My first garden: Suburban gardening in Saskatchewan

What began as a simple idea to plant some vegetables along the side of the garage, which was once covered with overgrown grass and weeds, has evolved to become somewhat of an addiction.

Following the ideas of Charles Dowding and concept of no dig beds where one overlays cardboard over existing vegetation, I soon fell into the rabbit hole of gardening. One thing led to another with my curiosity leading the way from one plant to the next. Having never studied biology in high school, I was astounded by germination, the production of true leaves and the need for hardening of seedlings in preparation for outside environment.

Everyday is a new discovery. Sometimes there is very little progress, and other days there is miracle taking place. Although I knew about plants, it is another thing to be a part of its life by nurturing and caring for it from start.

Gardening is addictive. There is a thought process that resembles my abstract expressionistic paintings. Although there is an idea of what you might do next, you never know if it will be successful or not. The weather and soil is unpredictable, but we can only guide it as best we can with the given knowledge of information and what seeds we get. There are no guarantees.

Perhaps the gardening is a physical foil of me reestablishing myself in Canada, to rebuild my roots here after living in Hong Kong for twenty-seven years.

Several things are certain. Firstly, that gardening is highly contemplative and of-the-moment. Time is lost, or rather, time goes unnoticed. Some might call it being in the zone or flow. Regardless, it has helped me relax. In addition, the garden has helped me talk with mom, and it brings a smile on her face when I bring in a harvest of spinach and bak choy. We will soon have Oregon snow peas if all goes well.

Secondly, gardening has brought me closer to the earth that we live on. The touch and feel of the soil, even the smell is aromatic. I have a great respect for what is nature. Strangely, Hong Kong did not open my heart to this like the way the backyard has.

I owe most of the gardening techniques to my grandmother, whose garden in Nipawin was incredible. She was the Garden Queen! She had the magic touch of knowing what to do and how to grow everything that she planted. I have a photograph of her in her garden somewhere. I’ll try to find it.

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