With Memorial Day weekend in our rear-view mirror, summer has unofficially started in Wisconsin. Summer is peak growing season for most vegetables, but it’s not too late to start a garden if you haven’t already! At the Workbench, gardening is one of our favorite forms of practicing creative wellness, so we put together a list of a few of the major benefits we personally notice from growing our own food! While most of these benefits apply specifically to outdoor, in-ground produce gardens, tending to decorative landscaping plants or an indoor garden can be similarly beneficial. Haven’t started a garden yet, or don’t have the space to? Not to worry – read all the way to the end for our top tips on how to start a garden late, and ideas for gardening indoors!
Seven Reasons We Love Gardening for Wellness
- Getting outside in fresh air – The first and potentially most obvious benefit of gardening is the daily opportunity to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Tending to a garden helps us get into the sun and synthesize more vitamin D, something most Americans don’t get enough of. This vitamin is energizing, good for the heart, and can help with depression. Gardening outdoors also tends to be a workout, full of bending, pulling, lifting, carrying, and a whole lot of sweating. Exercise increases energy levels, and boosts mood-boosting endorphins in the body. Couple that with some vitamin D and you’re sure to feel better after pulling weeds. Just don’t forget the SPF if you’re going to be spending an extended period of time in the sun!
- Dirt has immune-boosting properties – Playing in the dirt exposes us to beneficial microbes that we might not otherwise encounter if our day-to-day lives are spent mostly indoors. These microbes boost our gut microbiome, and in turn, help keep us from falling ill. This doesn’t mean you have to shove your bare hands into a pile of soil to reap the benefits. Even while wearing gardening gloves, most gardeners will tell you that dirt will find its way between your fingernails, up your arms, or into your hair. Don’t be afraid to get a little messy!
- Gardening provides the opportunity to take care of something – Many people cite plants as a key contributor to their mental health: having something to take care of reminds them to take care of themselves. Whether it’s houseplants (we hear this sentiment a lot at Clip’s Plant Markets!) or outdoors, tending to a life besides our own often helps improve our overall outlook. Each new leaf that unfurls and strawberry that ripens offers a little self-confidence boost.
- Grow your own food – One extra benefit gardening has over tending to houseplants is that you get to eat the plants you’ve tended to! There’s nothing like biting into a tomato fresh off the vine or roasting a red pepper you grew yourself. You’ll save on grocery bills and know exactly what went into each ingredient in your next salad. Besides the financial and physical health benefits, you’ll also get the satisfaction of seeing your hard work pay off in a delicious way.
- Gardening can be meditative – Repetitive acts like pulling weeds help to calm the mind and reconnect it with the body. Time often seems to slow or stop as we shift into a flow state, a state when we are able to focus easily without self-judgment or increasing frustration. If you’ve tried meditating in the past but found it impossible to focus, monotonous tasks like weeding, picking ripe fruits, or replanting seedlings might help to quiet any mental noise and bring you back to the present moment.
- Build community connection – Spending more time outside means more chances to interact with the neighbors and build a relationship with them. When gardening, you will often find yourself with too much of something (dirt, seeds, harvested veggies) and not enough of another (tools, pest control, tips, and tricks passed down for generations). Especially in the Midwest, neighbors are often eager to share what they have and trade what you have. Besides making conversation with the neighbors, gardening encourages community brainstorming. What do you do when your garden floods or your tomatoes don’t ripen before the season ends? Swapping strategies with other gardeners is not only a way to improve your garden and gardening abilities, but is a way to connect with other people with shared interests.
- Stress reduction – Most of the things on this list add up to a reduction in stress and an overall better outlook on life. When we have less stress, we are mentally and physically healthier. If you’re looking for new ways to lower stress levels (who isn’t?) this could be the year to give gardening a try!
Although it may be a little late in the season to start from seeds (most need to be sewn in early spring or even late winter), it’s not too late to grow a garden this year! Many nurseries, garden stores, and even grocery stores are selling small garden plants this time of year. Although these options might be more expensive than starting from seed, you’ll be starting with an established plant, which helps to take some of the guesswork out of the early stages. Choose one or two types of plants for a more budget, space, and beginner-friendly starting point. Or ask around! Chances are that a friend, or a friend of a friend, started seeds in February and is completely overrun with tiny plant babies. A bonus of getting seedlings from an acquaintance is that they’ll likely have some good tips for you, should you have any questions.
If outdoor space is an issue, you might consider growing an indoor garden. Herb gardens tend to do well indoors and make for flavorful dishes. Also consider a container garden or raised bed, which can be kept in places where digging up soil isn’t an option. If, after growing a small herb garden in your window or a few vegetables in a container garden outside, you find that you want to expand next year, Milwaukee has community garden plots available for rent throughout the city, with registration often starting in March or April. If starting your own garden seems like too big a commitment for this year, but you’d still like the mental and physical health benefits of tending to crops, consider helping a friend pull weeds, or volunteering with an existing community garden to get a taste of all that gardening has to offer.
Most importantly, don’t worry too much about whether your garden will ‘fail’ or not. Most experienced gardeners will also say some part of their garden doesn’t do well every year, but like anything, those failing times should be used as a learning experience. Did you overwater this plant? Was there not enough sun here? What kind of soil did you use? If your tomatoes died but your basil flourished then that is still a success! Learn from your experiences and continue to grow (pun intended).
Have you started a garden yet this year? We’d love to see it! Whether you’re already making progress or just decided to start one after reading this, tag us on Instagram @workbenchmke with your plant babies – be they decorative, vegetable, or indoor!
