| “There’s an additional, less tangible benefit from gardening—a centering and grounding that calms the spirit. In an age when electronic and electromagnetic waves are everywhere around us, there is in all of us a deep and often unrecognized need for grounding and stability.” |
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| Many years ago, I visited my parents’ home while on a semester break from college. It was a time (perhaps you can recall such a period in your life) when I was feeling quite frazzled and stressed. My dad, bless him, sized up the situation immediately, took me outside, put a shovel in my hand, and showed me how to dig a small vegetable bed by the side of the house. We had never grown vegetables before, but somehow he knew (calling up memories from his own childhood) that putting my hands in the soil was exactly what I needed. He was right. I started to feel better immediately. It’s the father-son memory I cherish most.
Perhaps you’ll decide to start a vegetable garden because you want the kind of tasty tomatoes or cucumbers that you never can find in the store. Perhaps you’ll do it out of your commitment to the environment. Perhaps to demonstrate to yourself a renewed desire to eat more nutritious foods. Maybe it’ll be the exercise that motivates you. Or the fresh air and sunshine, or the craving for an activity where you can be fully present in the now. Maybe all of the above.
To create a society that can be sustainable for many generations, we’ll need many more people in suburbs and cities to join those in rural areas in growing some of their own vegetables. This will provide a 21st century equivalent of the “victory gardens” of the World War II era. Perhaps this time around we’ll call them “homeland security gardens.” Or “sustainability gardens” or “save the planet gardens.” Whatever name we choose, we’ll need them for the future health of our nation and our world.
If you’ve got even a small sliver of ground where the sun shines several hours a day, give it a try. If not, you can start by growing a few vegetable or herb seedlings in pots on a deck or patio. Get some soil from a local garden shop, follow the directions that come with the seeds or seedlings, and remember to water. You don’t have to over-think this. Like they say in those athletic shoe ads, “Just do it.”
Daniel Redwood, DC, is the Editor-in-Chief of Health Insights Today. |
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