Gardening this year started as a small experiment back in spring, and now that it’s already August, I’m into harvesting basil, chillies, and tomatoes from what began as a handful of seeds. Somewhere along the way, I realized the real adventure wasn’t limited to the garden, or in my case, the balcony. It followed me into the kitchen. It showed up at dinner.

Every plant I grew this year came from a very specific demand: my own cooking. My vision for this garden was as simple as grow what I actually eat, not what looks nice in a pot. That’s how I ended up with basil, chilli, and tomato, with the first two making it into my meals most often.

Basil and Chilli: Old Favorites, New Abundance

Basil was the one I was most excited about. Restaurants never seem to give you enough of it, and I’ve always been the kind of basil fan who feels awkward asking for extra. Growing my own meant I could finally eat as much as I wanted, no apologies necessary.

Chilli, I cook with almost every day, and even that steady demand couldn’t keep up with what the plant produced. Still, there’s something satisfying about leaving a few pods on the branch, watching them slowly change color over days, patient in a way cooking rarely lets me be.

Tomato: The Plant That Surprised Me Most

Tomato is where the season really caught me off guard. I assumed it would take longer than basil and chilli to fruit, so I planned to enjoy it casually. I’ve never been a big tomato person, nothing close to how I feel about basil or chilli. But the plant fruited fast and a lot. What surprised me even more was the flavor. A tomato grown two steps from my kitchen, with no supply chain in between, tastes nothing like anything I’ve bought at a supermarket. Fresher and sweeter.

Cooking My Way Through the Harvest

With that much basil, chilli, and tomato coming in, I had to get creative. I already know my way around a kitchen, but even a confident cook runs out of familiar recipes when the harvest keeps piling up. So I started exploring.

The first time I cooked Fried Fish with Sambal Dabu-Dabu, I learned to make dabu-dabu from scratch and, for the first time, how to properly clean a fish, organs and all, before it hit the pan. That same lesson repeated itself when I made spicy small fish topped with basil and tomato, this time with a smaller fish that demanded its own kind of patience and precision to clean.

Then there were the breakfast menu. I rarely make tomato with mozzarella, olive oil, and a pinch of salt over toasted sourdough for breakfast, but one morning, with tomatoes waiting to be picked, I gave it a try. The freshness of a tomato harvested minutes earlier changed the whole dish. I understood, finally, why people fuss over ingredients like this.

A Season Worth Every Step

Looking back at everything I’ve cooked from this small balcony garden, I’m satisfied with the whole journey, from sowing the first seedlings, to transferring them into pots, to the daily rhythm of caring for them, to the recipes I tried on a whim and ended up loving. It turned out to be gardening and a season of learning to cook a little differently, and more adventurous.