GroVid22 & Dreemport collaborates with Hive Garden : Week 1 Challenge

_{My plants back home.. 😭 I haven't seen them in months 😭}

Hi, I am Khoola!

You guys are probably thinking, "This Khoola... also do gardening!?" Why yes! These are but one of my hobbies!

Here are some of them FYI:

• Cooking (got rusty, but a few practices will get me back inline)
• Laundry (can do whites and colors)
• Child Caring (just not babies, scared of em)
• Teaching Kids (reading, writing, math, etc.)
• Cleaning (can go from roof to drainages and changing diapers)
• House Repairs (yep, I am very handy to have at home... and of low maintenance 😁)

Enough of that, I am here for the #GroVid22 week 1 challenge in collaboration with @Dreemport.

GroVid22 Challenge 1 for HiveGarden with DreemPort here is a link for anyone who would like to join.

What Do I LOVE About Gardening And Growing?

Well, love for me is a story. I didn't wake up one day and just started growing plants. No sirs and mams I didn't! There has to be a beginning.

Let me first tell you something about the protagonist (me 😁). I was born and raised in Makati City, The Financial Center of the Philippines. I have no idea of gardening but Fate led me to marry a country girl and live in the country.

_{Picture of our house several years ago. It's about a hundred square meters. We built it from the foundations up, on top of 'sand'. Behind those coconut trees is the sea 🌊.}

In the image above, you can see a small tree standing in front of my house. I never knew what kind of tree it was but I spared it and cleaned out the rest of its friends.

After that, I told my wife, "Love! You see that tree... that will be our Christmas tree!" You can probably imagine the look on her face. 😂

I took really good care of that tree. Watered it every morning, pruned it... researched. Made sure it is as healthy as can be.

This started a yearly event.

I believe in giving back to the community and I also love children. Every Christmas I buy a lot of candies then ask all the children in the fisherman's village to put them on the tree.

The next day they line up and pick up the candies they put up plus a little extra from me.

Everyone loves that tree as much as I do but problems always come. My children started becoming sick. The elders told me it is because my front door is open to the road and I need to redirect it somehow. (Superstitions are norms in the countryside)

"You need to build some kind of porch, so the kids won't be so sickly anymore." Said the village elders. I believe in science and technology but I won't risk my children's health for my pride. If a porch can help to elevate my kids' health I say, "Build it!"

Another problem is the "porch" threatens my tree.

Solution:

I asked the village if I can extend my "porch" effectively extending my property so that I can save the tree.

It was a resounding, "Yes!"

The yearly celebration now has a roof, but the candies are no longer placed on the tree. Instead, it became an event that I host where everybody in the village contributes.

It has become the place where the village celebrates the holidays

The rest of the year it is a breeding ground for butterflies. It is really fun to watch the kids look at them fluttering around the tree then watch every day till the caterpillars evolve into butterflies.

This is the very first plant or tree I take care of personally, every detail. From here my plants started to multiply. The villagers started giving me plants, flowers vegetables, and all sorts of other green things which I got no idea what they are 😂.

I also asked for my backyard to be extended, which was also approved.

Sadly though last year, the tree died while I am away working. 😭

It was replaced by a "Christmas Tree". 🎄

Thank you for reading 😁

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_{👉 Click the banner to know more about this months Dreemport challenge 👇}

_{All links go to Wikipedia.org}

_{Else, pictures and banners in this post were taken or made by myself, ©@khoola. In the cases when they were taken from other sources, I stated it in the sub-caption of the pictures.}