I love gardening. Developed this habit of plodding around the dirt outdoors under the sun. I love the sun and I love documenting all the creepy crawlies I see around the garden. If Nature is a teacher, then Nature has taught me something important.
Your plants and flowers need soil rich in nutrients to grow. Yup, no kidding. It took me quite some time to figure this one out (like DUH!). This was especially true when I started growing cacti. You see, cacti havedifferent needs compared to other tropical plants such as bougainvillea, hibiscus, plumeria etc.
Needless to say, the first batch of cacti adopted from Cameron Highlands died a slow and soggy death. Undeterred I went to Cameron Highlands again and bought a 2nd batch.... and because I am now a wiser (kiamsiap) gardener, I searched for the correct soil for this cacti (3 large cacti pots + 10 mini pots). According to Wikipedia, the correct soil mix for cacti is sandy so water seeps through easily. Plus all the yummy nutrients that cacti loves.
Being the lazy and obsessive collector/gardener that I am, I plonked the cacti pots, with new cacti loving soil - and I have 4 pots - in a sunny spot. And totally forget all about them! I check on them whenever I am not pruning the 10 pots of bougainvilleas.
Fast forward many moons later, those 4 pots are filled to the brim with all kinds of cacti babies! Some poor cacti mummies and daddies were so heavily ladened with new cacti babies, that they drooped over. I had to transfer the newly reproduced cacti babies into 2 large pots. Obviously using cacti soil.
So why am I sharing this story today? All the paragraphs above, written so vividly, illustrates a simple point. Our children have fertile and imaginative minds. We need to feed their minds, to seed curiosity and wonderment. Parents are responsible to prepare these young minds, feed their hunger for knowledge and quench all the questions that our children have about the world. We are like gardeners and we have the power to nurture a beautiful garden or turn it into a dry and dying desert.
When we prepare the fertile field in their minds, our children will grow strong and multiply, just like how the cacti did. When we spend time to build strong foundations in work ethics and character building, our children will reap immensely. When we encourage them to see possibilities and ask questions, we create a fertile environment for learning to take place... and for our children to grow to their fullest potential.
Your child is a beautiful garden. Happy Friday, everyone!
