Ever since my mum retired from her job as a teacher, she has been spending much of her time gardening. She plants vegetables, chillies, fruit trees, flowers, several types of herbs to treat various disorders, beans and much more. My dad who has just retired is now joining my mum. Whenever I go back to my parents in Ipoh, my kids and I get to savor the produce from their garden. There used to be a fertile papaya tree that bore many sweet papayas but the tree died last year. There were also 2 rambutan trees that bore tons of sweet, juicy rambutans but the trees became infertile and my parents eventually chopped the trees down. I wonder why the trees just stopped bearing fruit and eventually died.

My parents are not expert gardeners and they lack the knowledge on proper tending and caring for their plants and trees. I should get them Urban Farm Magazine or Hobby Farm Magazine so that they can get handy tips and advice on gardening to raise healthy crops. My parents’ crops are all grown organically without the use of fertilizer and chemical. If armed with the proper advice and knowledge on gardening, I am very certain my parents don’t have to buy vegetables from the market anymore. Their garden is so large that they can plant enough vegetables to feed the both of them. I am now starting to crave for my mum’s homemade fresh mushroom soup with basil leaves that she grows in her garden!