i've been doing quite a bit of gardening and its quite tough, and i kinda am noob at it, but it involves a lot of transplanting and watering and yada. growing them on my balcony in little pots. so like i plant them in a shallow tray, then when they are big enough i transplant to tiny pots, and when they fill the little pots i transplant them to bigger pots. and if need be, but i don't think they grow so fast, then to bigger pots. hahaha. and a lot of fertilizer. the kind u dillute with water, and it doesn't smell bad like those commercial pellets you sprinkle and water on it.

anyhow i like my plants. sometimes its just nice to sit there among them and watch the world go by. like right now the clouds are some amazing blue and tipped with light light orange cos the sun is setting.

and imagine u are a little seed. seeds fall everywhere. if u are a dandelion, u should know what i mean. and if you a lucky, u fall onto ground that is moist to grow. but we don't get to choose do we? some of us land in better places, some of us land in lousy places. but either way, its in us that we will struggle to grow. and we fight the elements around us. the lack of water on sunny days, the blistering sun. the drowing amount of water when it rains too much. the stupid pests that we cannot remove ourselves. and it takes so little for us to start growing, but it is insanely painful at times when we are restricted by space or by lack of nutrients in a wasted world.

now along comes the garderner. lets call him God.
He picks us up, and tenderly transplants us into a pot. with compost soil! and He lets us live there. He waters and feeds us and ensures we have everything we need to keep a plant happy. but we still get all the pain, cos He wants to let us go out into the sun cos he knows that it is good for us to be able to withstand some hardening. but He can tell when we are in distress and doesn't let us suffer beyond what we can bear.

sooner or later, we grow, and we grow so big that we fill up the pot. not all of us will grow at the same rate, but it doesn't matter to God, he knows when it is time. we are meant for bigger things, not in pots but in the garden. this huge garden that he has.

the thing is, with plants, u got to have variety, not that it looks good, but that they usually support each other with the soil conditions, and help to like provide shade for one another, prevent evaporation of water if they are close enough and yada yada (yes i have been reading a lot on planting) so God doesn't care if u are different! He knows where to put u in his happy plant community to help you and the other plants grow too.

sometimes a place is too crowded and He wants to move u to another part of the garden where maybe u are a big tree and He wants u to lend some shade and support to other plants. and when God says go, its probably best for you to go as well. you play a role as well.

now when we are out there in that garden thats when things can get real harsh. people who say cannot win awards for their garden and are jealous lets call them satan might send in slugs and aphids and little white stuff i pick off my kangkong once in a while. but cos God doesn't believe in chemicals to fend off these pest lest we get pampered He will come personally and do little check ups patiently picking off the pests. and when its raining so badly in a thunderstorm and u are cold, overly wet and tossed in the wind beyond what u can bear , i imagine God to be there in his raincoat, standing right beside you, and holding up an umbrella to shelter you.

i may be a noob gardener, but i know someone that rocks at gardening! :) life is good