Starting my inner-city gardening journey in Wellington
Welcome to my gardening blog, where lush greenery defies the constraints of urban landscapes. Let's begin the journey where I began. A flat on The Terrace in the heart of our capital city.
My Flat on The Terrace
I loved living a 5 minute walk (up or down a hill, it is Wellington after all...) away from everything I could possible need - university, my retail jobs, supermarket, bars, and cafes.
Every Sunday morning we would walk to the fresh veg and fruit market to pick up our produce for the week. We used to take a $20 note and this would be more than enough to cover the cost. Some days we would even have change!
A birthday gift
At the time of moving into this flat, I turned 21. Literally, turned 21 the day we moved in. And to make matters even better, I had to work. Talk about chaotic.
My wonderful family and partner (now husband) moved our belongings in, along with a hand-made three-tiered planter that my Pop (grandfather) had made for my birthday. This was the beginning of my obsession with gardening.
The first plants I grew in this planter, were a mix of herbs, lettuce and spinach. The easiest plants to grow and staples in our flat. My mum helped me to plant it up, taking me to the gardening store, helping pick out the strongest looking seedlings, and adding a few marigolds to bring the bees. I quickly discovered how much I loved watching these little seedlings grow, even better was being able to pick a few leaves for my lunch or dinner.
I soon expanded my growing area with pots and even added a self-fertilising feijoa tree (also in a pot).
That's a solid planter right there - spy the weeds coming through the deck
Growing excitement
One day, one of my flatmates turned up home with a single tulip bulb from his work. There was something quite thrilling about the unknown, would it grow? what colour might it be? We put it in the planter and prepared for the worst.
Lucky for us, it decided to grow.
Isn't she pretty?
You could say I was hooked from then on.
Remember, nature knows no boundaries—it thrives wherever it finds a patch of soil and a caring hand. Interested to keep following along?
My next post will be what happened next...