Me and my vegetable garden – my very first venture into seedling planting!

I’ve always loved the idea that one day I’d have my own little garden, where tender seedlings smile at me from neat beds beside a well-kept lawn, bursting with produce that proudly bears the mark of my own hands.

Well, I’m determinedly working toward that goal, and I’m not discouraged by the fact that mowing the lawn takes at least two hours and requires full concentration because of the hidden treasures planted by my predecessor—sometimes it’s hard to tell whether they’re actually weeds or not. When, after work, I set out determinedly and then fell during the mowing session (including edging and some half-hearted weeding), night had already fallen—even though I had the help of a self-sacrificing teenage assistant. I pretty much expected that, and saved the most exciting task for the weekend: preparing the kitchen garden for planting seedlings! Although I only dedicated a few square meters for my first attempt, I still had to give plenty of attention to this small patch of earth. Luckily, there was a man’s hand available at home, and before the evening outing (for which, only after several attempts during my shower, did I finally feel truly clean after a full day of gardening), we managed to finish the last hoeing and careful soil smoothing in the rearranged and freshly weeded little garden.

Whether I did it well or not (I’ll probably have to count this year’s many mistakes as tuition fees I haven’t yet noticed but likely made in timing, spacing, or seedling selection), I simply can’t get enough of the fact that I truly put my best effort into the work and, more generally, into this spring—with its colors, scents, the spicy smell of the soil, and the quiet anticipation with which I now watch the rain from the window overlooking my freshly planted vegetable garden.

Dated: April 17, 2024