With time to expand her horizons and try new hobbies, Grace Green ‘20 has picked up gardening. She mainly grows herbs, including catnip, parsley, and lavender. She picked herbs for fun, and it was also convenient because she already had them at home and didn’t need to go to the store to buy them. Her plants are grown in a flower bed in her backyard that the previous owners of her house left her.

“[I had wanted to garden] kind of just for fun,” Green said. “I liked the idea of harvesting your own herbs because you’re in full control of anything that goes on the plants, like pesticides, and I liked that.”

Gardening has taught Green many things, such as patience, responsiveness, and not messing with the acidity levels of the soil until you are advanced enough. Contrary to her expectations, she has found out that gardening is not that much work as long as you just water the plants when needed, and learn about the plants and their necessities. 

“The only thing that surprised me about gardening was how little you needed to do sometimes,” Green said. “You water your plants every couple of days, and that’s it.”

Besides how to grow plants, gardening has also introduced her to farmers’ almanacs, which have taught her many amazing facts about gardening. When quarantine is over, Green plans on continuing to care for her garden. 

“[My plans are] to keep up with the plants I have now,” Green said. “I may expand more when I’m able, but if we end up going back to school, I’ll just take care of the plants I have.”