Planting for Retirement: What My Garden Is Teaching Me

Oct 2026 The Scenic Route

An evening in the garden

Most of my days are full of meetings, code and conversations about AI. Evenings are different. When the path lights come on and the greenhouse glows at the edge of the yard, I walk out between the raised beds and my mind goes quiet.

The garden at dusk: raised beds, tomato cages and the greenhouse lit up at the back of the yard

Gardening is where I feel calm. It has also turned out to be one of the best problem-solving classrooms I have ever sat in.

Where it started: my mother’s garden

I learned to garden by helping my mom. We lived in the city, and our home garden was small, but she made every corner of it count. She grew vegetables alongside coconut and mango trees, on a scale that would surprise anyone who thinks you need acres to feed a family.

As a boy I mostly carried water and pulled weeds. What I really picked up was her patience, and her belief that a small patch of soil, looked after every day, can give back far more than you expect.

Why I started my own garden in 2023

In 2023 I decided to build a real garden of my own. That first season I put in the raised beds, a deer fence around the whole plot and a small greenhouse at the back of the yard.

My reason was practical as much as emotional. I wanted to learn how to handle the real challenges of growing crops, such as pests, weather, soil and timing, while I still have years to make mistakes. One day I will retire, and I want a passion to fall back on that I already know how to do well. Every season is practice for that future.

The Jacuzzi that became a garden bed

The bed I get asked about most used to be a Jacuzzi. It stopped working properly, and instead of hauling it away I filled it with soil and turned it into a planter.

It turned out to be one of my best decisions. The tub is deep, so it suits deep-rooted plants that would run out of room in a standard raised bed. This year it was packed with eggplant, and you can see the harvest in my hand below.

Harvest day beside the Jacuzzi bed, full of round and long eggplants

The lesson stuck with me: before you throw something out, ask whether it can grow something.

What grew well this year

My two stars this season were eggplant and Malabar spinach.

Eggplant. I grew both the round and the long varieties, and they loved the warmth and depth of the Jacuzzi bed. Week after week, the plants kept producing.
Malabar spinach. This climbing green handles summer heat far better than regular spinach. Give it something to climb and it keeps giving you tender leaves all season.

The tomatoes in their wire cages gave a steady supply of plum tomatoes, ripening one by one from green to red.

I also have a young apple tree in its own fenced corner. It is a slow, patient crop and still finding its feet, but this year it carried its first green apples.

The young apple tree with its first green apples

My biggest lesson: handling pests the homemade way

Pests taught me more than any other challenge. I did not want to spray harsh chemicals on food my family eats, so I learned to fight back with what was already in the kitchen.

My go-to is a homemade spray of mild liquid soap and vinegar mixed in water. The soap helps break down soft-bodied insects, and the vinegar makes the leaves less inviting. A few things I learned the hard way:

Keep it diluted. Too strong a mix can burn the leaves you are trying to protect.
Test it on a few leaves first and wait a day before spraying the whole plant.
Spray in the early morning or evening, never in the midday sun.
Check under the leaves. That is where most of the trouble hides.

The deer fence handles the bigger visitors. The soap-and-vinegar spray handles the small ones.

The greenhouse: a head start at both ends

The greenhouse is where every season begins and where it ends last. In late winter I start my seeds there, so the seedlings are strong and ready when the soil outside warms up. In the fall it keeps crops going for weeks after the open beds have slowed down.

Those extra weeks at each end of the season matter, because a longer season means a bigger harvest.

The 50% goal: halfway to halfway

My goal is to grow 50% of my household’s produce during the summer. In 2026 I reached about 25%.

That means I am halfway to my goal, and I am proud of it. Three seasons ago this was an empty corner of the yard. Now a quarter of the vegetables on our summer table come from just outside the back door.

To close the gap, I plan to:

Grow more of what we actually eat most, and less of what is merely fun to grow.
Stagger plantings so the harvest comes steadily instead of all at once.
Use the greenhouse to stretch both ends of the season even further.
Keep notes on every bed, so each season builds on the last.

Why I keep going

In my working life I solve problems with data, code and AI. In the garden the problems are simpler but just as real, like a pest on the leaves, a dry week or a bed that will not produce. You notice, you try something, and the season tells you whether you were right.

That cycle keeps me calm, and it keeps me learning. It also keeps me close to my mother’s small city garden, where all of this started.

Life is a journey. My garden is one of the best parts of mine, and I will keep sharing what I learn here. If you grow your own food, or want to start, I would love to hear what is working for you.