BY MARILYN C. ARAYATA
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IF you haven’t experienced harvesting and eating fruits from seeds you have sown and watered, this is the best time to start. Restrictions make the majority of people stay home most of the time, so there is enough time to plant and water seeds, take care of shoots, make or install protective barriers or trellises, pull out weeds, and remove dry leaves and branches. Each is an enjoyable and stress-busting activity. It will make you forget your worldly cares!
New leaves and branches, flowers, and fruits will make you feel really good. Most of all, gardening is a cost-efficient and productive hobby.
Besides being a reliable source of food, having your own garden will save you money and keep you from buying fruits and vegetables which may be laden with harmful chemicals and pesticides. Imagine having a steady source of fiber-green and leafy vegetables and fruits for your consumption and for your gut, heart, and eyes! That is, without spending much and without leaving the house.
In this time of COVID pandemic, when countless people in many parts of the world are experiencing hunger and food costs are increasing, citizens must be encouraged to boost food production by gardening, even by using pots, old pails, and used containers to grow fruits and vegetables! Grow more than what you need, so you will have some to share.
Even the Bible encourages us to leave some for others. “When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 23:22).
A social media post tells of the practice of hanging fruits in fences for people who need them. It’s worth emulating. Give your surplus to frontliners, too, to orphanages, homes for the elderly, and barangay halls for distribution.
Anything we sow will flourish and bear fruits only if God allows it. We are blessed so that we can also share.
