7 Reasons Why I Started Growing Plants In My Home

Hello Everyone!

This is new…I’ve not seen this page before…Oh wait, this used to be the “Let’s Get Organised” section of the blog. What happened? Well, first of all, let me tell you how difficult it is to write a blog post about organisation, specifically organisation of items in the home. I realised the error of my ways, and have reshuffled the single post that used to be in here, into the “Make A House A Home” section of the blog, because it makes more sense there, and honestly, there’s only so much you can say about being organised, and actually being organised. Don’t worry, we’ll unpack that later.

For now, what exactly will this page be about? Well, if you haven’t guessed already, it’ll all be about gardening! That’s right, I’ve branched out into the world of horticulture and gardens. Am I a professional? No, do I have a garden? My mom does. Have I grown plants in my home, and not killed them all? Yes, I have. I’ve even learned how to propagate, which is awesome for me…not so awesome for my home, it may be overrun with plants soon, but that’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get there. For now, let me tell you about the top 7 reasons why I started growing plants in my home.

1.   They Brighten The Room

First and foremost, I started growing indoor plants, because they help with making my room look so much brighter, and more inviting. As you already know, I love to decorate my space, even if I don’t have much. I love dreaming about how I’d like my own home (when I finally buy one) would look like, using my house builds to create different looks and styles that suit different personalities, moods and environments. One of the major staples in all my designs are plants.

For me, a house is never a home, without some form of life, and I love the way green leaves and flowering buds just make a house feel alive. That’s why I started to grow plants in my home. Sure, plastic ones can also look great, and the best thing about them is that you don’t need to care for them, but nothing beats the look and feel of living plants in a home. Fake ones, for me, just don’t do it and over time, they will fade and look dull, whereas live plants stay alive, all year round (even the ones that die off in the winter, you know they’ll come back again in spring).

2.   They Grant New Skills To Your Repertoire

Now, I’m not a gardener, I didn’t study horticulture or botany, so I am literally guessing as I go, but the more plants I take care of, the more information I’ve learned and the more skills I’ve developed, when it comes to gardening. Of course, you don’t need a degree or professional qualifications to start gardening, there are plenty of tips and tricks out there, to help you, but there is one thing you develop and learn, when you start growing plants. That skill is called patience.

Plants grow and develop in their own time, you won’t see results right away, at least for most garden variety plants, so you need to learn how to be patient and work with them, not the other way around. If anything, plants have their own form of consciousness, and if you think they’ll work to your rhythm, then maybe taking care of plants isn’t for you. You need to learn to compromise and wait. They’ll show you their true colours eventually. So, as the old adage goes “sit back and smell the roses”, they’ll bloom when they’re ready to.

3.   They Teach A Lesson In Responsibility

If you’re like me, and you’re not quite ready to own a pet, or if you don’t have the space to own one, or even if you’re not ready to settle down and have a family, but would like to have at least some skill in knowing how to take care of another living being, then raising plants is probably a good way to start learning. Of course, there are plenty of other ways to learn this important life skill, but if you really want to hone it, then raising plants is a good way to do that. For the most part, when you’re growing plants in your home, it’s so easy to forget that you have another living being to take care of, and like I said, they have their own way of growing and surviving, but forgetting to help them, especially when they’re not growing in their natural environment, is a good reminder to be responsible and responsive to them.

For example, whenever I’m busy or doing things that take me away for a long time, I always try to find some help and ask friends and family to take care of my “babies”, because that’s exactly what they are. After all, I take care of them, they live with me, and for the most part, most of my plants are still just babies. They still need to be fed, watered and kept clean. If their environment deteriorates, or if they’re left alone for too long, then chances are they’re not going to survive. So, knowing when to take care of them is important, just like with any living creature.

4.   They Are The Silent Company I Didn’t Know I Needed

Sometimes, the world can be loud. Sometimes, when you just want to vent, and you vent to people, they will always offer some form of advice or comment. Sometimes, you just want to pour your heart out to someone, or some thing, and not be responded to. Sometimes, it’s better to talk to plants, especially the ones that live with you. There have been many days (including over the last couple of years), where I’ve needed to vent, but every time I tell someone my opinion, I either get their opinion back, or some form of advice, when I didn’t want it in the first place.

Yes, it’s all said with good intentions, to be helpful, and to commiserate, but I already know what I need to do, I already am working towards the advice they’re giving, and sometimes, the advice isn’t warranted. So, how else do I vent, and let the emotions out? I talk to my plants. Yes, for those of you who don’t take care of any plants, it’s weird and a little ridiculous, but trust me when I say that once you start, you’ll learn that they really are the silent companions you didn’t know you needed. While they may not respond to you, you can always talk to them and vent, without getting a response in return. Granted you could probably do that with just about anything, but knowing that my plants are alive, and are potentially listening is a comforting thought.

5.   They Help With Learning Something New

It’s not just about learning a new skill; it’s about staying curious. Every year I watch my plants grow and thrive, I start wondering if I should buy more, and not just the same ones over and over again. I start looking at other, more difficult plants to raise, and what started out as one plant will soon grow into a garden of them. Eventually, who knows, I may even decide to start a farm and sell the flowers and produce that my plants yield. These thoughts keep me curious and because of it, I’ve even started researching about other ways I can cultivate my plants and diversify my “family”, because yes, they are family to me.

In fact, one of the topics I’m currently researching is on how I can propagate my plants and essentially learn how to grow my family of plants. I’ve already learned how to propagate one or two of them, I’m also in the process of trying out a couple more, and I’m fascinated every day, by the progress I’m making. Propagation is actually one of the hardest skills to learn, at least for a beginner like me, and if I succeed with my current attempts, then I have accomplished something that I never thought I could, and in fact, try out other skills that may not even be related to gardening or growing plants (in fact, I’m looking into developing my sewing skills, which is a whole different ballpark that I hope to tackle, someday soon).

6.   They Inspire Other Ways Of Living

For the longest time, I’ve been chasing dreams, left, right and centre. I’ve daydreamed about so many avenues I thought my life would take, but one element of those dreams have always been true and that is all about having a simple life, and living outside the constraints of the big cities that currently surround me. As you know, I live in London, well, more like I live on the outskirts, and I’ve had a good mix of both country and city living surrounding me, but I have always wanted to live in the countryside. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, and yes, it will be difficult, but every time I look after my plants, I’m always inspired to want to live there, regardless of how difficult it will be.

It'll take a while, before I can achieve that dream, but taking care of plants in my home is a good way to start, and eventually, one day, I may be able to take it a step further. For example, maybe one day, I’ll learn how to create and maintain a vegetable garden, or a flower farm, to sell at local farmer’s markets. Or maybe, I one day learn how to harvest and use my plants for cooking, creating homemade ingredients, instead of buying ready-made ones, and learn to live a simpler life.

7.   They Teach Self-Sustaining Living

Ok, so we probably all know where this is leading to. Homesteading. As I’ve mentioned, I live in London, and the lifestyle here isn’t very sustainable (many big corporations have their headquarters here, there’s a lot of pollution, and waste is high in the area). Having spent a couple of years now, growing my own plants, it has inspired me to want to try a self-sustaining form of living. Now, while I still live with my parents, I can’t very well do that, at least not completely. There are still some luxuries I am not quite ready to part with, just yet (like electricity, central heating, and many other things that I’ve lived with for so long), but the idea of being able to live off the natural environment around me has always been an idea at the back of my mind.

It isn’t just about protecting the environment; it’s also about protecting my inner peace and mental wellbeing. Over the past few years, while I’ve been employed by many different companies, I’ve realised that none of them can help me live my life to the fullest. Yes, they offer money, and job security, but that comfort only lasts as long as you continue to work for them. There really isn’t much else they offer, besides short-term experiences (like subscriptions to gyms, free food, etc.). There isn’t much substance there. Homesteading, while difficult, is actually a form of self-realised accomplishments.

After all, you learn to develop so many basic skills that could lead to professional gain, like sewing your own clothes together, cooking high quality meals, creating your own preserves and ingredients, even business management skills could be developed through homesteading. Think about it like this, when you’re homesteading, you plan around the seasons of your plants and harvest, you’ll have deadlines to reach, and they won’t be kind about it, because once those plants rest for the winter, you’ll need to realign your plans. Homesteading isn’t just a form of life it can also be a form of business and self-actualised wealth. It may not be monetary, but it most certainly will be mentally. The possibilities are endless, when you know how to homestead, and hopefully, one day, I will know how.

So, Join Me As I Continue To Learn How To Grow My Own Plants In My Home

Growing plants is not an outcome, it’s a journey, and once you’re ready to take that journey, join me. Let’s learn together how to grow, propagate, harvest, and even use our plants to live a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. Who knows, we may even discover the art of hunting and foraging in the future. Anything is possible.

Well, that’s it from me today, I’ll see you next time, probably when I’m ready to show you the plants I currently have in my home. For now, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, share and follow me, here on my website, on my YouTube channel, on my social media channels, and on Patreon. Your support really helps me make more content like this, for you guys.

And as always, be kind, be creative, and be unique.

I’ll see you later!

Feather, out!