," Tamar said.
Chapter 5The Pot That Wandered
As they began lifting the small pots into carrying trays, Tamar found one sitting on the table by itself.
Its leaves looked much like another seedling's leaves.
"That must go with the chard," she said, then lowered her hand.
"Or maybe not. Did anybody move it?"
Rivky had lifted it from the lettuce row to wipe soil off its side. She showed Tamar the empty cell where it had stood.
Tamar set it with the lettuce pots.
"I'll label them before they leave their rows," she said.
This time, she did not let the neat paper do all the checking for her.
Chapter 6A Better Chart
Tamar added BEGIN AT THE BLUE CORNER to her copy. She drew a small rectangle beside it, with a blue dot at one corner and the four rows named in order.
Rivky lifted one end of the tray. Mrs. Weiss took the other, and together they moved it away from the sink.
The blue corner turned again.
Tamar held her chart beside it.
"Still radishes here," she said, pointing from the marked corner instead of from her chair.
"Good," said Rivky. "I was worried your paper might turn them into parsley."
Chapter 7Beside the Bed
Outside, Mrs. Weiss planted while the girls passed her the pots from the dry path. Tamar's chart lay on the bench, smudged but useful.
When Rivky asked which came next, Tamar pointed to the labeled lettuce tray.
"These."
