It’s no doubt that personal health and the health of the public is forethought in everyone’s minds right now. While we should all be aware of up to date information/guidelines/orders concerning the pandemic in our city; today we’re offering you a couple of minutes of respite while you read about a few amazing reasons why gardening rocks for being a  super healthy hobby to engage in!

#resiliencegarden

Fresh air and sunshine are two things we are NOT currently being told to avoid. In fact, it’s being encouraged. Gardening allows for experiencing both of those things! What if gardening can offer you other benefits? What if gardening just might offer you some stress relief? What if gardening and spending time in the sunshine could offer you a dose of an important vitamin? What if gardening allowed you to skip grocery lines more often because you could just walk outside and select produce right out of your own yard? What if you could receive a mood-lifting, ego boost just from spending time gardening?

These are all results that the experience of gardening could possibly offer you! Join us today while we explore each one so that you can understand why: #outsideisthebestplacetoberightnow

1. Nature has a way of inducing relaxation with its calm, fresh hues. Some people  have reported a tranquil feeling when subjected to the color green, while others have felt energized by the fresh feeling the green of nature inspires. If green is your thing, wouldn’t being out in the garden offer you some fairly stress-free vibes?

• If we can’t convince you that gardening might ease some stress just by being surrounded by the color green; how about realizing that your gardening exertions are physically releasing tension in your body? Gardening can run the gamut of both strenuous and moderate exercise, you can make your level of exertion what you want it to be. Both levels keep a body moving and a moving body helps you have a healthy body.

2. When your body is outside in the sunshine it is producing something amazing for your health. A chemical reaction occurs in your body when sunlight hits your skin. The result? Your body produces a healthy dose of vitamin D that is used in the following ways and more:

• supports immune health
• supports brain and nervous system health
• Supports lung and cardiovascular health.
• promotes healthy teeth and bones

3. Been to the grocery store lately? How about those long lines? A garden planted now offers the possibility of :

• a future vegetable garden bursting with homegrown, fresh produce.
• an herb garden becoming a virtual pharmacy of plants that can be used for culinary, medicinal, and aromatherapy purposes.
• a garden providing a buffet of fresh food, and you know exactly what ingredients are in it.

Why not plan for the future and start growing your own vegetable and/or herb #resiliencegarden today?

4. There’s something about gardening that gives you a nice ego boost when you successfully cut a mature zucchini off the vine or make a jar of pickles from homegrown cucumbers. You planted, cared for and harvested your garden. The reward of successful gardening comes in smile form, and also self-distributed pats on the back. Giving compliments is good kharma, giving compliments to yourself is just good taste!

• If past attempts haven’t been so successful should that bring you down? Heck no! You tried something! Sometimes you learn more when you fail. You can try again using what you’ve learned from your mistakes. Sometimes it’s more about the journey than then end.

• Hasn’t the journey along the way been worth it? The feel of soil between your fingers, the fragrance of the earth, the pollinators thankful buzz for your offering of meals, and the time you were granted to focus on something as simple and true as: You plant it, feed it, water it, grow it. Gardening is a world of ups and downs, but the journey makes it worth it.

We hope you’ll take advantage of all the health benefits that building your own #resiliencegarden can offer you! We’ve got the veggies, soil, and fertilizer. You just add the sunshine and fresh air!

~The Happy Gardener, Lisa Mulroy