I am so glad to be back here on Hive after a long break. It's been a severely trying few months for me (I'll tell you more about it in another post) I found this challenge purely by accident and what a way to make a new beginning here once again, a gardening post is how I'd like it to be.
Orchids currently in bloom
Gardening is my passion, but to be honest it hasn't been easy to get back to it due to various health issues I am facing at the moment. My garden has suffered greatly as I haven't been able to care for it for a few months now. The place was over grown with weeds and the plants were dying due to neglect and incessant rain.
Starting all over again has neither been easy nor uneventful. Hence, I take one plant at a time and work with it. My garden is still in a terrible shape, but some of the plants have been nursed back to health while some are still struggling to overcome the trauma they have been through. Nonetheless there are these never say die plants ( like the ones in the image above) which whisper the secrets of nature to your heart bringing hope and happiness once again.
I must mention here that my garden has always brought me so much joy. To see the seeds you sow come to life and spread beauty and grace around has never failed to make my heart brim with joy. Right now it has brought life and vigor back to me mentally and emotionally. My mental and physical struggles have found healing in these little things that I do everyday to bring life back to my garden. It has helped me retain my sanity in these trying times.
Weeds had to be tackled first. This periwinkle had has grown into a huge bush. These plants suck up all the nutrition from the containers. Pretty as these are they had to go to make space for my real plants. I took some help from my husband and son to clear these and other smaller weeds out.
These small containers were lying unused around the house. These come filled with ice creams made with natural fruits and spices, no artificial flavors in them. These ceramic pots have no drainage holes in them and are quite small, so I needed to find the right plants to pot in them and make the drainage holes. Making the holes was no easy task, I tried using a drill but the bottom was shattered, so I had to do it manually and delicately with a nail and hammer while it keeping it immersed under water.
I decided to decorate some of these pots to help me kill the hours I had to spend lying in bed. Using ideas from my previous crafting experiences I decided to make some of these containers pretty. However, these jobs were pretty messy especially when you have to do them lying down. I did manage to create a few planters all the same.
Once done the pots were ready for the plants. Potting succulents in them was the best option as far as I am concerned. These plants have been growing in them for a couple of months now and doing pretty well, though they need watering every day in our hot summer weather it is still worth using them instead of sending them to the landfills.
Right now I need to eat a lot of green leafy veggies now. Spinach is one of those easy to grow plants I chose to grow organically for my consumption. This bunch of spinach has been harvested twice already and I have another batch of seeds sown so I will never run out of green veggies. I would have loved to add moringa greens to my menu but my little trees have decided that they don't want to give me leaves but only the seed pods (which are very tasty) and are used in a number of dishes, so I am not complaining.
My little moringa bush in fruit
My sweet lemon bush has died and I have bought myself an Israeli orange plant and sweet local orange variety to replace it. My guava bush has also died and I got myself another one to replace it. Some of my succulents have died and it was almost impossible to save a couple of them.
Butterflies have been my enemy as most of my echeverias have been infested with caterpillars which have eaten through the leaves and stems. All is not lost as I had propagated a huge number of succulents before I fell ill. It's no big deal, we all learn to handle loses in life just as we do gains.
The huge passion fruit vine was almost dead but with a little care it is showing some signs of life, hopefully we will get to enjoy as many fruits as we did last year. My lemon plants have been struggling with caterpillar attack and they didn't produce much this last season, hopefully they will do better this summer.
Hydrangeas in bloom
The lilies have been prepped up and hopefully they will bloom well this April. My cabbages have been casualties to the hungry mouths of the cabbage worms which need to to noticed and taken care of at the earliest. I need to plant more cabbages soon, although that would depend on how much energy I have in the coming days.
Tomatoes grow like weeds here. I just have to re-pot some of them growing in other containers and give them their space. I plan to plant pole beans, okra and a couple of egg plants to what I alredy have now to ensure a lasting supply of veggies through the summer. It is too late for carrots now, but beets and radishes are an option which I might consider if I have the energy.
My garden is a huge challenge for me right now just as life is, but then challenges are a part of life and there is no running away from it. Life becomes more meaningful as challenges are faced and lessons learned from them. This isn't new for me, life goes on just as nature replenishes herself and moves on from one season to another. Right now I am just happy that I am able to post here for now.
All images used in this post were photographed by me from my garden.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read, support and be a blessing.
