With its vibrantly colorful fruits, blissfully scented flowers and mouthwatering fresh vegetables, the backyard garden at the house of Al-Zainah Al-Babtain, an organic gardener in Kuwait, has become a tiny world that turned her life into a lively experience. Babtain strongly believes in the popular quote that says, "to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”.
"Gardening became an additional motive for me to wake up every day,” she said passionately. Babtain fell in love with gardening by accident 14 years ago, when she started by sprinkling tomato seeds in her backyard without having the least expectation that they will ever sprout due to the severely dry and harsh weather conditions of Kuwait.
To her surprise, what started from a few seeds grew to a large garden with a variety and abundance of crops that she never anticipated would grow in Kuwait, from pumpkins and sunflowers to carrots and sweet corn and almost all types of crops.
Babtain completely immersed herself in this world, investing all her passion and energy into studying and practicing it, until the garden became an integral part of her family’s life. She never felt so self-sufficient until she started this hobby, as almost everything she cooks for her children is made from the vegetables and fruits she has planted.
"It feels very rewarding to plant something from scratch until it reaches the plate of my children, which all comes out of love,” she said. By witnessing the daily growth of the plant, watering it and waiting patiently for to harvest it from one season to another, Babtain’s children gradually developed a healthy relationship with food, which taught them to appreciate the real value of it.
Gardening also changed the way Babtain spends her time with her family. It connected them with nature and with one another, which gave them the chance to find an escape from the stresses and strains of the outside world. "Taking a short pause from life to enjoy the pleasure of the green scenery has always helped in keeping us more balanced and grounded,” she noted, adding that the garden has turned many of their days into special events. "I don’t like to keep the produce just for myself; that’s why I try as much as I can to celebrate the days of harvest by inviting everyone — from my family members and children’s friends to join us.”
Gardening is an active step toward changing one’s perspective of life, as Babtain witnessed how it has the power to lift many people up, adding color and hope to their lives in their deepest moments of despair. She advises anyone with interest in this hobby to start gardening from any place that has exposure to the sun, whether it’s on a roof, balcony or garden, highlighting Kuwait’s harsh sun is the best thing for stimulating a crop’s growth. On the other hand, she warned that timing is the most challenging thing about gardening, as one must learn more about the suitable time for each type of crop to grow to achieve the expected results.
According to Babtain, the most rewarding thing that she enjoys in gardening is the experience itself, not the outcome. "The season of gardening is a season of ups and downs that takes me through a constant adventure with small victories. At the end, it’s never about the harvest, it’s about how the process fulfills me from inside,” she said. Even with all the effort that gardening requires — mentally, financially and physically — from Babtain, the positive impact that it has on her is powerful enough to keep her going.