Growing up, I've always been an admirer of gardening, farming, and tending of plants, given my childhood experiences of being brought up in that act by my grandparents, and thereon I get to learn about many valuable lessons and ways of cultivating and nurturing plants from a tender age. I grew up still loving everything about it, and I literally haven't really stayed anywhere for a long time without planting something or visiting a garden due to my unwavering love for it.
Reminiscing on the past, I remember planting one of my very first crops, which was a guava stem, when I was just between 8 and 10 years old, and by the time I graduated from high school, the guava had grown into a tree that's way taller than I'm. Looking at it back then, I usually feel proud of myself, and another thing that brings me joy is that the stem of yesterday is now a tree of today that I could look up to to get fruit for my family and I to eat and enjoy the moment.
Gardening is generally one thing I enjoy and have seen as a hobby that I indulge in on a regular basis. It grants me an opportunity to be around nature, appreciate its beauty, and always kind of gives me the feeling of being a creator. If you're a gardener, then you'll understand what I mean by the proud feeling of being a creator, because we literally cultivate, plant, tend, and watch this seed or stem grow to its full potential, and the feeling of being the one being such a possibility is just heavenly.
Before I moved to my new location, where I'm now based, I remember harvesting the cassava plantation I planted sometimes in 2021, and although it was planted in my small backyard garden, I was able to get two bowls full of cassava after harvesting, and believe me, that was delighting in realizing my efforts didn't go to waste. It's also a medium of being self-sufficient, because via that, I was able to process food items that saved me from the stress of buying them at a huge fee in the market.
I remember it was on the same day I harvested those cassavas that I started cultivating the same portion of the garden in preparation for the planting of some maize. Well, that was actually encouraged by a hiver felixxx who initiated a maize challenge simethime last year. I cultivated the land, planted the maize seed, and had to go through different challenges to make sure the maize grew to its full potential because it faces many pests, from rodents to birds, and then floods due to rainfall, but in the end, I was glad I could at least savage some and harvest. Well, I did share different stages of the maize growth here on the hive last year.
Overall, I've planted different varieties of crops, and I've had almost the same reaction to them because it's what I love, although some might have challenges while others might just grow easily. But regardless of the process, I'm always bonded towards making it work out well, tending them, and enjoying the beauty of homesteading and self-sufficiency because it has helped save the day on many occasions.
One of the things that has given me challenges on several occasions is the tomato. I just can't understand why I'll plant them, and it grows to a robust state only to fall off without getting ripe or become red. I've actually asked loads of people and sought guidance online, but none has worked out perfectly on each. But then I'm still committed to learning how to perfect it and knowing what the flaws are in the ways I've been tending it.
Well, that's about all that comes to mind presently about my gardening experience. Now that I'm my new base, I've also set up a small portion of land to still continue with my gardening hobby, and there I've got crops like cassava, pumpkin, vegetables, and several others to mention, although I couldn't dedicate much time to it like I used to due to my new position at work in this new place. But once the work days are gone, I make sure to spend my weekend tending the crops and putting things right in the garden.
Thanks so much for your time. That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed the read. The writeup was inspired by the weekend experience community hosted by @galenkp. Check out this post to find out more information if you'd love to share your experiences as well.