Introduce My Garden

I develop love for gardening just before joining Hive. 2021 was the year with excitement in my life. I questioned my existence in this world and I wanted to find out if the life I am living is a meaningful and fulfilling one. That was when I found out gardening is one of the things in this world I would love to do and it helps me to live a fulfilling life.

I started having some interests in gardening around 3 years ago when I lived in a house with a big garden. Our landlord loves gardening and I sometimes helped her in the garden. Unfortunately, we had been moving places so I couldn't do much to nurture my love for gardening.

After that, I had many excuses about not having enough time to take care of a garden, I had to find a job, then with a new job, I was not able to do anything as I didn't have enough time. I guess at that time, I didn't really into gardening that much.

Until the end of 2020 when my partner bought me some indoor plants. I called them the green princesses. We live in a small apartment so I thought it is not easy for us to grow things. When I witnessed how my plants have been thriving in this condition without much-needed caring, I started to spend more time with them every day.

^{I am the green princess - I am the one in the middle}

^{How tiny I was when I just landed in this house}

^{Me after 1.5 years with my baby}

^{My green princess was quite big so I propagated two small branches}

I have to say I enjoy their company. I say hello to them in the morning and have a night chat before bedtime. Somehow, we have been developing a special bonding relationship. I feel like they can understand my thoughts and feel what I am feeling. It is so easy for me to chat with them about everything in my life.

After a couple of months growing indoor plants, I thought to myself, let's have a veggie garden. It must be fun to expand my friendship. That was when I invited Vietnamese mint, tomatoes and basils to my home.

It was the first time in my life I grew something from scratch. I bought seedlings, then made nursery rooms and also prepared organic fertiliser to feed my plants. Every day feel like an exciting day with new things. I am excited to wake up and see if any new leaves are coming and how big my plants are.

^{I used an egg tray for the tomato seedlings}

^{Young tomatoes plants appreared after 2 days}

^{Here's how they look after 5 days}

^{Move them to a new area after 2 weeks}

^{I grow tomatoes with basils and Vietnamese mint as I read that it will be good for them}

I kept nutrition water from washing my rice, boiling eggs and soaking banana skins to feed my plants. I make sure to tell them every day about what kind of food I gave them and imagine to myself that they are so happy when receiving food.

^{Look they are growing...}

^{...Bigger and bigger thanks to yummy "smoothies" I gave them every day}

Thanks to them, I turned a boring window in my flat into a beautiful green corner for me to do meditation every morning and every afternoon.

^{Sometimes, I imagine myself as a small insect crawling between branches in my garden. I told myself it must take quite a long for me to move from one tomato to another. Or it would be great to have a better view from the top of the tomato plant}

^{Through bright sunlight, I could see deeper inside my plant's bodies. I could feel how life is thriving in there, how my plants take sunlight and water in, converting them into nutrition to feed the plant} .

Then when it comes to the harvest time, I had a chance to experience the joyous moment of seeing my tomatoes fruiting flowers, then small tomatoes arrived, the moment I saw small ones turn into big green tomatoes and the moment red colour appear in my garden. I had so much joy seeing them growing and I am grateful for all the fruit I got.

^{Flowering time...}

^{I was stoked to see the tiny flowers}

^{Then the litte green guy appeared}

^{Not so long to have the full team in my little garden}

^{So many of them, my tiny tomatoes}

^{It's time to change colour, let's bring on the red team}

^{Everyday is my joy to look at these tiny red Robin tomatoes}

^{It's time to try those red tomatoes}

^{Just so you know I am not a big fan of eating raw tomatoes but those tiny red ones are not bad at all. They are sweet unlike the big ones}

^{Adding tomatoes and basils to my dinner}

At first, I came to this experiment solely because I saw others doing it and I thought about trying it. Until now, I have gained so much from this experiment. I love seeing my garden every day, the morning before going to work and the afternoon after finishing work. When I feel something is not right, I have my garden to cheer me up. When I have so much joy, I have my garden to share.

It is magical how a small garden can make a huge impact on my mental health and wellbeing. Just by looking at them, I can shut down all the noise from my life and just focus on important things. I also learned to to be happy with whatever life throws at me and be grateful for things I received.

This is my first post in the garden community for the Garden Journal Challenge 2022 hosted by @riverflows. I would love to see an update on my friends' gardens @trangbaby and @lynnnguyen.

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