Eating Fresh Vegetables from Our Own Garden

Huanxin Celestial

After more than a month of diligent planting, combined with Thailand's naturally favorable climate, our surroundings have become lush and vibrant year-round, making it ideal for growing a variety of vegetables. Leafy greens, such as amaranth, bok choy, water spinach, Shanghai greens, chives, green onions, and cilantro, have grown at an impressive rate and are now ready for us to enjoy. Other vegetables like cucumbers, gourds, bitter melons, long beans, eggplants, pumpkins, tomatoes, okra, chilies, and corn, which have longer growth cycles, will require a bit more patience before they mature.

Currently, our main vegetables include papayas, banana flowers, and a continuous supply of various leafy greens. Additionally, a few previously planted eggplants are thriving and, with a bit of extra nutrition, have generously surprised us with their harvest. The vegetables we grow are entirely free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, relying only on homemade urea, compost, and an organic liquid fertilizer (made from a mixture of banana stalks, molasses, and water). These are truly pure, organic vegetables. Some vegetables, however, are particularly attractive to pests, so we’ve taken some tips from YouTube gardening videos and started spraying a mixture of white vinegar and dish soap on the leaves of certain crops, such as using it to manually remove caterpillars from the corn leaves.

Guang continues to create various useful tools and facilities for us, such as building vegetable trellises, making new steps for the bathroom, constructing a husk storage bin, and crafting net covers to protect seedlings from insects. On weekends, he helps with cooking, goes out to sell fruits (which I'll talk about in another post), and recently started working on compost bins. Surprisingly, he even made DIY chopsticks! Our "jack-of-all-trades" Guang has made our lives much more convenient and brought many pleasant surprises.

Huiyi’s main task is maintaining the lawns around our property, both on the hills and in the valleys. He plans to clear all the wild grass from the area, so he’s constantly seen carrying the lawnmower up and down the hills, often drenched in sweat and always ready for battle. Mowing is one of the more dangerous tasks here, as one can unexpectedly encounter various insects, especially large bees. Recently, Huiyi was once again attacked by a beehive while mowing and got stung several times, requiring a visit to the nearby hospital for treatment. This was the second time he needed hospital treatment for bee stings, though he usually just endures and treats any isolated stings himself. I deeply admire Huiyi for his bravery and perseverance in maintaining a beautiful environment for us, despite the challenges and pain he endures.

We are grateful for the blessings from the Greatest Creator and the good fortune brought to us by our guide and brothers and sisters. Our simple, peaceful life continues to be joyful, as we steadily work towards creating a comfortable and beautiful living environment while striving to meet our needs.

2021-11-7