We have always wanted a garden of our own. Not a large, sprawling garden like the ones we have back at our hometowns, a family garden kept in shape by the endeavours of an entire family, shepherded by the one with the greenest thumb, usually the matriach with an eye for flowers in a profusion of colours and blooming in the correct order. No, not one like that.
We don’t even have the space.
Living in an apartment, half-way to the sky, there’s not much space for soil and worms and good fresh manure as a natural fertiliser (the neighbour’s bound to complain, you see). At least we have now moved away from the city centre and into the suburbs. At least we are surrounded by trees now, by a vast blanket of greenery every time we look out of our windows. That’s some solace.
But those trees are not ours. All that green does not belong to me and mine.
We long for a garden of our own.
And one day, we decide to make one. It’s that easy. Making the decision, apparently, is all we needed to do. Then a trip to IKEA to buy an open book stand to double up as a plant rack in our little balcony, a quick grab at a few pots on our way out to cashiers, half a dozen mini-cacti we brought back with us from an impromptu trip to the Cameron Highlands (the baby’s breath, alas, did not survive), and some mint and rosemary we spotted at the grocers (hooray for fresh herbs in pots!) and we are done.
A garden of our own at last!
.
.
It’s not much, really, to look at. Just a few pots here and there. A yellow orchid has been added, now. Yet on a rather warm Saturday afternoon, when the ghost of another nap threatens to engulf us, it’s a treat to be able to walk out to the balcony, pluck a few leaves of fresh mint, wash them in the sink, and drop them into glasses of ginger beer and sparkling water, paired only with a dash of lime.
Taste this.
It’s the best of summer, and it came from our garden. A simple blessing and such simple bliss.
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Copyright © 2011 Kenny Mah Ying Fye. Pictures by Devil CK & Kenny Mah.
Kenny Mah believes in the good in people. He has been blogging for over ten years. No, his hands aren't tired. Yet.
Next time when you have a roasted lamb in the oven, you can make your own fresh mint sauce. :D
@jemima: Oh but we haven’t even tried cooking anything in our oven yet! Can we just buy the roast lamb and make our own fresh mint sauce? Does that count? Hehe.
Wow. U just gave a some ideas. Thankz.
@Carpe diem: A garden of your own too? Excellent! And you’re very welcome.
I tried planting rosemary twice already and they died both times. How do you do it?
@Baby Sumo: Honestly? We didn’t really do anything beyond watering it twice a day – once in the morning, once at night – and we do forget to do so, from time to time.
It’s a miracle our plants even survive!
wow !! beautiful… and oh!!! india still does not allow IKEA here… sad…. and good i want be around when they eventually allow….
i never knew Malaysia has IKEA>>>> :)))
no IKEA… No progress !!
@vimesh: Oh Malaysia has had IKEA for yonks now… and the fun part about IKEA (for me anyway) and travel is that different countries do carry different lines of products so there’s always new things to see.
But you don’t really need to go to IKEA to start a garden of your own, really. (It was convenient for us simply because there was nearly everything under one roof.)
Go on, start one of your own if you haven’t already…
the first paragraph of this post sounded like the opening of one of those wistful novels about a young girl who grows up, confronts challenges and finds love! maybe something similar to ‘little women’ or ‘anne of green gables.’ i like, i really do! :D
i like greenery too, and your little garden actually looks lovely. definitely adds a lot of life and color. i have something akin to a garden growing naturally on my balcony too, but alas, it’s an unsightly garden of moss and algae spread across the floor outside, since i’ve not cleaned my balcony in many years…
@Sean: Har? ‘Little Women’? ‘Anne of Green Gables’? You mean you read all those books when you were younger? I have to confess I was a much less literary child, preferring the adventures of The Famous Five and The Secret Seven by the prolific Enid Blyton.
(I was, and am, as ever, a simple fellow.)
And, uhm, I guess moss and algae are a form of greenery too?
I definitely 1 2 have my own “garden” when I have my “own” house but seem like I ‘m not a green finger, my cactus died because of my improper care :(
@mimid3vils: Oh that makes two of us! I used to have some cacti when I was younger, and being the earnest kid that I was, I made sure to water them regularly – at least twice a day.
Of course, my cacti died a horrible, watery death.
Now, I don’t water the cacti in our little garden at all. Some of the water dripping from the pots above them add moisture from time to time, but mostly they get all the moisture they need from our wet and humid weather. And they are so cute!
Nice! I always envy ppl with green thumbs or at least thumbs like mine which are anything but green! – I seem to be very good at accidentally killing plants :(
@J the chocoholic: Take it from a former accidental cacti assassin – green thumbs can be learned and earned. All it takes is lotsa practice… and maybe a few unintentional plant homicides along the way… Ahem.
I am inspired to start a garden on the tiny balcony too! But I would just stick to herbs for now… makes so much more sense to put all that effort into something you can eat, hehe!
@minchow: Hahaha… I like the way you think, dear! We gotta get together soon and sama-sama masak-masak! On?
oh i would start a small garden when i am out of india i guess :))) i cannot start in my parents apartment …even though there is so much space … why !!! i need to act like the little obedient boy… :)
and kenny i am thinking about buying this book by Haruki Murakami…Kafka on the shore…by first by him or do u recommend anything else to start with …
@vimesh: Well, from what I’ve heard from Murakami fans, any book by the maestro would be fine. Since you are out in the market for books though, may I recommend ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro? (If you haven’t read it, that is. If so, do NOT read any plot spoilers and read it with an open mind and an open heart. It may surprise you.)
i think the only garden i would have the heart to nurture is an edible one :P
@rokh: Hahaha, that seems to be the consensus amongst the readers, yes. An edible garden of your own, then. *chuckles*
…but how many lives do I have to take before I learn??
(lol. Actually my list of “victims” is quite long already)
@J the chocoholic: Uhm, as many lives as you need to take? Don’t worry, where the plant nurseries are concerned – there’s always more where these “victims” came from. Hehe.
probably i got evil hands..touch and they will die! i think those hands are meant for cooking and many else, definately not for holding spades and hoes..uurgh!
@lena: I guess some of us have green thumbs… others have soy sauce fingers and olive oil palms? Me, I’ve got a bookworm nose… does that count?
no, that doesnt count, it’s out of the topic today. having that rack in the apartment, wouldnt you find the place a little messy after each watering?? oops, i just forgotten, you’re not like me..i can imagine how gently you will be when watering them..
@lena: Haha, darn. I thought it would count. Maybe I’ve got bookmark hands, then?
And the rack isn’t in the apartment proper. It’s outside in our balcony. So most of the water do stay within the pots, but when I water the orchid, some of the water inevitably will run off as it’s mostly roots and large pieces of charcoal.
Maybe I should get a spray for the orchid instead…
One thing this world should never run out of: gardens. Thank you for adding one more :D
I painfully carve old Coke Light and Orangina cans to pot my office’s herbs but one holiday and they die. Fail
Dizzy: Try, try, try again, as they say. And no point wasting those hand-crafted Coke Light and Orangina pots, right?
You will probably add many more beautiful gardens to the world. I know you will.
i wanna have a garden of my own too, but hehe i won’t be doing the gardening :P
@Jun: To be honest, we don’t do much of any actual “gardening” per say, aside from watering the plants twice a day (and that we forget to do sometimes) and sweeping up any dead leaves once a week.
Now we’re worried about how to take care of the plants when we head off for our next holiday. Maybe not so much “how” but more of “who”… Hehe.
I think I also must go & plant some mints and rosemary in my garden lah. Love all your lil pots of greenery there!
@Pureglutton: I wonder what else we can plant. Basil? Curry leaves? Anything that we can masak! Yums!