by Erin Thompson, Garden Director
It’s not too late to start a garden! Gardening has some amazing health benefits:
- Home Grown Self-Esteem – It always feels good to accomplish new tasks, and if you can grow a garden, what can’t you do?
- Heart Health – You’re burning calories and strengthening your heart when you’re out in the garden.
- Gardening Reduces Stress – Stress is a HUGE health risk, so this benefit of gardening is a big deal.
- Happiness in the Dirt – Studies suggest that inhaling M. vaccae, a healthy bacteria that lives in soil, can increase levels of serotonin and reduce anxiety.
- You’ll Sleep Better – Light activity associated with gardening can help you sleep better at night.
- Improved Hand Strength – All that digging, planting, and pulling keep your hands and fingers as strong as possible for as long as possible.
- Family Health – Gardening has special benefits for kids, early exposure to dirt has been linked to all kinds of long-term health benefits, from reducing allergies to autoimmune diseases.
- Growing Food for Financial Health – To save the most cash by growing your own produce, grow vegetables that are expensive to buy and vegetables that you can easily store or preserve by canning, freezing, dehydrating, or pickling.