Let's Talk: Gardening

Good Morning (or night or afternoon, wherever you are, whenever you read this)! This post / email is for those who want something fun to read. Hope you stick until the end!

There’s something about the way plants grow that is so calming to me. Today, I’ll be talking about a hobby of mine: Gardening.

The first time I tried even the simplest type of gardening, I killed the plants I tried to grow, simply because of my inconsistent watering ability. I tried regrowing vegetable—mainly green onions—due to it’s simplicity and, well, what was I to do with veggie scraps other than throw it away? My mother was responsible, and put them into an actual container full of soil for my irresponsible self. It’s a disappointment that the lettuce didn’t make it into the soil. It was doing pretty well. I might try it another time, now that I think about it.

Recently, when I have become a bit more disciplined and consistent with commitments, I’ve taken up gardening again. I planted garlic in late winter—a little too late, but it’s better than nothing—and bought some seeds to plant. I only bought like, two packs of seeds, and there’s way too much to plant. Please save me, micro-greens.

I’m a pretty weird human. I bought two containers for the garlic, and then ended up not buying anymore for the rest of the plants. I have a pretty small backyard that has remained unattended for decades that I have no intention of bothering with, which is why I stick to containers, though I have been thinking of using the backyard some time in the future. Instead of buying containers from, say, Walmart, I found it easier to rummage through the recycling in my house and use any containers that’s good to use. I must say, it is cheaper, and it is more eco-friendly. And, well, I happened to have some sort of potting mix so I was very much set this year for random planting and killing the poor seedlings. And yes, I have never grown micro-greens, but I’m debating on it, simply because one of the seeds I bought are spinach seeds, and the seeds have a low germination rate after a year.

The hardest thing about gardening, for me, is watering. The first few weeks, I think I killed a lot of my plants, simply because I didn’t know how much water I needed to give my plants. Of course, not the garlic because, for some reason, they seem to just take whatever water I feed it—though that may be thanks to the mulch I picked up from the sidewalk (the other garlic in the other container isn’t doing as well 😅 ). First, I killed my spinach because of the lack of water, and then my beans because—well, I don’t know (please help 😭). Oh, and yes. Have I ever mentioned that cactus I fed too much water to? Though I doubt the cactus enjoyed the snow much. The tomatoes were alright, though it took a while to germinate some, perhaps due to how little water I fed it. Long story short, I experimented with different amounts of water with different types of feeding methods (i.e. spraying vs a measuring cup, both of which I totally didn’t steal from the kitchen). If anyone is interested, I spray the tomatoes with some water around 5 or 6 times (for this sprayer) every day, and I dump a heck load of water onto the spinach, I grow concerned that mold will form. As for the beans…we don’t talk about. I have no clue what I’m supposed to do with those (don’t take advice from a novice, BTW).

Speaking about beans, a funny story with those, actually. I found out that those dried beans in the cupboard were sort of seeds to the plants so, after that, I just sort of put it into soil to see what happens. So far, the chickpeas did well before dying on me for unknown reasons. Then again, you probably can’t grow soybeans in my area (the only other bean I’ve been growing). Well, it’s doing well so far with the spinach, so let’s see how that goes. Due to my discovery with the beans, I have been thinking more about extracting seeds from fruits and seeing whether I can grow any of the other dry things in the cupboard. Though I was very devastated to find out about the sesame seed (it was roasted so it couldn’t be grown). Apparently, you can grow the grains as well. Just take one of the pieces (not roasted or cooked in any way, though I guess it can be rolled? I don’t know) and search on google how to grow it. I’ve seen someone put rice into a muddy container and actually reap harvest on YouTube. Good luck to anyone who tries, and hopefully you’ll tell me how it goes. I am interested 😁.

I have found, through this hobby, that I am an extremely cheap person. I mean, who even uses containers that should be recycled and regrows veggie scraps? I don’t really mind though. It aesthetically looks wrong, but it works so I don’t really care. It’s not like anyone’s going to see them anyways. And I’m too broke and too lazy to pick some official container up at an actual store, though I might have to go get some more soil from somewhere since I’m running out. I should really start trying other things, like mixing soils, but I’m too uneducated, lazy, and scared to do any of the sort.

I like gardening. It’s fun, somewhat relaxing, and interesting. I could see myself doing this as a hobby for a long long time. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s still satisfying to watch the little seeds grow. And, though I haven’t had a successful harvest yet, I look forward to seeing the little plants grow. They’re like pets, simply just trying to live without the complicated things. I just hope I don’t end up killing any more plants than I have to 😅.

Thanks for sticking this long, and I hope you have a great week! 😁 

I want some feedback: Do you like these topics? Anything else you want to send me is much appreciated. Thanks for reading, and I hope it was worth your while 😄 Please tell me something about your hobbies (if you want), and remember, you’re awesome! If you want, sign up to my weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already). Link down below! Email: [email protected]