Written by: Will Sanders, SLU Dietetic Intern
Are you aware of the potential
benefits gardening has to offer? Gardening can provide more than just delicious
low cost organic produce. Gardening is a unique learning experience unlike any
other. Gardening has been an integral part of my life since I was a young
child. As a college graduate student and intern I have been utilizing the university’s
garden and gardens at local schools to educate children in the local community about
nutrition.
Growing up
Gardening has been a fundamental
part of my life since I was a young child throughout my years in high school. I
assisted my mother in building and maintaining our home garden beds during the
warm months. When I reminisce on those times, the fresh scent of mint and an
abundance of ripe tomatoes always come to mind.
A couple years following planting
mint in the ground, the plants multiplied so rapidly that they eventually took
up one third of the garden. My mothers’ favorite crop has always been tomatoes.
We grew a variety of different tomatoes in the garden, creating and testing new
trellises in an attempt to find the best method for growing tomatoes. The
plethora of mint and tomatoes available was utilized in the kitchen to make
dishes like tabbouleh and capris salads. These two dishes quickly became
favorites of mine (and they still are!). During the time spent with my mother
in the garden, I learned a lot about how to ensure garden crops flourish and how
to maintain and provide a bountiful harvest throughout the growing season. Picking
from the garden and utilizing our harvest to make unique, colorful, fresh, and
tasty meals allowed me to understand and embody the fruits of our labors, while
simultaneously learning basics of nutrition related to the growth of food.
Current experience(s)
While attending Saint Louis
University, I have lived in dorm rooms and apartments for the past 4-5 years
during my college and graduate studies. Although there are opportunities
throughout Saint Louis to continue gardening, my gardening and plant nurturing
experiences remained limited during these years. My experiences were primarily
isolated to working in my mothers garden during time spent at home while visiting
family and to a few plants I attempted to keep alive in my living spaces.
During graduate studies, my interest in gardening was reawakened when we began a project that focuses on educating grade and middle school students in the city of Saint Louis about nutrition and gardening. This project teaches kids about gardening and it’s benefits through short and fun nutrition education lesson with activities that my classmates and I designed. Our first lesson this semester covered garden basics, such as what plants need to grow and thrive. During this lesson we planted some seeds for the kids to watch grow throughout our coming lesson plans. At the end of the semester, the kids get the opportunity to try some of the produce they have been learning about and growing throughout the lessons during what we call “The Salad Party”!
The Benefits
There are many benefits to
gardening beyond the ability to eat what you grow. In fact, gardening can
benefit our mental health, reduce stress, teach us about nature, nutrition and
ourselves, and assist our wallets/purses. In modern times, there are many
distractions in a typical day of life. When we become consumed with
distractions around us, we can get stressed and out of touch with the present
moment and ourselves. Gardens can provide opportunities to calm our minds and
get in touch with our surroundings and selves.
To me, a garden is an escape from
the busy world and distractions around me. While in the garden, I am consumed
with the sights, sounds, and smells of the nature around me. While in the garden,
my focus does not deter to the stress and distractions I experience on a daily
basis. While in the garden, I am calm, content, engaged, and happy. Although I
will experience some distractions and stress though out the rest of the week,
these thoughts are absent in the garden.
As work is put into the garden, the
efforts of labor can be visually recognized, even when miniscule. Maintaining a
gardening space and assisting in the growth of plants is a satisfying process! If
you are like me and the before/after process of things is exciting to you, then
you will be amazed to see produce flourishing in what once appeared as a
unsustainable garden bed. There is so much to observe and learn regarding the
growth of different types of plants. The fruits of garden labor can be
physically embodied following the harvesting, meal preparation, and dinning
process
Start Gardening ASAP!
Gardening is an opportunity to
better understand food and ourselves, both of which are easy to become
disconnected from in modern times. I encourage you to begin gardening ASAP! I
have listed just a few benefits of gardening which I have had experience with.
I hope you can relate to and find these benefits and more during your garden future
endeavors! If you are in a city or do not think there is a suitable place
nearby to maintain a garden, consider searching for local garden beds/spaces
for rent, assisting a friend or family member with their garden, and/or indoor
growing options.
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