Tanni for Danceof Chaos

20 March has passed. Spring 2022 is officially here!

 And my tiny balcony and home is ready for weeding, cleaning, potting and seeding. This year my gardening is a bit special than the past few years. So I had to write about the preparation and organizing that has been going on the last few weeks.

What’s Special this year!!

Well! As the heading says, this year my father is here with me to get me started on gardening 2022. That man is a magician when it comes to gardening. There are legends in the family how he brought an almost dead lime plant to life.  

This year my gardening will be even shorter and sweeter than last year. Whatever space I had, I had to declutter, declutter, and declutter and clean to make the apartment ready for baby K to crawl.  Summer is when baby K would be crawling, discovering plants and new things and I have to prep ahead for that. Also I want part of our balcony to have enough space for us to enjoy a cosy time together. Me and my husband are taking turns on parental leave and we want to soak in as much quality balcony time with baby K as possible in summer.

So, long story short, gardening this year is very special as I started doing it with my father and for my baby for the first time together.

My Journey of Gardening

I discovered my love for gardening into my thirties only. At that point of life, I was living in Germany for several years,  away from home. My father tried with me once in 2013, when he first came for a visit late summer (German summer). In the end, he gave up and said , Don’t buy plants to murder them with neglect. The Universe will not forgive you. I have come a long way from there and have been a proud plant mom since the last few years. It all started with an Aloe-Vera plant.

I have made my Baba proud. Gardening is one of his passions and for a minute he regretted that neither of us have inherited that gene. Now ,oceans apart, we consult each other on planting and harvesting.

Organize and Declutter

The first thing my Baba did, after he spent three days adoring his grand baby round the clock was to create a plan chart with me on what will go where. I carried out his instructions on buying childproofing products for our stairs.

This year has been unusually warm so far. It meant my plants all woke up from hibernation quite fast and started growing again.

So he started pruning and decluttering my monster babies. You can see the before and after pictures right here.

The creepers that climbed all over the stairs were pruned. Dead branches and leaves, unwanted growth all were pruned.

Then they were all organized. I have a  mezzanine window, which was scattered with empty pots and half dead plants. They were dealt with, empty pots were stowed away in the cellar for future use and the soil were repurposed.

Then we organized them together to create a beautiful green corner while leaving open enough spot for a small reading / play and reading area.

Our living room was a plant room before. Some of them got redistributed, the dead ones pruned and suddenly, it looks like a green living room and not an ill maintained nursery.

Somehow in a space of few days, he managed to transform the house from a plant kingdom to a kingdom with plants and toys for baby K to rule.

I had bought my Neem plant from a local German shop in 2021. They managed to shed leaves and survive winter and were starting to show new green leaves. Trust my dad to  find the best sunny spot for them to grow.

It was an absolute pleasure to repot them.

Preparing the soil

I was planning to throw away some of the ruined soil, filled with fungus. However, with my dad here, we managed to prepare the soil together. Crushed eggshells, coffee powders, cooked water from the vegetables and plenty of sun. Some of the soil, which I thought have gone for good, are looking very good and ready to seed right now. This being an unusually warm March, they are getting plenty of sun too.

First Green..

Even before we have started planting, the first green shoots are starting to come out. My father worked his magic. Last year’s Tulips, which had died have started to shoot their green branches ( Keimen). I was thinking of throwing it all out, soil included. I would have done it but for my father who managed to bring them out and get a nice tulip garden started.

March is almost coming to an end and with it the precious time with my parents. Their stay is coming to an end. I still have enough time to plant the seeds of my vegetables and get them going.

By the time the first flowers bloom, we will be settling into our new rhythm here with baby K and my ma and baba will be back home in their routine. I will miss them, like I do. I will yearn for them like I did in 2020 and 2021. My balcony will bloom and look beautiful, and my crawling little baby will enjoy the blessings of her grandparents.

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