Welcome to the
Garden of Eden
Going back to my own life, I originally came from the Philippines.
Filipinos by nature, just loved to do gardening. So really, I consider myself as an avid gardener. Gardening is a part of my life. No matter where I go or live, a small house, a big house, or in an apartment or a condo, I’ll always find a way to have a garden. In NJ, I had the most beautiful garden in the neighborhood. I brought my garden back home from the islands to America. My tropical garden was featured in the paper. All my neighbors wanted to see it. My wife cooked some Filipino dishes that’s using the vegetables from our garden, like bittrer melon, hanging green gourds, elephant ears (gabbie), etc. And my neighbors just loved to eat them. Oh! My wife and I were so happy.
Now, my beloved wife (now returned to our creator) and I lived in Florida some almost thirty years ago. And wow, the climate here is even better for gardening than in NJ. We can do gardening for almost year ‘round because the Winter in Florida is just mild. No snow!
My garden in Florida in on a bigger scale because my new house was constructed on a much larger lot. Here, I can grow some of my favorite tropical fruit trees like, mango, avocado, atis (sugar apple), papaya, banana, longgans, cherimoya, sineguellas. tamarind, calamansi. etc. Most of all I grow my favorite Philippine vegetables like, pechay, mustard green, calabasa, ampalaya, upo, gabie, camote, tomato, peppers, onions, patola, etc. And the rest of my garden is covered with some flowering perennials, flowering trees, hedges, etc. So to say, my garden is a miniature of Garden of Eden. You could imagine, how invigorating and refreshing is it to walk and stroll down the garden early in the morning when dew is still in the roses. It helps to refresh my mind, body and soul, and being far away from the maddening crowd. Gardening therefore, is very therapeutic physically and a good conditioner for our whole being. Besides from putting good and nutritious food o the table, for sure it adds aesthetic beauty to the neighborhood and the entire community, and thru the FB pictures…can be shared to the world.
Of course in a garden like mine, I must have a center of focus. In about the corner of my backyard, I have grown a wooded area with along some beautiful tropical plants. In that wooded area, I built the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, along with St. Bernadette. Underneath the statue of the Virgin Mother is a cascading water and at the very bottom is a holy water fountain. It’s blest and you could have some for your own use. In front of the statue of Mama Mary is a gazebo where I do my prayer and meditation. So quiet and peaceful a place….more so during this stay home mandate due to the Corona-Virus 19. pandemic Stay safe everyone. Stay healthy and strong!
In concluding, I remembered an old saying that, “You are closer to God in a garden, than anywhere else on earth.” Oh, yes, my dear readers and friends, have a copy of my book or any of my books as a keepsake from me. Again, thank you all very much.
