At home, I have two beautiful gardens the back yard and the front garden. In the front garden, we grow flowers and some fruit trees, and in the back yard, we grow Vietnamese vegetables.

The front garden is a square shape. We grow a lot of different coloured flowers in three garden beds. A big lemon tree is in one other corner and in another corner is a Christmas tree. In the middle of the garden there is a small orange tree and some grass growing around it. However every morning in summer about six o'clock I have to get out of my bed, to water the plants and vegetables in the front garden and the back yard. I have to look at each plant, to find if there are any caterpillars, insects or snails so I can collect them because if I let them stay on the plants they will destroy everything.

The back yard is also a square shape. It is divided into four rows with bricks. In the first two rows we grow salad vegetables. In the other two rows we grow lemongrass, chilli, spring onions and herbs. And if I look down the four rows I can see a big frame made with strings. Gourds spread around the frame and there are a lot of gourd flowers blooming. It also has some young gourds appearing. If I get up around seven o'clock to eight o'clock I can see the beautiful flowers of the gourds. If I look closely at them they are opening slowly, slowly. If I breathe in deeply, I can feel a beautiful scent on to the cool air, which runs into my nostrils and slowly, reaches my brain. I can feel the smell of my garden flying around me. At that time it is as if I am still dreaming and flying with the insects around the gourd frame making a noise and settling on the gourd flowers, smelling them and drinking in their sweet nectar. It is like honey, so sweet. The sunshine in my eyes, I cannot see anything. My eyes feel very dark. Then I close my eyes and try to open them. When I open them I do not see bees around the frame any more, only the snails moving over the salad vegetables. In a flash I realize that what I saw was just a dream.

Each day many gourds appear and they get bigger. Soon there are too many. Then we cut them and give some to my uncle or the neighbours. We also grow ten chilli plants in two rows. My mother thinks they are big enough to put in their own pots. Then she goes to the shops and buys ten pots. She uproots all the plants and puts them in pots. Then she puts cow manure and other manure into the pots to make the plants grow quickly and to make them look healthy. Every day the chilli plants grow and soon burst into flower and produce bright red chillies.

Spring onions and herbs are easy plants to grow. They grow very quickly and we don't spend a lot of time on them. Lemongrass is a very hard plant to grow. I don't know where my mother gets it. It does not like the sun much, so we have to look after it. Salad vegetables are easy plants to grow and quick, like spring onions. Every year in summer our family picks a lot of vegetables and we can't eat them all at once. Then we give them to the neighbours and our uncle.

I love growing vegetables and fruit because it is fun and is good for the family. I can always have fresh vegetables and fruits. My garden makes me relax especially, when I have a lot of pressure.

Big Book '99