Kampoeng Spirit From My Garden

I always say, my garden is not really garden. It just small space that enough to grow some of plants and flowers. Actually, I don’t have a garden even yards! But…I love gardening. So I created my own garden! I planted some flowers and vegetables with seeds. I failed many times, but I tried and tried again. And now, some plants have been growing in there. And I called it “Kampoeng spirit”

What is kampoeng exactly??… Does any of you know about “kampoeng”?? Kampoeng is another word of the village, guys… And most of the villagers called their village “kampoeng”. Most of the villagers work as a farmer. And they have been growing many plants in their home. Such as vegetables, fruit trees, some of the flowers. You can imagine it?? If you are living in kampoeng, you don’t need to buy some fruit or vegetables. Besides, you don’t need to buy eggs or meat. ‘Cause, most of the villager is a breeder too.

 

What are kind kampoeng plants?? I lived in kampoeng (small village). Such as most people who live in kampoeng, my father loves gardening too. He planted many of fruit trees and vegetables, like mango, pineapple, lemon, rambutan, guava, star fruit, jack fruit, banana, papaya, chilli, spinach, kangkong, ginger, lemongrass, galangal, tomato, sweet potato, and many other. He loves to plant flowers too Yeah my father is a flower man Many flowers he grew, like bougainvillea, gardenia, orchid, aloe vera, euphorbia, jasmine, rose, wooden flame, and many others, guys…! there are just some of kampoeng plants.

After moved into the new place six months ago, I decided to create my own garden. Yeah, I grew some plants in my back yards. Many flowers I grew, but many times I failed. Especially…Japanese flower seeds that my friend gave it to me. Oh man…it so difficult to grow them in here But I am trying, and trying to grow them.

Besides, I’ve been planting some of kampoeng plants, like yellow ginger, zingiber officinale (we called it jahe), sand ginger (we called it kencur), lemongrass, betel leaf.  And yeah…I have been growing kampoeng flowers! What is look like??… One of kampoeng flowers is Catharanthus, guys… Yeah…Catharanthus is one of kampoeng flowers. In my hometown, we called it “Tapak Dara”. It’s the most popular flowers in my kampoeng / village at the time. Other kampoeng flowers that I’ve been growing are Four O’clock flower, Coleus, Jasmine, Aloe vera, Portulaca, Impatient Balsamina. There are some of kampoeng plants from my garden

 

And now, I am trying to grow some of the vegetables, like silk gourd, chili, capsicum, and tomato. Actually, I got spinach and kangkong, but they’ve never grown! But… a few weeks ago, I grew celery and scallions, and…guess what??.. They grow, guys… I’m happy for this Hope my chilli and capsicum will grow well…

 

I think life is simple and happy when we love gardening. I don’t know why, but I feel is not only about a hobby, it’s about life. I like to grow plants by seeds. Every day I take care of it and look at how they grow. When they bloom, I am so happy. Do you want to know something special, guys??… When my garden grows up, my neighbors happy too. So we can make other people happy with gardening. Sometimes I trade plants with my neighbour. And my neighbours sometimes asks for my plant and flower. In another day my neighbour asked for my mint, my Balsamina. Another time, my other neighbor asked for a Catharanthus flower. It’s a happy life, right?? I feel that By gardening we can share happiness with plants and flowers.

This is my garden with kampoeng spirit, guys… how about you?? What’s your garden spirit??

 

Note :

• Photographed by Acik Mardhiyanti
• Written by Acik Mardhiyanti
• Do not copy this article without permissions
• Do not reuse these photographs any other else without permissions