Growing up in a home where the policy was practically, “If it can be grown, it will be grown.” We loved fruits a lot and Mom was a big advocate of vegetables so we thought that instead of buying fruits and vegetables which at some point was being sold at exorbitant rates, why don’t we plant them.
We have a lot of land at our disposal at home, so we started to officially set off our garden by planting fruits. Yeah, we ventured into fruits first. We planted three types at a go into many places in our backyard and they included papayas, plantains and bananas. These three dominated the garden for years and the next port of call was to venture into other fruits.
But this time, Mom decided that it wouldn’t be just fruits, vegetables had to be thrown into the mix. We have a variety of dishes served in our locality that need diverse vegetables so we got that planted. From pumpkin, since the leaves are useful for dishes as well as the fruit, to bitter leaf, basil, curry leaves and the likes. Then we created more space in the garden to plant other fruit trees like orange, different species of guava, pineapples and the final addition to the mix- coconut.
We wanted to get the land adjacent to ours when we found out that space wasn’t quite enough, especially with the addition of a poultry farm also at the back. But that didn’t really work out so we had to do a good deal of downsizing. At that time, the plantain and banana trees had stretched to about fifteen. So we selected the best that were also situated at good locations in the garden and got rid of the rest, leaving us with three of the plantains and three of the banana trees. The papaya trees also had to go and we kept three of them as well.
At some point we had to get rid of the guava and the sour sop trees. This was the one that got me really sad. We had made quite a good amount of money though from supplying it to the local market and at some point, disease got into the guavas and they simply stopped producing. I was of the opinion that we gave it a little more time but Dad said that it had outlived its years but soon enough, we’ll plant them again.
Was I sad that we had to let them go? Yeah. But soon after, I saw it as an opportunity to branch out and be able to properly cultivate other food items. It was at this time that Mom and the rest of my sisters went crazy on the garden. We planted peppers, egg plants, melons, garden eggs....you name it.
The only thing that prevented us from planting other crops like beans, onions and carrots was that Southern soil wasn’t conducive for those kind of crops. And we know this not because we had been informed, but because we tried planting them tirelessly till we eventually gave up.
The benefits of owning a garden to me is not just about the cutting down of food expenses, even though without a doubt, it’s a huge advantage. Imagine just having to purchase only items like salt, meat and very few other food items just because you have every other thing at home. So it is truly worthwhile.
But the personal satisfaction that comes with gardening also needs to be studied. We learn with each plant. What works and what does not. We find out the strengths and weaknesses of our garden. What’s best planted at different portions of the garden. It’s a whole level of work but it’s the enjoyable kind. The satisfaction that comes with just watching them, maybe glimmer in the sun in all its greenish glow, or sway gently with the breeze is enough therapy for a troubled mind. Troubled mind being myself, lol.
Of course now I’m in the dorm away from home for the most part, I get to miss the major growth of certain seasonal plants like corn. But it’s all good since I know the garden is in good hands. Once I have a home of my own, away from the family home, I’d definitely cultivate my own garden with an all you can plant kind of structure. My very own green paradise.
All images are mine.
