Gardening for Health
@belindayhughes (1096)
United States
January 31, 2013 11:58am CST
Gardening is great for your health. It gets you outside in the sunshine and fresh air, which together give you oxygen and help your body manufacture vitamins. In order to garden effectively, you have to lift, carry, kneel, bend, reach and pull. All these movements are exercise, which burns calories, increases circulation and balances blood pressure and breathing. Gardening is also proven to relieve stress and ease depression. Some nursing homes have gardening programs for all these reasons and more. They help keep residents healthy and give them something to look forward to and enjoy each day. It's also healthy to talk to your garden plants. This gives them carbon dioxide, which plants need. In return, they exude oxygen, which humans need. Not to mention that, when crops are ready to harvest, you get to eat herbs, fruits and vegetables that you grew yourself. That benefits the gardener in more ways. First, that you know how they were grown, hopefully without pesticides or artificial ripening chemicals. Second, the pride that you have in having grown your own food produces endorphines, which improve your health in every respect. Commercially, endorphine drugs can be costly. Gardening is a much less expensive and more natural and beneficial way to have them. Gardening is just plain good for you in so many ways.
5 people like this
11 responses
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
1 Feb 13
unless you are allergic to bugs and dirt and who's father was allergic to sunshine! who is also got other medical problems...
Or you can't bear bright light and might as well be totally blind when outside.
There you have 2 of the 3 people in my house and the 3rd IS totally blind with other health issues...
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63594)
• United States
1 Feb 13
did I ever mention I have cats... lots of cats... the two in my avatar are just a couple of them... the white eared one is having a minor surgery 2-1-13 and the kitten is now all grown up and hurt his paw yesterday in a cat fight - silly cat!
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
What a fascinating family you have. Wishing your cats gentle and speedy healing.
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, Elic, and thank you for your interesting response. Perhaps sprouting seeds in jars indoors and soil-less air plants like bromeliads inside of glass terrariums could be ideas worth exploring for your family. Just a thought. take or leave it as you wish.
2 people like this
@allknowing (136368)
• India
1 Feb 13
I fully agree with all the points that you have mentioned that cater to healthy living. I am an ardent gardener and in fact I shifted to a rural setting just to be with nature. Every inch of space that I have excluding the paths is covered with flowering bushes, shrubs, fruit trees, creepers. There is a birdbath that attracts birds. I have a passion for photography which keeps me merrily on my toes capturing everything that is worth recording.
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Wow, allknowing, you have certainly hit the jackpot of gardening for health, and I wholeheartedly applaud you! I looked at your picture, and you have accomplished a great deal more than I have so far. Your garden is absolutely stunning! Wish I could visit it someday. I'll definitely be consulting you for ideas.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (136368)
• India
1 Feb 13
I go for easy to maintain and the perennial kind. Seasonal flowers involve a lot of work and one needs to do something at all times so that the place where they grow is not kept empty. I avoid that. Thanks for your appreciation.
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Great pointers, allknowing! Enjoy the gardening for exercise yet keep it simple, not stressful.
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
31 Jan 13
I agree with you 100% in everything you mentioned. I love gardening but unfortunately I'm in an apartment right now so I cannot garden at all. I do buy houseplants and herbs and that's about the jest of it.
I started gardening when I was 6 years old, back in the 1950s. First it was just planting some small seeds or bulbs for my grandmother in the yard. Then, we were able to have our own garden plots at my elementary school, which I did up until I was leaving to go to the seventh grade. We're talking a long time ago, lol! I learned how to prepare the soil, make the little ditches, plant the seeds, weed, water, and harvest. We received stars weekly for our work with the blue star being the best job. Plus, we would get rewarded at the end of the year with small amounts of money but seemed like a million bucks to us at that age.
Also towards the end of the year, we would have a contest to see what character we could make out of our vegetables and win ribbons for them.
The very last of the year was called Garner's Day and everyone in the neighborhood could come and take whatever vegetables were left...free. This helped feed many families back then.
I miss doing all of it. I did have gardens when my kids were growing up too. 
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
31 Jan 13
Hello, Kashmere's mom/dad, it's nice to meet you. You've had quite a long gardening life. Your school's program sounds like a wonderful thing. Today's schools could probably put some of those ideas to use. The special ed department I taught in got the first special ed garden in our district during my term there. Thie kids absolutely loved it. But we weren't allowed to sell or give produce to families for liability reasons. Community gardens to benefit surrounding neighborhoods are a growing trend, according to the increasing number of stories I'm seeing in the news. That's a good thing. Perhaps you'd be interested in vertical gardening and mini plants for your apartment. They're hot trends right now, for many people share your circumstances. Friend and message me, and I'll be glad to send you more details about them.
2 people like this
@Kashmeresmycat (6369)
• United States
1 Feb 13
I never sold any of the vegetables I grew..we weren't allowed to do that and I actually never even thought about it. We were just learning about nature and how to grow things. We also had a front row of flowers..zinnia's I believe since they're so easy to grow.
Things were much different back then in the 50s/60s in comparison to todays world. We all helped each other...maybe in small ways, but it still was helping, so there was no liability as in todays world.
I just don't have the sunlight for a vertical garden or even any type of vegetable plants. I do have a couple of herbs though...Rosemary and Basil but it's hard for them to just get through the winter months. So far, so good though. Thanks for letting me know about them though, but I'm positive they wouldn't work.
2 people like this
@lindsiko (355)
• United States
1 Feb 13
I agree, gardening is great! I didn't know that nursing homes had gardening programs for the residents. I think that's a great idea and probably brings a lot of joy to elderly people. My parents always plant a big garden and we all come home to help them harvest it. Last year it was especially big and we ended up freezing a lot of the harvest for later use. It's great!
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, lindsiko, nice to meet you. Yes, horticulture therapy and gardening for exercise programs are very popular with nursing homes and retirement communities for active seniors. It's great that your parents are still such active gardeners. That will probably make aging a much more comfortable experience for them. It certainly brings the family around to visit, which is great fun and good for the heart, as well as passing along a tradition of gardening for exercise. I hope it leads to a healthy happy longevity for your entire family.
@giggles721 (275)
• Philippines
1 Feb 13
I like gardening as well and it gives a different kind of satisfaction. I've only tried plants that are used for landscaping. Some people think that just by putting a plant in the soil and water them makes them grow but it's a little complicated than that. You need to think like a parent for them. Like choosing the right spot for the type of plant that grows upward or spreads on the ground. If the roots will get enough water. Combining or placing plants to make it look beautiful once they grow or bloom. It's a hobby that I don't mind getting sweaty and dirty because at the end of it I get to look at my garden everyday with a feeling of contentment.
2 people like this
@giggles721 (275)
• Philippines
2 Feb 13
That's nice, I didn't know that. I'll check out some of his paintings and maybe get inspired by it.
1 person likes this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
2 Feb 13
Monet was a world class gardener and is best known for his studies of water lilies and garden benches at Giverny, his country home. He created it into an artist colony, always inviting friends over to paint, relax, cook and eat. One of my favorite books about him is Monet's Kitchen. the French Country interior design theme, which celebrates the garden, is very much his style.
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, giggles, and thank you for your wonderful response. You think about gardening like the great French Impressionist painter, Monet. He planted his gardens at Giverny always toward the scenes he would eventually paint.
1 person likes this
@skyandgrassplot (1497)
• China
1 Feb 13
Gardening really can do many good things for people,so I am very envy those people can have a own garden by themself.As for me,that is unbelievable because I even can not buy a flat in my city,and if I want a garden I need to buy a villa but that is impossible because the cheapest villa in my city will cost more that 1 million USD,so may be have my own garden just a dream for me.
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, skyandgrass, and thank you for sharing. It's so sad that you cannot have your own garden now. Perhaps one day, you might find a community garden you can join and work there alongside neighbors, sharing responsibilities and results. Or you could search "guerilla gardening" and "seed bombs," which I only recently learned about. They're a funny way to garden in the city.
1 person likes this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, ajithlal, nice to see you again. That's wonderful that you garden for exercise. Roses in particular require careful maintenance, which is fun exercise. What are jamanthies? I'd love to see pictures of your garden, it sounds beautiful. Friend and message me, and I'll send you the link I found for a device that cleans the thorns from roses easily. I have nothing to do with the company, just thought you might like to know about it.
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
1 Feb 13
I also think that it is good to do gardening. Gardening helps to keep the whole environment with fresh air and also green looks. I am also thinking of starting gardening in the future. I think it is good to grow garden in one's own home. I am thinking of doing terrace gardening right now.
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, ajithlal, and thanks for the nice response. The green look is definitely in, as is terrace gardening. Maybe you could start with a few hanging bags that you just pour the soil in, water, press in seeds or plants and hang up in the sunshine. It's inexpensive, low maintenance and generally yields well. What gardening experience do you have?
1 person likes this
@youless (112481)
• Guangzhou, China
1 Feb 13
I agree with you that the gardening is a very healthy exercises. Especially when you look at the plants grow well because of your care, your will feel satisfactory and happy to it. And having a good mood is essential to the good health
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, youless, long time, no see. Hope all is well with you and yours. The satisfaction of seeing your gardening results is indeed worth the effort and patience. It's also been said that taking care of living things, as in gardening, benefits your outlook. The Ancient Romans knew what they were talking about: "Anime Sano In Corpore Sano" = "Healthy Mind In a Healthy Body." That wisdom is still in use thousands of years later with simple healthy exercises like gardening, which they also did.
1 person likes this
@jambi462 (4576)
• United States
1 Feb 13
I love gardening and have experienced many of the benefits from it as I have been doing it on my own for the past three years. My mom would garden when I was younger too and when we had a little bit more property when me and my little brother were young we grew some things. Now I am trying to grow more and more produce each year. My ultimate goal in life is to be able to start my own ranch where I can begin to give food away to those that need help.
Unfortunately I live in northern Michigan and we have winter and colder months for about three fourths of the year. This really limits what I can grow and how long I can grow food. This is a big factor in why I want to move to a warmer climate, that way I will be able to grow more things all year round.
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hi, jambi, and thanks for joining in. It's great that gardening is part of your family's heritage, and that you want to return to your roots. Northern Michigan, huh? For now, may I suggest sprouting lids and Mason jars in a sunny window? That's a simple, low maintenance, high yield way to garden and get maximum nutrition, as well. The lid sets are less than $10 for three progressive sizes. Both the rinse water and sprouts are exceptionally high in vitamins. They give you instant energy without nervousness or bloating.
As for moving to a southern clime, many others are doing the same thing, according to census reports. For the ranch hunt, please friend and message me for a link to a really great site where you can probably find what you're looking for. Not promoting, just sharing info. I also would suggest "crowdfunding" to help you raise money for your project to feed the hungry. In addition, you might want to consider "community gardening," which is growing in popularity. Search the words for awesome results.
1 person likes this
@randomarts09 (1405)
• Indonesia
1 Feb 13
Yeah, I agree that gardening is healthy. This one hobby that requires physical activity is quite high. You have to dig the soil, fruit picking, hoeing the ground, or raised flower pots. The physical act is quite tiring. However, if done regularly can burn your calories significantly. Gardening same as doing exercise burns calories so it is good for your health. Gardeners also can reduce a person's stress level. After completing a full day or a week full of busyness and stress, it would be nice to come home and start gardening at the end of the day or on weekends. Gardening activities can serve as stress relievers, pain and frustration. Furthermore, while waiting for plants to germinate and flower buds, it will help someone exercise patience and look forward with positive thoughts.
2 people like this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
1 Feb 13
Hello, randomarts, nice to meet you. Thanks for the lovely post, well said. While waiting, there is always something to do, like cleaning tools, recycling empty pots, restocking soil amendments and checking moisture levels. All of these involve movement and work, which is gardening for exercise.
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