Ana Aquino 11 started a new hobby that brings her joy, gardening. In her backyard she grows a variety of flowers, vegetables, and fruits. 

“Gardening is my favorite hobby because it brings me a lot of joy and when having a garden I can eat healthy things that I grow. For example, I grow a lot of lettuce, cucumbers, sometimes bell peppers, and tomatoes. I also sometimes grow fruit as well but that is a much longer process.,” Aquino said. 

Ana goes out every morning to check up on her plants. She also makes sure every single thing she grows each gets proper care. 

“I go out every morning to water my garden and to check up on it. I make sure no wheat has grown and everything is going well,” Aquino said. 

For Ana, gardening has taught her to respect the Earth and be more cautious. It also has taught her to do something daily that puts her in a good and positive mood. Gardening helps her moods, whenever she gets sad she goes out everyday to her garden. 

“Gardening has taught me to respect the Earth and nurture itself. And to be conscious of what I do because it can easily affect how things grow. In general it helps to be more mindful,” Aquino said. 

Ana will continue this hobby in her future, since it has impacted her in a positive way. 

“I do want to continue gardening especially into college. I will continue because it not only has great mental health effects, but it’s also a great way of surrounding yourself with really nice things,” Aquino said. 

For anyone who is interested in gardening, Ana says to start with a lot of research. She also mentions when doing gardening, you have to make sure to give each plant the proper amount of care it needs. 

“I say to just go for it. For me it was just the spare of the moment, I just wanted to do something that could be beneficial to the environment and myself. There are absolutely no cons, just go for it, it’s great. For the first step, I would say to just do a lot of research, especially of what can be grown in Colorado, it really depends on what things can survive in the winter or not. Also finding the right materials is very important. It’s also important to know what fertilizers to use and how much water to give each plant. Just a ton of research and a whole lot of dedication,” Aquino said. 

With the amount of effort and love Ana puts into her garden, her favorite thing is making a meal and knowing she has healthy ingredients in her own backyard. 

“My favorite thing is whenever I am making a meal I can just go out to my garden and get what I need. And you know that no harm has gone into producing it. You know that it’s good and well made. And it’s at your fingertips, and you are also doing the community a service.