MILLENNIAL HOUSEWIFE GROWS VEGETABLES AND SAVES MORE THAN A THOUSAND IN MONTHLY GROCERY COSTS

BEING STUCK AT HOME because of the quarantine can be both a challenge and a blessing for many, especially in a world where we don’t feel safe anymore. Housewife Kylie Benjamin, 27, is one of those people who took advantage of their time at home during the quarantine period to start gardening. She’d been planning to start her garden for a long time but work and time constraints hindered her from establishing one in the past.

- VINA MEDENILLA

She never had any experience in gardening but growing up, she has fond memories of her father’s garden. According to Benjamin, their house was called ‘Bahay Kubo’ by neighbors due to her father’s crops that were present in the song. “It was a way for my father to provide food to the table when he was already old and retired. And since his produce was more than we can consume, I was tasked to sell them to our neighbors. It never fails to warm my heart every time I remember those days,” said Benjamin.

AN EXTENSION OF A GARDENER’S LOVE As her husband was transitioning to a plant-based diet, Benjamin had the goal to make her garden a source of their meals. She initially grew mint and tomatoes that she bought from a nearby store. After the plants matured, she realized that she wanted the challenge of growing other crops while spending the least amount of money possible.

“I started to research and I found out that a lot of the vegetables that I brought from the grocery can be trimmed and regrown. I experimented with them and now I have many – alugbati, kangkong, spinach, bell pepper, eggplant, and saluyot,” she said.

One time, she roamed around their village to look for plants she could ask for from neighbors and ended up getting aloe vera, oregano, and snake plants without releasing a centavo from her wallet. She now plans to add more crops to her front yard garden, including herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, and gotu kola (Centella asiatica).