‘It Heals Me’: How I Grow 300 Plants Including 70 Fruit Trees On My Terrace |
Originally reported and written in May 2024, this story has been republished as part of our archival content.
“Gardening is therapeutic for me. It healed and grounded me, and made me a better mother,” Sushma Reddy shares.
The 38-year-old encountered a major crisis six years back when her then 4-year-old son was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). The college topper and top performing software engineer had to quit her thriving career to focus on what mattered the most at the time - her son.
What followed the diagnosis was shock, a sense of helplessness and a desire to provide the best for her child. Sushma would take him for therapy daily and wait outside for three hours of the appointment. A few months of this gruelling schedule left the Bengaluru resident drained both physically and mentally.
She felt depressed, lost interest in her daily activities, stopped eating well, which all led to weight loss as well. A gynaecologist told her that she must pick up a hobby and do something that interests her. This advice proved to be a life-changing one, which ignited a deep-rooted passion in her.
She decided to go ahead with gardening as it would come with an added advantage of giving her son fresh, organic vegetables and fruits to eat. Starting with a money plant in 2018, the engineer slowly grew to realise that she had a green thumb. From indoor plants, she branched to vegetables and fruits on the 1,000 square feet terrace of her rented apartment.
Today, it has grown into a green haven with over 300 plants, 70 of which are fruit trees.
Providing Sushma with a........