One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.

W. E. Johns

It’s no secret that I have a love of gardening. It isn’t something I grew up with in my own home, however my grandparents on both sides had a touch of a green thumb, and looking back I realize that most of my love of gardening as well as many of my childhood memories come from those times and places. My grandpa, or Papa as we called him, had a very large vegetable garden and I remember going out there with him on a nice sunny day. He’d pull up a carrot, wipe the dirt off on his pant leg and hand it to us, and we would eat it like candy. My dad’s mom was an amazing flower gardener. Her yard was like a park, and everyone who came over admired it and commented on it. She spent countless hours weeding, planting, watering, mowing; during the spring and summer her yard was her life, and it showed.

I’ve been trying to convince you to garden for a bit now, so here goes one more nudge! Gardening has SO many benefits for your health, both mental and physical, and try as you might, you can’t deny the facts.

Increased Exercise

Being in the garden provides a whole body exercise session that makes it possible to burn as many calories as you would in a gym session. Think about it- you are carrying large bags of compost, squatting to pull weeds and harvest your fruits, raking and digging, and the list goes on. One thing that makes this garden workout stand out over a gym session is the ability to modify the activity to your mobility needs. If standing is difficult for you, there are so many comfortable gardening benches available, etc.

Improved Diet

Gardeners statistically are more likely to include veggies in a well balanced diet. This makes complete sense to me. I cook far more veggies during garden season than I do the rest of the year, for one big reason. I worked hard for that head of cabbage, and by golly we are eating it! There is such a sense of pride in going out to your back yard with your basket and coming back in the house with dinner. I like to show my produce off and I make sure to point out to my family that I grew that… they get tired of hearing it I’m sure.

Being Outside

It’s not a ground breaking revelation that being outside in nature is good for your physical and mental health. It’s been proven that people actually even breath deeper when they are outside as opposed to being inside.

Being outside has also been proven to do wonderful things for your heart. Your heart rate tends to lower and your body releases muscle tension. Sunlight also helps lower your blood pressure and increase your vitamin D levels, which has a whole plethora of health benefits on it’s own.

Reduced Stress and Boosts Self Esteem

Gardening is an amazing way to lower your stress level as well. Humans were not designed to sit idly and not produce. What do I mean by that? I truly believe that humans were created to be busy. Sitting in an office and having no creative outlet can have large negative effects on our mental health. I fully understand not everyone has the ability to not sit in an office daily, therefore doing things such as keeping a garden, writing, woodwork, leatherwork, etc. help balance our primal needs to produce.

I find peace in mundane activities. I don’t know if that’s just me or if it’s something that others experience as well, but tasks that keep my hands busy but allow my mind to daydream or think of other plans, such as weeding and watering plants, put my soul at ease. My stress levels come down, I am calm, and just overall a better person.

Keeping a garden is also extremely gratifying. It can have it’s low points when things don’t go as planned, however if we look at those times as learning opportunities it lessens the blow a bit. Overall I find it gratifying. When you start a bunch of seeds and see that first little seedling peaking out of the soil, or you plant your starts outside and find that first perfectly green zucchini the boost to your self esteem is unmeasurable. I have gardened for a few years now, and I still squeal and jump when I see a seedling popping up or I get to eat that first strawberry of the season. What is more powerful than literally growing the nutrients you and your family need?

Social Connections

Here’s the thing about gardeners- they love to garden. It is the least competitive hobby I have ever had. I joined a local gardeners group on Facebook last summer when we bought our new homestead because it was so overgrown and I was finding fruit trees and herbs and berries planted everywhere. I am fairly confident in my ability to start with fresh plants and trees and get them successful, however I felt very overwhelmed with my task of saving the forgotten homestead. Every question I have had has been met with eager suggestions and advice, all of which have worked wonderfully for me so far. Gardeners want to see other gardeners succeed. On top of that it’s just a happy group of people (remember that whole boost to your mental health thing I mentioned above?). Pictures of successes are shared, stories of failures are told and discussed, and advice is everywhere with nothing expected back other that an update as to how it worked out for you. Other gardeners will praise your efforts, share in your failures, and celebrate your wins with you, and I have loved every minute of being a part of that community.

Family Activity

My whole family partakes in my gardening love. Some willingly (kids) and some just because I asked nicely (my husband). One of my greatest memories was planting potatoes with our oldest daughter a couple years back. She watered them all summer and they were “her” potatoes. Watching her shear joy when it was time to harvest them made my momma heart swell with pride. She was so excited!

Gardening is also being used in several countries to help with dementia patients. I find this part particularly interesting because of my Grandma who I mentioned above. Her flowers were show worthy. Always, every single year, show worthy. She came to live with me when she had dementia later in her life. She was outside with me one afternoon just following me around and smiling because she was slowly losing her ability to talk. I had bought a pack of Violas and as soon as I took them out of the back of my car, her face lit up. She came walking over and took it from and waved me to follow her to the sunniest spot in my yard. She said “Here. This is where he will be happy.” I smiled at her and asked her is she knew what it was called. She thought for a minute then said “No, I don’t remember his name, but he loves the sun and he will come back every year. He’s a happy little guy.” She was right. He loved that sunny space and he came back year after year, usually being the first bloom in the spring. The one thing that made me sad about selling that house, was leaving the violas that were everywhere behind. I currently have some sprouted in my greenhouse, and I think of that moment every time I see them.

Buying Local

So what can you do if gardening is out of the question for you? Buy local. Some things that are usually easy to source locally are produce, dairy, eggs, meat, and honey. These things can be found by visiting your local farmer’s market, joining a farm CSA (community supported agriculture) or looking on Local Harvest.

The benefits of buying local are much the same as gardening in the means of the food. You will be purchasing a more nutrient dense product, as it is almost always fresher than a supermarket purchase. This also makes it taste far better. You will also have the benefit of looking the farmer in the eye and hearing about how they manage their farm and the practices they use to produce their products. Remember, plant people like to talk about their plants.

The economic benefits of buying local go much deeper than most people may realize. First, there is minimal trucking involved to get your product to you. This can help with the price tag as well as being more environmentally friendly. Then there is the farmer. When we buy direct, we are cutting out the middle man and putting that money directly into the farmer’s pocket. Putting your money in the farmer’s pocket means it will stay more local, as that farmer shops in your community. By buying directly from small farmers in our neighborhoods, we are also investing in the future. If we support farmers today, they will be less likely to sell their farmland and we will be more likely to have farmers in the future, which is pretty dang important in my opinion.

A huge benefit of purchasing from your local farmer is also an increased accountability in what we are consuming. Knowing where our food comes from and how it is harvested and produced is important and empowering, as it gives us the ability to choose which practices we are passionate about and search out producers who share our passions.

Whether you grown your own food or purchase locally, the important thing is to understand the process to the best of your ability, but I still think you should keep a garden this year, even if it’s a tomato plant in a pot on your back porch!

~Tara