The Young Botanist

One snowy day in early spring, three ounces of powdery Martian regolith simulant arrive in the mail.

I give one of the glass vials to Ethan.

He told me that he’s cool with me telling you about him, so here are some details. He’s twelve years old. He’s homeschooled. He refuses to eat anything other than hot dogs or chicken nuggets. He wears a costume every time we hang out - usually a steampunk top hat and dragon wings. I usually wear my cat ears and my butterfly wings, because solidarity. One time he showed up to the park wearing a Russian Tank made of camouflage spray-painted cardboard. I wore my unicorn onesie.

He’s not my kid, either. I spend time with Ethan as a mentor through a nonprofit organization. I won’t tell you which one, but I will tell you that it’s the one in that Seinfeld episode where George lies about going to Paris so he can weasel out of volunteering.

Two weeks ago, I gave Ethan the Mars dirt and some marigold seeds. Yesterday I received a picture message of three green seedlings, barely sprouted from their potting mix and alien soil. They were accompanied by an image of a boy dressed as a shark, frowning intently at the flowerpot.

Click below to hear Ethan speak about climate change and our marigold experiment: