The recent pandemic left us thinking of new ways to spend time in a productive way. Some people started learning a new language or attending online skills courses. What I ended up doing was something I have never tried before, and it was – (home) gardening. I had a interest in it thanks to watching a lemon tree growth time-lapse video that appeared among YouTube suggestions, followed by a video on how to grow chickpeas from the seed.
To this the moment of writing this blog post I already managed to harvest the first vegetables (kohlrabi and radish). Seeing the first results gave me a huge motivation boost to continue working on my garden. I believe investing time in growing plants provides a lot of space for personal growth and positive impact in general. In the next paragraphs we will explore more the benefits of home gardening.
Home gardening during the pandemic
How many times you thought “Oh, I would love to do X if only I had more spare time”? The same thoughts were prevalent among people who wanted to try home gardening, but never did. This change in motivation happened thanks to the isolation and a significant increase in time spent home. According to Reuters, there is a rise in seed demand across continents (e.g. by 20-30% in Russia). Those who could not purchase seeds wanted to know how to extract them from the vegetables bought in supermarkets.
The ‘pandemic gardening’ may be driven by a need to solve the food security issues and to secure the self-sufficiency. Other than the ‘survival’ perspective, home gardening may lead to a variety of positive effects during the pandemic. People started being more interested in how the food they eat actually grows.
One way of learning and sharing collective knowledge was through community gardens, which also keep growing through COVID 19 outbreak. Some parents also started using home gardens as an educational personal growth project for their children. In the times of pandemic, having your own source of vegetables may help save money and reduce trips to grocery store.
Gardening and its health benefits
Planting and growing your own food has several benefits on your health – both physical and mental. One of the most clear benefits is having full control over what products and chemicals are used throughout the growing process. With the right research there are numerous sites containing manuals and tutorials for creating eco-friendly fertilizers and pesticides.
This can ensure that by consuming the fruits, herbs and vegetables we will not consume the unknown chemicals as well. Other gardening benefits for physical health include lower blood pressure and healthier eating habits. Gardening is a way of moderate-intensity exercise – according to CDC an average person uses 330 calories in an hour of light gardening. Sounds like a good motivation to me.
When it comes to mental health, for many this kind of activity simply provides enjoyment. From the personal experience, I can clearly recall the feelings of delight and achievement each time I observed the change in the plants growth and development. As gardening was something I never did before, I could and still am noticing its positive impact on my growth mindset. It also helped me understand how patience is a virtue.
When it comes to researches on the relation between mental health and gardening, there are some clear findings. In the meta-analysis research by Soga et al (2017) they found a positive association between gardening and a variety of health outcomes. Some of them included: reductions in stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression, and increases in quality of life and cognitive function.
Environmental impact of home gardening
I believe gardening is one of the best ways of how human kind learned to communicate with nature. No matter what our motivation for starting a garden is, there is a great potential for the environmental positive impact. One if the most important ones is that it reduces the carbon footprint. Let’s think of how many kilometers the vegetable we buy in the store had to pass before reaching us. In addition to transport related CO2 emissions, we have to pack the food specifically.
With home grown fruits, herbs and vegetables we can significantly cut the transportation and ‘food miles’ of our meals. In addition, the more plants we plant and grow, the more carbon dioxide will be absorbed by them. Still, the carbon footprint is not decreasing in cases when using synthetic fertilizers or drinking water supplies. Another issue that growing locally can help reducing is food waste. When we grow vegetables, herbs and fruits on our window, balcony or yard, we are more likely to avoid spoilage.
Will you try home gardening?
Gardening provides us with constant learning opportunities. Having in mind its positive impact on the personal and environmental levels, it is worth all the effort. No matter if we plant a single vegetable plant and place the pot on our window, or we plant several cultures on the 3×3 dimension backyard – it all counts. Since the green color has a soothing effect, why not using the plants and flowers to beautify the balconies?
If you want to learn how to start, “Farm the City” is a great example to look for. This project may help you better understand how to grow the crops in the urban spaces. With all new information in mind, what will be your next step? How will you use gardening as a tool for personal growth?