My gardening journey began with my Mom…

When my mom lived with me she spent all her time toiling in the garden. It was her peaceful place then and the thing that brought her joy.

On the weekends I would keep her company as she repotted orchids and creatively positioned them onto the trunks of other trees. Her primary gardening love was flowers. I think she felt fortunate to be able to focus on planting something whose only purpose was beauty.

When I was a kid in Mindanao, Philippines she grew vegetables and things to help feed our family so her gardening objectives in America allowed her to not have to focus on necessity.

Although I wasn’t a gardening partner to her when she was alive, I did treasure our time together in the garden, chatting about anything and everything and I guess unintentionally I learned a lot of her gardening skills and creativity.

Now when I’m in my garden, experimenting with pruning, transplanting cuttings or just creating something beautiful, I feel close to her and that brings me joy.

And when I grow vegetables or fruit I feel pride from what I was able to produce from seeds and persistence, a feast. My family loves eating from my harvests.

Mindanao is a beautiful place with so many gorgeous flowers that I try and include tropical plants to remind me of home. They don’t always acclimate to the Berkeley weather, but when they do, they help bring me back to my childhood.

I also LOVE cooking Filipino dishes and thankfully my teen loves my cooking. Check out the blog or community pages for recipes! (Coming Soon)