Why you should get your hands in the dirt this summer

Gardening is without a doubt one of the easiest and most affordable ways to have a positive impact on your health and the planet this summer.

Isn't adulthood funny in that many of the activities we disliked as kids end up being hobbies that we love and appreciate as adults? Take gardening, for example. As a child I was excited by the fun parts of this activity, like going to Vanderwees (a local garden centre in Thunder Bay) with my mum to pick out the prettiest flowers, or collecting all of the worms out of the dirt in our backyard to make a worm farm in my bucket. But to be honest, I was usually more displeased by the not so fun parts of gardening, like the physical labour of weeding and tilling, and planting and watering, and more weeding.

My History with Gardening While my mother was the primary gardener at our Peter street residence, she gave me a small patch in the backyard along the deck, which quickly became my outdoor creativity station. My flower of choice was always pansies. I think it was something about the majestic hues of violet and lavender. I also found flowers to be far more enticing to plant over vegetables because of the colours and patterns on the pedals. And so, once I got past the tiresome work of weeding and tilling, (but really my mom did it all for me, let's be serious), I jumped head first into arranging and planting my small tray of flowers into the dark, moist earth. As the summer months would pass my flowers would bloom and wither, and my mom's plants would grow and produce colourful vegetables, and then by fall time we would magically have jars of pickles and pepper jellies, jams and tomato sauce, (pepper jelly and cream cheese on crackers = a snack straight from the gods). As I continued to grow older into my teen years, my time in our backyard garden grew shorter. Reflecting back on it now, I’m surprised that I didn’t realize earlier all of the great things that gardening has to offer, like getting exercise outside, connecting with nature, or embracing food sustainability and sovereignty. But as I've learned and continue to learn, some things don’t fully bloom until later in life. When I finally moved out on my own in my early twenties, I finally saw the benefits of gardening: “We need to start composting immediately!” I declared to my boyfriend who I was living with at the time, "And we need a rain barrel too!" I had never been so excited to get my hands in the soil of our backyard.

Six years later and I still find myself coming back to the dirt each spring, as though I've caught some kind of contagious gardening bug that I can't get rid of; however, while sitting down to write about the numerous reasons I love gardening, I see that it's not such a bad bug to have caught. Here are my top 7 reasons for gardening each spring/summer, and 7 great reasons you should start if you haven't already:

1. Gardening is good for your body and your mind. This first reason shouldn't come as much of a surprise. ​Gardening requires physical effort and is therefore a good form of outdoor exercise that can help you burn calories, reduce high blood pressure and improve your cardiovascular health. In addition to the physical benefits, getting outside in the sunshine is good for combatting anxiety, depression and other forms of mental illness. If you adopt a green thumb you can help decrease your stress levels and improve your mood! Read more on health benefits here.

2. Gardening helps you eat better with fresh organic food. When you grow your own food you get to know exactly what goes into it, meaning no added pesticides or fertilizers, (which is also great for the planet). Also, as your plants and vegetables grow you'll get to harvest your food when they're at their peak, or in their purest, freshest and most nutritional form. If you garden you'll likely be more excited to eat more fruits and vegetables too, because is there truly anything better tasting than a tomato straight off the vine? (#amirite)

3. Gardening helps to reduce food miles and helps the bees. Planting a backyard garden is the ultimate way to reduce food miles down to 0 (the distance that food has traveled from producer to your plate), which helps to fight against climate change and helps reduce food packaging and waste. Similarly, when you create a backyard garden you help bees and other pollinating insects in your area thrive and survive, and we all know that bees are crucial for our survival! Read more on the importance of bees here.

4. Gardening allows you to be creative and take pride in your hard work. When you create a garden you get to create something that is all your own. You will get to be imaginative in how you organize your plants and flowers, but it will also require many hours of labour and thoughtful care. Your masterpiece will be complete when you cultivate the crops, which I can promise is the most rewarding part, (dinner nights with fresh green beans or fresh beet tops will make you very proud and happy).

5. Gardening allows you to build relationships with family, friends or your community. I love gardening now for the same reason I enjoyed it as a child: because of the quality time I get to spend with people I love, like my mom, or my aunts, boyfriend and friends. Gardening is a great tool for socializing, bonding and passing skills and knowledge on to others. For instance, when I joined a community garden plot in years previous, it was a great way to spend time with busy friends, and to meet some new people who gladly shared their own gardening tips and stories with me.

6. Gardening teaches you food sovereignty and challenges the status-quo. I once read that gardening is one of the most important political acts we can do to challenge our corporate-dominated, industrial food system, and I couldn't agree more. In a world flooded with health problems and shelves loaded with processed, nutrient-void foods, learning how to grow your own healthy food from the ground up is one of the best things you can do for your own personal independence and health. Gardening allows you to take food production into your own hands and fight back against many of the inequalities and injustices created by large-scale agriculture. Read more on how gardening is a political act here.

7. Gardening connects you to the natural world.

And the last reason I love gardening is another fairly obvious one to me: gardening connects you to mother nature! When you get outside, and you put your hands in the dirt and help plants grow, you really are reminded of the cycles and seasons that govern us all. Nature teaches us patience, because everything within it requires time and love to grow and blossom. There is no doubt that a garden is one of the best cures to our fast-paced, social-media driven world. Start a garden and you'll know what I'm talking about! If you don't have the space in your backyard to start your own garden plot, you can look into joining a community garden in your neighbourhood, starting a balcony garden, creating a doorstep planter, or even exploring backyard sharing programs, which is how I scored my amazing garden plot this summer in Toronto. Happy gardening season everyone! Let me know in the comments if you also love to garden and why! :)

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