After waiting for several days, the seeds I bought online from one of the marketplaces (Shopee) finally arrived. With excitement, I braved the scorching sun on my motorcycle to pick up this long-awaited order. I had been eyeing these seeds for quite some time, observing how people proudly showcased their thriving plants in the comment section. It filled me with joy and a twinge of envy to see others with such lush greenery.
For me, I had to wait until the 25th to order these seeds to get a shipping discount. Unlike in the city, being in a remote village meant shipping costs were sky-high and delivery took a bit longer. In fact, the shipping cost almost matched the price of what I bought. When purchasing these seeds, my budget was limited to around Rp.65,000 or about $4,09. That's why I only bought a few seeds but with different varieties. I purchased a total of 24 different types of plants for Rp. 51,800 ($3,26) with a shipping cost of Rp. 50,000 ($3,15). I almost backed out when I saw the hefty shipping fee, but luckily, I got an end-of-month discount of Rp. 40,000 ($2,52).
There were still a few more types of plants I wanted to buy, but due to budget constraints, I had to remove some from my shopping list. Here, I divided the 3 types of plants I bought.
🌶️ Vegetables
The vegetables will be planted in the garden I'm currently working on, and some of them will be placed in the beds I'll start digging next Monday.
Some of the vegetable seeds I bought include: large red chili, curly red chili, bird's eye chili, bell pepper, vegetable tomato, rose tomato, bitter mustard greens, basil, red spinach, and green spinach. Four plants at the bottom will be placed in the beds, while the rest will be planted in polybags.
🌼 Flowers
These are the seeds I've been eagerly anticipating. I love flowers, especially those bursting with various colors. Seeing my mom's garden dominated by a monotonous plant made me feel bored. She claimed to grow flowers, but I never saw her Ornamental Plant Caladium plants bloom; all I saw were leaves that made the garden feel dull. The same goes for my dad; he has several bonsai trees but never takes care of them, so their roots spread everywhere.
By planting these colorful flowers, I hope to liven up the somewhat dull scenery. I'll add these new colors around my vegetable garden and the area around my house.
Some of the flower seeds I bought include: strawflower, sunflower, chrysanthemum, forget-me-not, daisy, lavender, snapdragon, aster, foxglove, and catnip. I'm not sure if these types of flowers will thrive in my area, but I'm hopeful they'll grow and provide a burst of color.
🍓 Fruits
At home, we have many types of fruit trees, but most of them take a long time to bear fruit, such as durian, rambutan, water guava, rambai, banana, jackfruit, matoa, and mango. Usually, we have to wait for the season to enjoy these fruits.
I bought several types of fruit seeds with a short growing period that doesn't require waiting for the season to enjoy them. I purchased Papaya, Jicama, Watermelon, and Strawberry seeds, which seem suitable for growing in lowlands.
Without waiting long, the evening arrived. Assisted by my younger sister, I began sowing these seeds. I didn't have specific containers for planting, so I quietly took some containers from my mom's kitchen. Hopefully, she won't be angry when she sees that I've turned these containers into pots for planting. LOL.
I did the planting using loose soil mixed with a little compost from chicken manure.
I labeled each plant to avoid confusion when the seeds start to sprout later.
Since we planted many seeds at once, I used dividers to separate each type of plant. I also planted them according to their types, with flowers together, fruits together, and vegetables together. Oh, for mustard greens, basil, and spinach, I didn't sow the seeds because I'll plant them directly in the beds when the beds are ready.
In the future, I plan to add and buy several other types of plants when these seeds have grown and been transferred to larger planting media. I can't wait to transfer these seedlings and see them grow vigorously. I really hope that many of the plants I planted will thrive. I'm committed to providing updates on the progress of these plants.
