I started my gardening / allotment journey at the beginning of the pandemic. I remember being told I had to go home and work for 12 weeks ,in my mind i was expecting that covid was a short term thing and I would be back at work, which in hindsight now feels foolish that i thought it would be gone so quickly.
So in my head my thoughts were March 2020 I got into Aldi and got myself some propagators, I had ordered seeds and I thought I will do this even if i am at home i will get stuff growing. I was determined that I was sowing seeds and I would grow my own fruit and vegetables this year. That determination set me in good stead as it gave me a sense of purpose in the pandemic, it gave me something to focus on. I had my seeds and i started to sow and wing it , to see what I could and couldn't grow.
Every morning I went out to see what my seedling where like if they were growing, I put a lot of time and effort into looking after them. I started my social media pages , firstly with Instagram. When I started my first page i wanted to have a different name to my own name so there it came to me that I am a gardener all be it a novice one lol and my name is Nikki so Gardener Nikki was born. I had to put in a name so I choose to have my page as Nikki Gardener. Which is my gardening name , or show biz name lol.
For me I think the great thing about starting my social media gardening pages was to document everything from the garden, greenhouse, or the allotment. I have found that it has been amazing way for me to look at how far I have come. This past year has changed me in many ways, it has given me a new purpose of life. I have changed my outlook as I think gardening was my therapy through lockdown, I think it has given me even more passion for the hobby. But it has also given me an enthusiasm to work with others in a therapeutic sense and help people through the power of gardening. I have been looking into and reaching out to see where and when I can volunteer in the community. Who knows where it will take me, i would really like to be able to teach people and work with people doing therapeutic gardening classes or groups. I have a real passion for gardening and for raising awareness of mental health and how gardening can improve your mental and physical wellbeing. I am not by any stretch of the imagination looking to be having gardeners or people becoming gardeners by coming to a class with me although that would be great , but for me its about how the person feels and how it may change or help them. It may help them learn to nurture or social skills or give them a sense of purpose learning how to look after a nurture a plant. There are so many reason and ways that gardening can help you. I have always had a passion to teach people and I always assumed being in education and working as a child development officer that was what was my purpose. But I now feel that maybe my passion for teaching is to do it through gardening and running therapeutic gardening groups or classes. I am excited to see where my journey takes me next!
Gardening has 100% changed my self esteem, confidence and my view on failure. My outlook on life has changed, from oh i cant do that! to now I have an attitude of I cant do that YET and even if i do try and fail its not the end of the world. I used to have a fear of failure in life and I think that would stop me in a sense even trying because I had convinced myself that I could not do it. I have now taken on my Horticulture course and I am loving it and i can see myself working as a gardener and taking on a new challenge in life.
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