We are at the leading edge of a new trend by those ditching big-city living in favor of less densely populated areas.
Many folks who visit the garden center this spring are seeking their first experience with plants. I’ve asked these new gardeners what compels them to the garden. They say the current economic and health scare turned them into wannabe gardeners ready to try their hands at growing food.
In research for this article, a quote from WebMD caught my attention: “Take advantage of the gym growing right outside your front door.” Now, Watters Garden Center never thought we were in competition with local fitness centers, but it’s a natural transition. People who say gyms closed by a COVID-19 scare have sparked a robust interest in the health benefits the garden provides with fresh air and physical activity.
The WebMD article, “Get Fit in the Garden,” reads: “Gardening is a good way to whittle down your waistline. Thirty minutes of garden exercise (for a 180-pound person) burns calories from activities like planting seedlings – 162 calories, weeding -182 calories and general gardening – 202 calories.”
An article on GardeningKnowHow.com entitled “Garden Fitness: Learn About Exercise In The Garden” states, “Gardening contributes to healthy living. Approximately 300 calories an hour are burned just by gardening. You burn calories and have a beautiful landscape to show for it.”
When practiced regularly, gardening may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol level, and may help prevent diabetes, heart disease, depression and osteoporosis.
A New Trend: Migration Back to Rural Areas
We are at the leading edge of a new trend by those ditching big-city living in favor of less densely populated areas. There is an intensified desire for garden knowledge that comes with this migration. As we’ve seen this spring, the importance of herbs, vegetables, fruits and farm-related products is a recurring trend. We may even revisit the strategies for homesteading in the coming season! This is an excellent opportunity for renewed interest in and expansion of the Yavapai 4-H and FFA programs. The 4-H Pledge may well be attractive to the next generation.
Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klien, M.D., shares these fascinating thoughts in her recent article, “The Dirt Cure.” “Our connection to plants, the soil and nature has been with us since the beginning of our existence. It is part of our DNA. During stressful times, gardening and getting our hands in the soil can be just what’s needed. What I have learned is that ultimately, it all begins with dirt. Dirt means exposure to microbes, eating fresh food from healthy soil and spending time in nature.
“Instead of letting children get dirty, we have sanitized them. We’ve sanitized their bodies with antibiotics and hand sanitizer, their homes and schools with bleach, their food with pesticides, and their very lives by living more indoors. This is a problem because the bio-terrain inside our bodies is connected intricately to the eco-terrain outside our bodies.”
Dr. Shetreat-Klien goes on to say, “We are part of a super-organism that includes microbes around and inside us, the food we eat and the elements of nature: sun, soil, water, air and plants. Whether through their presence or absence, these elements are in constant conversation with our bodies’ guts, immune systems and brains. Most of us don’t think about soil or think of it as irrelevant to modern life. But we couldn’t be more wrong. Soil plays a profound role in our health and happiness. Indeed, the health of our inner terrain, the internal environment of our bodies, reflects the health of our outer terrain, i.e., the world around us.”
The doctor details many fascinating benefits of “playing in the dirt” in topics like better nutrition, fewer allergies, more phytonutrients, better focus and memory, antidepressant effects, clean food and water, less stress, better sleep, reduced inflammation and more!
Until the next issue, I’ll be helping locals garden healthier here at Watters Garden Center. QCBN
By Ken Lain
Ken Lain can be found throughout the week at Watters Garden Center, 1815 W. Iron Springs Road in Prescott or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or Top10Plants.com.
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