“I am now getting the hang of it, but I can tell you this is the new me, the planting. Just to watch something I put in the earth and then it can grow and then I can reap from it, you don’t know how it makes me feel,” she said with a bright smile on her face.
Her satisfaction was almost tangible, and I must admit that I felt a tad jealous. I had nothing planted, but days later I ordered four plants and today I am hoping they would bloom soon. The satisfaction of this sister reminded me of my then 11-year-old (he is now 12) who had purchased a gooseberry plant on a field trip and planted it in the yard. Oh, how he took great satisfaction in watering the plant and reported on its progress almost daily. The tree is bearing fruits and he takes absolute joy in picking the berries, which he mostly enjoys himself with copious portions of pepper and salt. He refers to it as “my tree”.
I believe one of the positives (if I can call it that) that have resulted from the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic is how many persons have turned to planting their own vegetables. My Facebook feed is flooded with posts and pictures of the many recently started kitchen gardens. Some who do not have requisite land space to plant are improvising, and plants are seen in cut plastic bottles and boxes among other things.