Column: A growing passion for gardening during the pandemic

Like many people, I’ve spent a lot of time at home over the last year and a half. In between days spent typing away on my keyboard in my makeshift home office, I’ve spent the majority of sunny days in my south-facing backyard.

While soaking up some rays with a piña colada in hand and listening to my favourite tunes is a great way to pass the time, I needed a project to take my mind off of the craziness going on in the world. Gardening seemed like a pretty great way to do that, while also getting fresh air and sunshine.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so. According to a National Post article, more than half of Canadians have developed a green thumb during the pandemic, and that trend doesn’t seem to be in decline.

There are many reasons people might want to start an at-home garden this summer, whether it be a desire to become more self-reliant, to save a few dollars on grocery bills, improve one’s health or the environment, or simply for the sense of accomplishment that comes with growing something from the ground up.

For me, it was all of the above.

I have to admit, I don’t have a very good track record of keeping house plants alive and more than a few succulents have met their demise in my care. But I hoped I might still redeem myself and claim the title of master horticulturalist this summer.  

And so my gardening adventure began, with a small tomato plant named Tiny Tim.

I picked Tiny Tim up at a garage sale along with a few other plants, including a jalapeño and sweet pepper plant. I didn’t name the plant Tiny Tim – the moniker was written with a black sharpie on the side of the red solo cup he was in when I picked him up. With a dozen bags of soil, a garden bed kit from a local garden centre, some gloves, and a spade in hand, I gave Tiny Tim a new home and a drink of water.

I didn’t think my garden would include more than a few plants, but once I got the gardening bug, I was soon propagating my own vegetable patch with scraps from my kitchen. Some of the experimental kitchen scrap plants turned out to be a total disaster, but a few of them survived the process, including some cabbage, lettuce, and celery plants. They took kindly to their new garden home.

So, it was with renewed optimism that I delved my fingers more deeply into the soil and tended to my plants. While I may not be the next Monty Don (an acclaimed British gardener), I feel I am one step closer to becoming the master of my own green space this summer.