My Backyard
I have been growing a lot of veggies from seeds since last month, and I think I’m giving the impression that my backyard is a paradise of greenery.
The truth is the entire area outside our house is pebble-washed and tiled.
The surrounding soil was practically a wasteland when we first moved in here. The property was unoccupied for many years, thus (disrespectful) people put it to use as a garbage site.
We hired workers to scrape the top layer of soil, but every square inch of the area had more and more garbage buried underneath. We felt it was so much work for us, a newly-married couple.
So we gave up salvaging the soil and poured concrete instead.
At that time, I had no knowledge nor interest in plants. We were so preoccupied with the house because it needed a lot of major repairs. The idea of tending a garden did not even cross our minds. So we thought that the tiles-pebble wash combo was a good idea. It was low-maintenance, all it needed was a good sweeping to keep it clean.
Thankfully, my husband had included a plant box when we decided to cover the backyard in concrete.
Aside from the front lawn, this is the only strip of soil I have.
That plant box has carried many plants in the past, mostly flowering plants. I had uprooted them all just last week because I decided to convert the box into my tiny vegetable patch.
There’s my pandan, and the basil, and a tomato plant with a blue water pipe as a stake. If you’ll look a little more closely, you will see a couple of tiny pepper seedlings - they were transferred here from the pot last week.
I like tending flowers, but I’ve just realized my heart belongs to growing vegetables. I have the tendency to neglect the flowering plants when I’ve already seen the blooms.
The vegetables, on the other hand, make me feel like I’m their Mother Nature. I fuss over them, learned to talk to them, study articles on the net on how to propagate them.
Sometimes I feel a tinge of regret - why oh why did we give up and take the easy way out by covering our backyard with concrete. We should have put large pebbles and layers of soil instead. Oh well, I didn’t know I would get serious in cultivating my green thumb.
So now you know that all I really have is that tiny plant box.
But that’s not going to stop me.
MommyBa:
yung front ng bahay namin used to be half a veggie patch and half a flower patch courtesy of papa. actually nakakatuwa pag nakita mo na silang in bloom at lahat me bunga. sadly, when my mom went home from the us, she uprooted everything. ang pangit na ng harap ng bahay namin sa pque.
i wish i had my dad’s green thumb pero wala talagang nakamana sa ‘min nun
sad ano?
ituloy mo lang yan. not only will u save money by growing your own veggies, the kids will also appreciate the beauty of nature and their mother’s caring hands through that tiny plant box you have.
MommyBas last blog post..My health updates
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15 August 2008, 10:53 amann:
Alam mo dati father ko mahilig din magtanim, hindi lang pangluto namin kundi nakakarating pa sa palengke. I miss those days.
anns last blog post..1st quarter
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15 August 2008, 11:13 amchateau a.k.a. imom:
You could always create bigger plant boxes like what they do in highly urbanized cities in Europe. Self-sufficiency they call it - they plant their own veggies in recycled pots, troughs, whatever they find na pwedeng lagyan ng lupa at matamnan.
I envy your green thumb! I did not inherit my parents’ green thumb.
It runs in the family - my lolo was an agriculturist. I guess the gene skipped me. hehe
Good luck with your new-found passion!
chateau a.k.a. imoms last blog post..Win a USD10,000 Dream Room Give-away from Boyles.com
[Reply]
15 August 2008, 11:13 amjulie:
We have that kind of plantbox too, only bigger and there’s two. Plus the ground with soil that is now like a forest. Sabi ni Trixie, “masukal na naman” since the manang who comes to clean the yard removed all the grass we have planted so carefully years ago!
But I know I have to do something about the space, sayang kasi. Lagi ko sinasabi, wala nama ako ginagawa about it…
julies last blog post..Tara Na! Pasyal Tayo
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15 August 2008, 2:19 pmsheng:
Congratz Mommy! for being a green minded…you are helping Mother Earth…You could also plant using big pots, if you lack space.
shengs last blog post..Pizza – miaahhhh by Chansel
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15 August 2008, 3:36 pmWenchie:
Friend, would you like to have some plants more? Can give you some.;-)
Wenchies last blog post..Laughing Time….
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15 August 2008, 5:29 pmnoemi:
I also started my vegetable garden over a month ago. so far, I have basil. rosemary and mint.
noemis last blog post..Hazards of Commuting in Manila and Tara Santelices
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16 August 2008, 10:32 amjho:
dati yung likod nang bahay namin, napakaraming veggies na nakatanim, upo, kamatis, sibuyas, patola, okra, kalabasa, calamansi at marami pang iba… when the house was “renovated” nawala na din yung vegetable garden..
jhos last blog post..Bowling –
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16 August 2008, 2:22 pmfeng:
at least you have a little space to grow your plants. the effort is all worth it lalo when you see the plant bearing fruit or you could use the leaves for cooking.
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17 August 2008, 2:42 amMari:
You could, maybe, add more plant boxes. All you need are some concrete blocks and garden soil.
Maris last blog post..Someone up there…
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18 August 2008, 1:15 amDyes:
hello! that’s a nice start. i would like to grow veggies also aside from ornamental plants. a malunggay tree would be nice
Dyess last blog post..WW : Basking Under The Sun
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20 August 2008, 12:08 pmchesca (exskindiver):
first of all, the bigger the area: the harder the work.
weeding is tough!!!
pot planting is where it is at.
trust me.
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20 August 2008, 12:10 pmcielo:
now that we have settled in our new place, i am also considering on making a small garden ng mga veggy or herbs, we are living in a townhouse style too, kaya puro bato din,kahit sa mga pots lang muna
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23 August 2008, 1:00 amRach (Heart of Rachel):
It’s great that you’re making the most of your plant box. Seeing the plants grow is a great personal reward.
Rach (Heart of Rachel)s last blog post..Weekend Snapshot #39
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26 August 2008, 8:14 amoccupation: SAHM » Blog Archive » The Teepee:
[...] as I have mentioned in my previous post, we don’t have much land around the house. Growing vines may prove to be a [...]
2 September 2008, 8:06 pmmai:
cess you are actually inspiring me to plant my own vegetables
In fact the first time that I thought about it was when I read your post about the tomatoes you planted! Now, after reading this post, na-revive na naman
yung interest ko, i just don’t know kung saan ako magtatanim sa house. You’ve seen our house, we have a garden, so the only option is dun sa other side though mukhang di naman nasisinagan ng araw doon …. tsk tsk tsk… maybe you should come over sometime and help me start my own vegetable garden
[Reply]
4 September 2008, 10:27 am