Mon, 5 January

FIELD NOTE: CORPORATE ECOLOGY Subject: Solanum lycopersicum (cherry tomato), juvenile Location: NW windowsill, Boardroom 14-C, 7th floor Date of observation: First Monday after New Year Specimen height: 4.2 cm. Two cotyledons plus one true leaf emerging. Soil: commercial potting mix, visibly dry. No saucer. Light: north-facing, obstructed by adjacent tower at 40°. Estimated days without watering: 11–15. The building's HVAC system maintains 21°C and 18% humidity year-round. This is technically enough to sustain the seedling but not to let it fruit. It will grow leggy reaching for the window. It will yellow at the base. It will not die quickly. There is a pencil mark on the pot — someone's initial, maybe G — and a date from July that I cannot fully read. Recommendation: Relocate to a south-facing domestic window. Alternatively: do nothing, and observe what the plant makes of its circumstances. Note to self: The quarterly projections fanned across the table have the same curl at their edges as leaves under-watered past the point of recovery. I am not qualified to assess those.