10 Garden Moments That Teach Us Small Things Still Grow Into Happiness

My sister and I hadn’t spoken to each other about in six years. Then when we both ended up at our mother’s house after she passed. Mom left the house to both of us. The garden was a complete mess. Neither of us really knew what to do with it but it was to look at it, mom really cherished it like her baby. One free weekend, I returned and started pulling weeds because I needed something to keep me busy. Coincidentally, my sister also came to the house at the same time. We didn’t plan it or tell each other about it at all. She began helping me and I let her, there was too much to do. Over the next few weekends, we actually started talking to each other, mostly about gardening and Mom. Then some time later we were talking about our families and kids too. By the time we finished beautifying mom’s garden, we realized we ended up spending almost every weekend together, and had a great time. Funny how it took a garden to finally get us back to how things were.

• When I moved into my apartment building, I barely knew anyone. There was a small patch of dirt behind the building that nobody used, so one spring I planted some herbs and a few tomato plants there. The next day, an older woman from the second floor came over to see what I was doing. She brought me some mint from her own garden. Then another neighbor brought basil. Someone else planted peppers. Before long, people were stopping by to check on everything and asking who planted what. Kids started picking the cherry tomatoes when they were ripe, and we’d leave bags of extra vegetables by the front door for anyone who wanted them. I went from knowing nobody in the building to knowing what half the neighbors were growing in their backyards. It started with a few tomato plants.

• I moved into my new house knowing absolutely nobody nearby. One day, I was trying to figure out what to do with the sad patch of dirt in my backyard. Then my neighbor called over the fence and asked if I wanted some plants. She showed up a few minutes later with three pots. One was a flower I’d never heard of, one was some kind of herb, and the third one she told me would probably survive even if I forgot about it. I invited her in for coffee as a thank-you. She stayed for hours. After that, we talked often. Became friends. We exchanged weird looking produce and laughed about it. Eventually we started having dinner together. I’ve lived here for seven years now, and she’s one of my closest friends.

• My 79-year-old neighbor was struggling to care for her garden. I felt bad so I started watering them whenever I had the chance to save those poor plants. Then like a week later, her son came over and said, “Stop what you’re doing or I’ll call 911.” I apologized. It was weird but I didn’t want to escalate anything. The next morning, my old neighbor herself knocked on my door. I expected her to thank me, but instead she looked at me and said, “You need to pay me for all the tomatoes and flowers you’ve been taking from my garden.” I told her I never took anything, I was simply watering the plants because I wanted to help but without making a big deal. Her eyes widened but she left. 2 days later, she and her son came over with baskets of fruit and an apple pie she baked. She hugged me tightly and apologized. Apparently, someone had been stealing from her garden and she saw me in the camera and assumed that was me. But then they spotted the actual suspects — just some neighborhood kids haha. I told her it was all good. She told me I could come over anytime I want and she regularly calls me over now to give me baked goods. A very sweet old lady.