There are many things around us which we often tend to overlook. A simple activity like gardening could aid us in exploring many fascinating things in nature.
The sun was peeping behind the mountain when they finally reached the vegetable garden. It was already six in the morning. The garden was situated near a river in Camp 6 of the municipality of Tuba which is found in the province of Benguet.
The little girl’s eye beamed when she saw the wide garden filled with many crops like, onions, lettuces, camote tops, and pechay. Like an apprentice she eagerly did the task that her grandmother told her to do. Her assignment was to pull out the weeds growing on and near the vegetable plots.
Removing weeds was a challenging task for the four year old kid. Armed with long sleeves, long pants, and a wide brimmed hat, she started pulling weeds. There were small weeds with shallow roots. Whenever she pulled these out, many roots were left behind. She remembered her grandmother telling her to remove all the roots to prevent weeds from sprouting back again. The pretty-looking weeds with small bright flowers looked so ornamental that the child did not even bother touching these. Although these are weeds they still beatified the garden bringing such a merry feeling to a young child like her.
Another arduous task was removing grasses with deep roots. No matter how hard she exerted her effort to pull the grass, it still stood its ground, looking undisturbed. She was on the verge of giving up after how many tries. Looking at the metal lying on one of the plots she was working on, an idea popped out of her mind. She used the hoe to loosen the ground. She pulled the grass again and voila! The grass was finally removed.
Her joy was short-lived though when she noticed little insects on the roots. A worm surfaced on the soil where the grass was pulled. The ants started to spread in many directions. Some reached her toes without notice.
“Ouch!” she screamed.
Her voice echoed and the birds flew away from the nearby guava tree. She thought that weeding could have been easier without the merciless little fire ants that had really painful bites. Her toes were often the target of these ants. She had been bitten by these many times. The sting was so painful and was very itchy. Her skin swelled due to the profuse rubbing of the bitten areas.
She still likes ants, however. She enjoyed watching them lined up carrying little things as though they are people carrying back packs. They are small but they do a mighty task. She wondered why these ants would always come face to face as though they are kissing whenever they meet from opposite directions.
Weeding was tiring. She would stand up once in a while to straighten her back. Her exhaustion would fade whenever she heard the rhythmic sound of the gushing river nearby. She felt her tiredness being lifted up by the towering mountains. She could feel the cool breeze caressing her cheeks. It was a soothing feeling. The birds merrily chirped as if they’re sharing her sentiments. The leaves of the surrounding trees rustled as the winds passed by. The tall grasses swayed gracefully while the cicadas shrilled. She started to wave her hands moved them like the way a conductor gives instruction to an orchestra. They all sang and moved with harmony with the young girl as the music director.
The girl really enjoyed gardening. She played with the makahiya plant and wondered why the leaves would always close whenever she touched them. She jumped many times just to grab the low lying ripe guava fruit. She slid on a white boulder near the border of the garden. She played with the shallow pool of water that was supposed to be used for watering the plants.
Now that she was 15 she realized that gardening was a great way to spend one’s time. Through her childhood experiences she learned lots of things besides the way of tending a garden. She cultivated a love for nature in her heart. She discovered fascinating things about nature. Gardening had given her a great learning experience.
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