Gardening for the soul

My garden has been my refuge for years now.  Growing up, we had gardens wherever we lived.  Huge ones in those public sector quarters and then my parents bought two plots of land, one for the house and the other for a garden.  As children, we played in the garden at all times of the day....there was a badam tree to chip badam seeds out of and irrigation canals (tiny little rivulets connecting different plants) to play pretend picnic with mudpies near the 'river'.  We learned seamlessly about sedimentation and water conservation.  One summer, water was rationed and we could not water our gardens.  I remember sharing my drinking water with the marigold plants I had planted....they were the only plants in the garden that were green and flowering.  Of course, that got my mom's antennae up and we ended up having to choose human over plant welfare.