The concept of growing your own food in a garden is not new. For ancient humans, it was essential to have access to dependable, wholesome foods.
Vegetable gardens used to be more or less essential. Despite having inexpensive and easy access to food at grocery shops, gardening has recently become more and more popular.
According to a study, the COVID-19 pandemic increased people’s interest in gardening. More time was spent at home, when people resorted to their gardens for food, stress reduction, and a connection to nature.
I’ve had a big vegetable and flower garden at my house for ten years. Watching the gardens expand and change is both requesting and joyful for me.
Here are just a few of the many benefits I’ve discovered from working in the dirt:
1.Decreased levels of stress
Gardening is one of the numerous activities that help lower stress. It has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress and anxiety. Planting, caring for, harvesting, and sharing your own food is very satisfying.
Routines provide our days structure and have been linked with better mental wellness. Watering and weeding chores in the garden can establish a calming rhythm that lowers stress.
My usual routine after a day at the clinic is to check in with my family and then spend a couple of hours in my garden. After a stressful day, I find that removing weeds may be therapeutic and relaxing. It gives you the chance to take it slowly, develop strategies, or solve an issue in your head.
2.Increased activity
An energetic day in the garden might be helpful to your fitness. You engage in functional movement that resembles whole-body workout while taking care of a garden. While weeding, you engage in lunges and squats. Large muscular groups are challenged while carrying mulch and other goods in bags. Using a push mower, digging, and raking can be physically demanding tasks.
As many calories as you would burn working out at the gym. After a long day of gardening, it’s likely that you will feel a little sore if you aren’t used to this kind of physical activity. In addition, gardening helps increase your flexibility, strength, and balance.
If movement is a problem, gardening activities might be changed. If you are creative, there are various ways to get involved. If your back hurts, use a little stool or raised garden beds. When squatting, you can support your knees using a shovel or rake. Larger pots are heavier and more difficult to transport than smaller ones. Purchase dirt or mulch in lighter, smaller bags.
3.Improved diet
Your diet could improve by growing and eating your own vegetables and fruits. Vegetables are more likely to be a component of a healthy, balanced diet for gardeners. All year long, my family consumes corn, potatoes, and salsa cooked with items from our garden.
Vegetables have a number of special health benefits. Capsaicin, a compound found in peppers, has anti-inflammatory effects and can lower the risk of heart disease. Potassium and vitamin C levels in tomatoes are high. Additionally, they contain lycopene, an antioxidant that may lower the risk of prostate cancer. Beta carotene, an antioxidant found in abundant in sweet potatoes, may halt the aging process and lower the risk of several malignancies. Your immune system may be boosted by spinach, while cells in your body are shielded from harm by broccoli.
4.Improve mental and physical health
It’s good for your mental and physical health to spend time outside. When outside, people often breathe more deeply. This raises blood oxygen levels, helps to clear the lungs, and enhances digestion, immunological function, and flexibility.
The pulse rate and muscle tension can both be lowered by spending time outside. Blood pressure decreases and vitamin D levels are raised by sunlight.
5.Social relationship
People interact more and have stronger social ties when they are gardening. There are many people ready to offer their knowledge, time, and even plants with beginning gardeners in the gardening community. Local volunteers known as master gardeners are committed to empowering and educating other gardeners. Plots for community gardens unite individuals from all backgrounds to work toward a common objective. Many gardening friendships start off by congratulating one other on a job well done or bemoaning a gardening error.
Social relationships are crucial because they promote resilience, reduce stress, and offer support during trying times. Your risk of sadness, anxiety, and suicide is decreased by a strong sense of belonging.
The most significant benefit of gardening for me has been the friendships I’ve developed. My friends and I collaborate to plan our vegetable gardens each spring. We talk about the positive and negative aspects of the prior year. We exchange extra produce during the summer. We throw a big salsa-making party in the fall to celebrate the harvest with one another. These pursuits enhance our enjoyment of the garden and fortify our relationships.
