Motivated and Inspired by #GROVID20 Movement

She motivated me to do something about the current state of my garden. It's not because of the tokens she is going to give away to the first 50 that will be able to submit a post, but because I want to be a part of the #grovid20 movement. It's time that I stop "neglecting the GREEN things" that are just within my reach, and instead, "connect with them again". I appreciate and thank TigerLily because her initiative unfolded something positive within me, that is:

These positive things that I have to apply to my work in the garden...with my plants.

I first got enthused about gardening around November or December 2018, however, I haven't been consistent enough. I spent a lot of money buying plants, plant pots, and potting mix. That's how I started. I bought already-made plants so all I had to do was to transfer them to bigger plant pots, put potting mix in and water them. That's all I know when it comes to gardening. Make sure there's enough sunlight and water them every day. I know nothing about fertilizers or garden sprays or composting. I'm basically a newbie, but I want to learn more. I admit I have #greenenvy every time I see people's posts about their gardens, their harvests, etc. I want to be like them, too.

My revived enthusiasm about gardening shocked my dear husband this morning. He was fixing his son's boat at the back when I came out and all dressed up ready to get my hands dirty. I tied my hair up and started with cutting my nails short. Then, I put my rubber garden clogs/slippers on. My garden gloves were too dirty so I put them in the wash and put my kitchen gloves on instead (yeah, so much about getting my hands dirty, don't you think?). But trust me, I have a reasonable excuse for the importance of wearing gloves.

Once I was all set, I asked my husband if I could borrow his electric drill so I could use my Power Planter, which I bought many months ago but didn't get used even once.

Even though he was extremely busy, he got out of the boat and grabbed his electric drill and connected the power planter to it. He asked me where I wanted to dig. I said I could do it, but he helped me instead. It's either he really wanted to help me because of my condition, or he just didn't trust me enough that I could handle the tool myself. Either way, I was glad he was there. I pointed to the exact spot where I wanted him to dig a hole.

In that hole, I transferred the corn plant that was in a small plant pot. I grew this corn plant from a seed, I don't know how many months ago, and I noticed it was growing. I used to water it every day, then it became every other day, and then it became every third or fourth... depending on my mood. But hey, it's going to change from this point forward. I just hope this corn plant will thrive in the ground and it isn't too late for it to come back to vibrant life again. It's still alive, but I'm just worried that it is dying already because the leaves are getting brown.

Next to that corn plant are two euphorbia wulfenii plants. I bought them in plant pots already and I transplanted them into the ground. They're alive because I water them regularly. Although I think they don't look too healthy. They're supposed to look like the ones in the photo below:

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Once I finished with the corn plant, I proceeded to clean the area where I have my "mini-greenhouse". It was a mess. I totally took it for granted. I used to have mint and coriander in there but they died. What's left are spinach and parsley. I still have the mint plant and I want to save it. I noticed there was a bit of mint there that's left, and the stem still looked alright, so we'll see if it will survive.

Here's the before and after picture of the mini greenhouse area:

I placed them there in between John's boat and the rainwater tank. My idea was that the plants could get enough sunlight during the day but it would not be too harsh for them because it's quite shaded in that area. I just wish John would finally fix his own boat so that it's not parked right there but in our shed. It is just collecting dirt and dust and spider webs.

Speaking of spider webs... how many times have I shrieked today just because I saw some spiders in that area especially inside those crates. I had to hose those crates down to get rid of the spiders. John laughed at me every time. He had to kill some of those spiders for me.

Once the crates were totally free of spiders and spiderwebs, I rearranged them next to the greenhouse to make it look neat and tidy. I gathered all of the unused plant pots and trays and organised them in a straw shelving (I don't know what it's called). That's where I put all my garden stuff.

Then I also rearranged some of the plants in another area where I could see them from our kitchen window. Here's the picture:

Pardon the mess in the background. That's not my mess. The outdoor setting (with dining table and chairs) is full of John's various tools and bits and pieces. As you can see, I have frangipani tree which is planted in a large plant pot. Next to it is a dwarf mulberry tree. I think its leaves are going to fall soon because winter is near. Next to mulberry tree are two pelargonium plants and then the smaragd tree in the blue pot. I also have strawberry plants I placed next to John's junks (haha!!!) so that at least my strawberry plants are not blocking anyone's way. You can see them just on the far top left of the frangipani tree.

But here's the close-up of my strawberry plants:

When I was taking good care of them, they used to give me strawberries every now and then. The one in the rectangular box is the one that bears fruits, whereas the one in the round pot is just full of leaves, but hasn't given me strawberries at all. They're also like running plants or some sort because they have these stems that can grow longer, so I just put them all in its pot.

Below is the picture of my chili pepper plant next to the mini greenhouse. I love this plant because it always gives me red hot chili pepper. I don't have to buy them from the shop whenever I need them. When they're red already, I pick them, put them in a ziplock bag and put them in the freezer.

This was my first harvest of chili peppers on 30th of January 2019. (I got the date from my phone! Yay!)

Last but not least, my papaya tree. One day, I bought a papaya fruit from Coles Supermarket. Then I thought, maybe I'll dry the seeds and then plant them. When they were dry, I planted them in these tiny little pots. Two of those seeds grew, and when they were big enough I transplanted them (exactly on the 23rd April 2019), one into the ground and the other in a half barrel (which is where the strawberry plant is now). The one in the half barrel died, but the one in the ground thrived. I am so proud of that papaya tree.

Here is the before picture of the papaya trees:

The second picture with the papaya and two tomato plants is heartbreaking for me. They don't exist anymore. They died on me. 😞

Here's my papaya tree now:

It is in between these two tall trees, I'm not sure what they're called but if you can tell me just by looking at their leaves in this picture, that would be great:

They have these tiny seeds or fruits that keep on falling down and I think they're damaging the leaves of the papaya tree. Not the whole year round though, I think it's only during summer and autumn. But nonetheless, the papaya tree is still growing... it keeps on growing, and I don't know if it's going to bear fruit, but if it grows taller, then I'm happy. Of course, I would love it to have papaya fruit. It's the only reason why I planted the seeds anyway. I love papaya. I mash the orange flesh and then add milk and sugar, put in the freezer for maybe 10 minutes, then eat it just like that. I love it!!!

After all my hard work this morning, I ended up with sore fingers and sore lower back. Also, my feet got constantly pierced by those prickles on the ground. They got stuck on my clogs and that's how I got pierced. I told John that our backyard isn't safe for babies and children to play and run around. It's not even safe for me in spite of me wearing safety garden clogs. The prickles still penetrated. Ouch!

This is my garden! As you can see in the picture below, we could have had a really nice, flourishing garden and lawn, but neither me nor John is into gardening, but I hope he'll get the motivation to fix our backyard lawn so that at least it will be "baby-proof" or "child-proof" especially when there's global health crisis like COVID-19, that if we're stuck at home due to lockdown, at least, we have a big outdoor place where we can relax while watching the children play.

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy looking at all my photos and reading my post. I am very inspired by #grovid20 initiative of TigerLily, and I hope I'll be more consistent this time, not take my garden and my plants for granted. If you have any suggestion, comment or feedback, please leave a reply below. Thank you! Cheers for now!