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. Designed with Canva
