Gardening for Health
In these fast-paced times we often view gardening as an addition to our workload, mowing the grass or watering the shrubs. Some view it as a diversion or a hobby. Then, of course, there are the fanatics. But the simple fact is that we can best view gardening as a family activity that is beneficial for all the family members, regardless of age or ability. It is self-paced exercise that costs less than a health club and provides a number of rewards. In fact, we can improve the health of ourselves, our families and our communities with some time well spent in the garden. This is true, even if that garden is only a plant or two on the windowsill. Let’s look at some of the ways we can all grow healthier in the garden.
Physical Health
It is a simple fact that overweight gardeners are rare. This is partly due to the exercise factor. Gardening is a self-paced exercise with rewards. We work out at the health club and our primary reward is sweaty socks. In the garden we get to see growth, a living response to our efforts, the beauty of flowers, and the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The garden workout gives us an opportunity to focus on something other than ourselves, as we experience the people-plant connection.
For people who work in the garden circulation is improved, as is muscle tone.
Our respiration is better, partly because we are in an oxygen enriched atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. See, plants and people are good for each other.
Plants also serve to filter many impurities and pollution from the air. Beyond this, they also serve to buffer noise pollution.
People who work with plants tend to have fewer digestive problems and lower blood pressure rates.
Gardening is great physical activity for all ages, and it came be a wonderful multi-generational experience.
Nutrition and Health
Not only is the exercise good for us, so is the produce we grow in our gardens.
Vegetables contain far less fats, salts, sugars and chemical additives than our snack foods.
Fresh from the garden vegetables and homegrown salads contain more vitamins and other good stuff than produce that has been picked, packaged and transported thousands of miles to sit on the grocery store shelf.
Increasing the percentage of leafy greens, fresh beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and other garden crops can help to control diabetes, heart disease and cancer. There is a reason why gardeners live longer.
In your own vegetable garden you can control the pesticides used and the chemical preservatives applied.
Children who take part in gardening are more likely to eat the vegetables they grow.
Mental Health
As horticultural therapists we have worked with many special populations ranging from stroke and Alzheimer’s patients to the clinically depressed, victims of violence and substance abuse, the developmentally disabled and accident victims. For many the nurturing, and the positive response to this nurturing is powerful medicine. In the garden a victim of abuse can find a sense of self worth, the mentally ill can find meaning and purpose.
In hospitals where there are gardens and horticultural therapy programs the patients recover faster.
In senior centers where there are gardening programs the incidence of depression is greatly reduced, the demand for medications declines and complaints from residents and families are greatly reduced.
In schools where there are school gardens there is a decrease in bullying, anti-social behavior, vandalism and absenteeism. There are a lot of life lessons that can be learned in the garden.
Even in the workplace, whether it is a factory or an office complex, a few plants in the windowsill, a garden to replace the outdoor smoking area, plants in the work cubicles or an herb garden in the cafeteria can increase productivity, decrease stress, decrease absenteeism and improve overall moral.
Spiritual health
There is a strong connection between people and plants. Anger is calmed, stress is relaxed and the pressures of everyday living are reduced even with the passive experiencing of a garden. We don’t have to be working in the garden to benefit from it. Often in the laboring process we fail to make the discoveries that abound in every garden, even the windowsill. Every faith system values the garden as a place for prayer and meditation. This is the people-plant connection that Charles Lewis spoke of in his book, Green Nature, Human Nature, available at most book stores.
In the garden we can escape from the pressures of the present and focus on the plants, the flowers, the scents and the sensory experience of the garden. In the garden we can sit and meditate, explore our faith as a tradition and discover faith in the future.
There is a very real therapeutic value in gardening, in the connection with the earth and the communion with life energy.
Each day provides the potential for new discoveries. If only we are willing to pause from our life routine and look for the gifts. It might be a seed sprouting, or a flower bud opening. It might be a butterfly, or a lizard, it might be the breeze blowing through the leaves, or it might be the changing color of those leaves. The gift might be in the form of beautiful shadows cast by the branches of a bare winter tree, or the song of a bird in that same tree.
The garden can stimulate all of the senses, but beyond this we can also find a sense of place, a sense of purpose. The garden is our connection with the real world, the natural world from which we came. It can be a great source of comfort and joy.
Family Health
Many families today are disconnected. There is limited communication and few shared experiences. All too often today, the family isn’t working toward a common goal. The parents work somewhere else, often at jobs where they never see any tangible results of their incessant labors. Children feel that they have no responsibilities within the family, thus, they aren’t needed by the family. It has been suggested that this lack of feeling needed is one of the reasons many of our youth turn to gangs and drugs.
In the garden every member of the family gets to work together toward a common goal, a visible, physical goal.
The results of each family member’s efforts is evident, as will be the results of a failure to accept the responsibilities.
Sharing experiences builds relationships within the family. It also cultivates memories that will last a lifetime. The garden can be a "safe place" where problems can be discussed, solutions found, the burden of joys and sorrows shared.
The garden is a never-ending learning experience, for everyone. This is an opportunity for the family to experiment with new plants, different techniques. Even the experiments that don’t work teach us something.
In the garden traditions and family history can be shared. The wisdom of the grandparents has value, as does the curiosity and enthusiasm of the youngest members of the family. The garden offers wonderful opportunities for multigenerational experiences.
Go barefoot and dance in the grass, feel the real earth beneath your feet, feel the life and the energy there.
Community Health
Almost half a century ago Charles Lewis was working with cities to make them more people friendly. His dream was to create green space in every community, in even the most rotten cores of our inner cities. In Green Nature, Human Nature he explores the value of green space for the human soul.
Today this drive to make our communities green and beautiful continues. In places where the people have been empowered to create and maintain parks, gardens and green spaces neighborhoods are transformed. When people are presented with this improvement to quality of life they instinctively take pride in their neighborhoods and become a force against drugs, decay, vandalism and gangs.
A community gardens movement is sweeping this country. Their goal is to turn vacant lots into productive gardens where the residents of the neighborhood can grow their own fresh produce. Many of these programs have transformed communities as they provide outlets for youthful energy, use the wisdom of elders and the guidance of community leaders all working together. For more information on community gardens see www.communitygarden.org.
Gardens can be vital to the rehabilitation of victims of violence and abuse, those participating in rehabilitation programs, prisons, youth camps, homeless shelters, at risk students and many others who have lost their way in our society and high pressure culture. For more information on how gardening and horticultural therapy can benefit these people contact us at [email protected] or view the American Horticultural Therapy Association web site at www.ahta.org
There are even many ways that gardening can be successful in areas where drought or limited rainfall make this a difficult undertaking. We have been studying ways to alleviate hunger in regions of the world where water is a rare commodity. If you would like to have more information on Hunger Grow Away contact us at [email protected]
Gardening with a higher purpose
Gardening doesn’t simply focus on the individual. It can provide a means to share, accomplish a social good, strive for a higher purpose.
Sharing the joy of being with plants by working with residents of a senior care facility. As horticultural therapists we have spent years working with senior populations in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care and Alzheimer’s units. To bring smiles to their faces, to hear their stories, to even simply see their reactions to a colorful or aromatic plant is a special privilege. To help a stroke or arthritis patient regain pride as well as the use of a limb, to see the renewed meaning in life as they become responsible for a living thing is truly gratifying. We worked on the development of a special portable garden that is wheelchair friendly that is ideal for horticultural therapy programs.
Sharing the plants we grow, making dish gardens to serve as gifts for shut-ins or residents of a hospital or rehabilitation facility is a great way to feel worthy and of value. Prisoners in one facility in Maryland grow plants and make gift gardens for patients at a local hospital. Students at a school for the developmentally disabled grow plants to share with the seniors at a nearby nursing home.
Produce can also be shared. Students in an after school program in Jacksonville, Florida grew vegetables for a nearby soup kitchen. Residents of an assisted living center near Orlando, Florida took a weekly harvest of produce from their "community garden" to a food pantry.
Gardens can be planted as memorials, as a way to express and journey through grief. This can be a personal grief or a way of recognizing and honoring a shared tragedy such as the gardens that have been planted to commemorate the Challenger crash, the destruction of the World Trade Center or the garden at Hiroshima.
Gardens can also be planted to help us visualize great dreams. This is why we ask communities to plant and cultivate Community Peace Gardens. My wife Tomi Jill Folk and a dear and very talented friend, Miho Komatsu are working a new children’s book Peace in the Garden. This is the team that did such a great job with Miracle of the Moringa Tree, released 2011.
Physical Health
It is a simple fact that overweight gardeners are rare. This is partly due to the exercise factor. Gardening is a self-paced exercise with rewards. We work out at the health club and our primary reward is sweaty socks. In the garden we get to see growth, a living response to our efforts, the beauty of flowers, and the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The garden workout gives us an opportunity to focus on something other than ourselves, as we experience the people-plant connection.
For people who work in the garden circulation is improved, as is muscle tone.
Our respiration is better, partly because we are in an oxygen enriched atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. See, plants and people are good for each other.
Plants also serve to filter many impurities and pollution from the air. Beyond this, they also serve to buffer noise pollution.
People who work with plants tend to have fewer digestive problems and lower blood pressure rates.
Gardening is great physical activity for all ages, and it came be a wonderful multi-generational experience.
Nutrition and Health
Not only is the exercise good for us, so is the produce we grow in our gardens.
Vegetables contain far less fats, salts, sugars and chemical additives than our snack foods.
Fresh from the garden vegetables and homegrown salads contain more vitamins and other good stuff than produce that has been picked, packaged and transported thousands of miles to sit on the grocery store shelf.
Increasing the percentage of leafy greens, fresh beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and other garden crops can help to control diabetes, heart disease and cancer. There is a reason why gardeners live longer.
In your own vegetable garden you can control the pesticides used and the chemical preservatives applied.
Children who take part in gardening are more likely to eat the vegetables they grow.
Mental Health
As horticultural therapists we have worked with many special populations ranging from stroke and Alzheimer’s patients to the clinically depressed, victims of violence and substance abuse, the developmentally disabled and accident victims. For many the nurturing, and the positive response to this nurturing is powerful medicine. In the garden a victim of abuse can find a sense of self worth, the mentally ill can find meaning and purpose.
In hospitals where there are gardens and horticultural therapy programs the patients recover faster.
In senior centers where there are gardening programs the incidence of depression is greatly reduced, the demand for medications declines and complaints from residents and families are greatly reduced.
In schools where there are school gardens there is a decrease in bullying, anti-social behavior, vandalism and absenteeism. There are a lot of life lessons that can be learned in the garden.
Even in the workplace, whether it is a factory or an office complex, a few plants in the windowsill, a garden to replace the outdoor smoking area, plants in the work cubicles or an herb garden in the cafeteria can increase productivity, decrease stress, decrease absenteeism and improve overall moral.
Spiritual health
There is a strong connection between people and plants. Anger is calmed, stress is relaxed and the pressures of everyday living are reduced even with the passive experiencing of a garden. We don’t have to be working in the garden to benefit from it. Often in the laboring process we fail to make the discoveries that abound in every garden, even the windowsill. Every faith system values the garden as a place for prayer and meditation. This is the people-plant connection that Charles Lewis spoke of in his book, Green Nature, Human Nature, available at most book stores.
In the garden we can escape from the pressures of the present and focus on the plants, the flowers, the scents and the sensory experience of the garden. In the garden we can sit and meditate, explore our faith as a tradition and discover faith in the future.
There is a very real therapeutic value in gardening, in the connection with the earth and the communion with life energy.
Each day provides the potential for new discoveries. If only we are willing to pause from our life routine and look for the gifts. It might be a seed sprouting, or a flower bud opening. It might be a butterfly, or a lizard, it might be the breeze blowing through the leaves, or it might be the changing color of those leaves. The gift might be in the form of beautiful shadows cast by the branches of a bare winter tree, or the song of a bird in that same tree.
The garden can stimulate all of the senses, but beyond this we can also find a sense of place, a sense of purpose. The garden is our connection with the real world, the natural world from which we came. It can be a great source of comfort and joy.
Family Health
Many families today are disconnected. There is limited communication and few shared experiences. All too often today, the family isn’t working toward a common goal. The parents work somewhere else, often at jobs where they never see any tangible results of their incessant labors. Children feel that they have no responsibilities within the family, thus, they aren’t needed by the family. It has been suggested that this lack of feeling needed is one of the reasons many of our youth turn to gangs and drugs.
In the garden every member of the family gets to work together toward a common goal, a visible, physical goal.
The results of each family member’s efforts is evident, as will be the results of a failure to accept the responsibilities.
Sharing experiences builds relationships within the family. It also cultivates memories that will last a lifetime. The garden can be a "safe place" where problems can be discussed, solutions found, the burden of joys and sorrows shared.
The garden is a never-ending learning experience, for everyone. This is an opportunity for the family to experiment with new plants, different techniques. Even the experiments that don’t work teach us something.
In the garden traditions and family history can be shared. The wisdom of the grandparents has value, as does the curiosity and enthusiasm of the youngest members of the family. The garden offers wonderful opportunities for multigenerational experiences.
Go barefoot and dance in the grass, feel the real earth beneath your feet, feel the life and the energy there.
Community Health
Almost half a century ago Charles Lewis was working with cities to make them more people friendly. His dream was to create green space in every community, in even the most rotten cores of our inner cities. In Green Nature, Human Nature he explores the value of green space for the human soul.
Today this drive to make our communities green and beautiful continues. In places where the people have been empowered to create and maintain parks, gardens and green spaces neighborhoods are transformed. When people are presented with this improvement to quality of life they instinctively take pride in their neighborhoods and become a force against drugs, decay, vandalism and gangs.
A community gardens movement is sweeping this country. Their goal is to turn vacant lots into productive gardens where the residents of the neighborhood can grow their own fresh produce. Many of these programs have transformed communities as they provide outlets for youthful energy, use the wisdom of elders and the guidance of community leaders all working together. For more information on community gardens see www.communitygarden.org.
Gardens can be vital to the rehabilitation of victims of violence and abuse, those participating in rehabilitation programs, prisons, youth camps, homeless shelters, at risk students and many others who have lost their way in our society and high pressure culture. For more information on how gardening and horticultural therapy can benefit these people contact us at [email protected] or view the American Horticultural Therapy Association web site at www.ahta.org
There are even many ways that gardening can be successful in areas where drought or limited rainfall make this a difficult undertaking. We have been studying ways to alleviate hunger in regions of the world where water is a rare commodity. If you would like to have more information on Hunger Grow Away contact us at [email protected]
Gardening with a higher purpose
Gardening doesn’t simply focus on the individual. It can provide a means to share, accomplish a social good, strive for a higher purpose.
Sharing the joy of being with plants by working with residents of a senior care facility. As horticultural therapists we have spent years working with senior populations in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care and Alzheimer’s units. To bring smiles to their faces, to hear their stories, to even simply see their reactions to a colorful or aromatic plant is a special privilege. To help a stroke or arthritis patient regain pride as well as the use of a limb, to see the renewed meaning in life as they become responsible for a living thing is truly gratifying. We worked on the development of a special portable garden that is wheelchair friendly that is ideal for horticultural therapy programs.
Sharing the plants we grow, making dish gardens to serve as gifts for shut-ins or residents of a hospital or rehabilitation facility is a great way to feel worthy and of value. Prisoners in one facility in Maryland grow plants and make gift gardens for patients at a local hospital. Students at a school for the developmentally disabled grow plants to share with the seniors at a nearby nursing home.
Produce can also be shared. Students in an after school program in Jacksonville, Florida grew vegetables for a nearby soup kitchen. Residents of an assisted living center near Orlando, Florida took a weekly harvest of produce from their "community garden" to a food pantry.
Gardens can be planted as memorials, as a way to express and journey through grief. This can be a personal grief or a way of recognizing and honoring a shared tragedy such as the gardens that have been planted to commemorate the Challenger crash, the destruction of the World Trade Center or the garden at Hiroshima.
Gardens can also be planted to help us visualize great dreams. This is why we ask communities to plant and cultivate Community Peace Gardens. My wife Tomi Jill Folk and a dear and very talented friend, Miho Komatsu are working a new children’s book Peace in the Garden. This is the team that did such a great job with Miracle of the Moringa Tree, released 2011.