Gardening - A Teenage Hobby
I don’t know if I have a green thumb, but every time I plant something, it grows. I wouldn’t call myself a gardener, but I used to help my father plant vegetables, root crops, herbs, and even flowering and fruit-bearing plants. I didn’t have a choice—these were our source of food and our way of earning a living. If planting trees counts as gardening, then I’ve done it many times. Whenever I go home, I’m always amazed at how huge the mango tree I planted in my childhood has grown. I also planted lanzones, avocado, and banana trees, all of which now bear delicious, sweet fruits.
During my teenage years, I loved landscaping (and still do—I just don’t have the yard space or free time for it now). I suppose that still counts as gardening, right? Back then, during summer vacations, weekends, or even weekdays without classes, I’d work tirelessly on the empty lots in our front and back yards, gathering stones, sand, and pebbles to create a landscape. I even tried bonsai and planted patches of Bermuda grass and carabao grass (which I first saw in my grandmother’s yard and begged her to let me replant in ours). Since Bermuda grass didn’t thrive in our soil, I stuck with carabao grass instead.
Do you know that indescribable feeling of contentment and satisfaction after a job well done? That’s how I felt whenever I looked at our clean, well-organized yard. And my mother always rewarded me afterward. As much as I enjoyed it, I never wanted to be a gardener for life—it wasn’t my dream.
Gardening is my hobby too. I love growing plants.