Will I ever be a plant-mom?

Over the last few years, we have tried growing, nurturing different plants and it has always ended up in a dried-up plant. As a child, I have always wanted to have a garden with loads of flowers, vegetables, and plants. I have always lived in apartments that leave little space for this wish to be fulfilled. My maternal grandmother lived in a huge independent house with a garden behind the house where we would sit and sip coffee. It is no longer that glorious garden anymore, though it still has a wide variety of plants growing around. Sitting outside on the slightly wet grass having coffee, looking at flowers and the greenery is my absolute favourite memory of my childhood summer vacations. They were ironically spent in Delhi, which is super hot. We went from Chennai heat to Delhi heat to beat summer blues! Anyway, the point is - my love for plants conflicts with the lack of maternal instincts for nurturing them.

My cousin recently started posting pictures of her plants and how she is falling in love with gardening. She regularly reuses discarded items to make pots to grow something new. With our Covid-19 lockdown extending, I picked up this hobby and mixed up all the potting soil, set up one pot to grow coriander, sprinkled some crushed seeds, watered it up, and left it to grow. The photo that you see here, is yesterday's peep from the soil. One is enough to motivate the obsessive behaviour, right? So next to coriander are some onions and green chilies. It will probably take a week to grow. Looking forward to seeing my progress. I have come this far in the past and given up. Now I need to see how well I can sustain this. Growth motivates more growth. Two of my aunts are exceptional with their plants. It will probably take years of patience and a much bigger space to get to 20% of their garden. Right now, I am a plant-mom wondering if I will continue to be one in the future too. Will I turn my back on them when my office-going resumes? Will my dedication to nurturing these plants diminish with time? Will the extreme heat kill them? Only time will tell. Probably a very good way to build my patience. Until next time, don't forget to water your plants.

Update: After 2 weeks, coriander is RIP.

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