Why gardening is simply what the physician ordered

By Jane Gates

Signal Staff Writer

Gardening can be a fun hobby or a way to make our home look more attractive. To cut our water bills and help the environment, we’ve set up our landscapes to keep our homes cleaner and more comfortable. Some of us dive into gardening to support the local wildlife or use the garden to expand their living space for fun and entertainment. We have even rediscovered the old-fashioned joy, convenience, and superior taste of growing our own fruits and vegetables.

However, did you know that gardening is also one of the best things you can do for your health?

Last year in particular, we have been so focused on indoor living and technology. We ignore that our lifestyle is not good for our health. Sitting in front of your computer, laptop, or iPad for hours at work, lazing over a cell phone, or lazing around in front of the TV is bad for your body or those of your family.

You can definitely get a gym membership or sign up for active hiking or exercise classes. You may even manage to attend some of them. However, when you go out into the garden, there are no subscription fees, nor do you have to fight the traffic to go anywhere. They can actually improve the way you look and feel while enhancing your living space in every way – including increasing your property value.

Try to get involved in the country that surrounds you. You will be surprised at the changes gardening can bring to your health. Here are just a few of the benefits your doctor – and you – may notice when it’s time for a checkup.

Would you like to reduce
on injuries?

Gardening strengthens, stretches and gives muscles and bones more flexibility. You can grow, weed, and dig a lot more plants than many home exercises. When you’re busy being productive, time feels well spent rather than compulsory and boring.

What about less sickness?

Gardening will increase blood flow, oxygenate and strengthen your organs, and help you fight off infections – especially during cold and flu seasons. But you won’t think about building your resistance because you’re too distracted enjoying the birds, butterflies, sunshine and focusing on your outdoor project.

Achy and sore?

Vitamin D deficiency is often a culprit responsible for the fatigue, pain, and a whole host of symptoms that cause suffering these days. You can buy nutritional supplements to help, or you can enjoy working outdoors and letting natural sunshine help you build your own vitamin D cure! Winter offers some of the most comfortable temperatures for outdoor work in Santa Clarita.

Are you feeling a little depressed?

Believe it or not, there are beneficial organisms in the soil that are released when you dig in your yard. A beneficial fungus called Mycobacterium Vaccae stimulates the body to produce more serotonin and has the same effect as taking an antidepressant! It just doesn’t have any bad side effects. And it’s free! Being active outdoors gives you fresh air and increases blood flow, which sharpens your thinking skills and helps you feel better.

Do you like food that is aromatic and rich in vitamins?

Growing fruits and vegetables is not all fun and good exercise. Because fresh foods lose nutrients immediately after being harvested, home grown foods have more flavor and nutrients than anything you can buy.

Planting your own food also allows you to grow tasty treats that are difficult to find or expensive to buy, like allspice peppers, purple carrots, asparagus peas, or black radishes. Herbs and spices are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Grow your own and they can be available fresh whenever you cook, bake, or need a quick, natural cure from herbal remedies. Many help with digestion.

Do you want to lose extra pounds and show muscle?

Try digging, planting, pruning, and carrying containers of soil or water. Gardening offers a wide variety of exercises to keep your body in tip-top shape. Then you can show off your healthy looking body to anyone you want to impress. And you can look great in the latest fashion for men or women. Especially in the coming spring and summer!

Do you want to bring the family together?

Gardening is a great way to get the whole family involved in a project that you can do together. Introducing children to the larger view of life can help them find a strong sense of worth, belonging, and connectivity that empowers them for a life of growth and challenge. And there are many jobs that give seniors new energy and purpose.

Gardening is one of the most basic ways a family can work and play together. This is a great way to relieve stress and open up communication. Nothing is healthier than the strong sense of belonging that part of a family offers – your family, a family of friends and neighbors, or Mother Nature’s family, to which we all belong.

Now that you’ve just seen some of the benefits of gardening for good health, you can see why this is the cheapest, easiest, and most fun way to feel good about yourself. Ironically, it’s exactly what the doctor has ordered for thousands of years.

As we deal with timing issues and technology, we’ve forgotten some of the best and easiest ways to heal and stay healthy. Gardening is high on the list and can be done almost anywhere – including the windowsill or balcony of a small apartment. Now is the perfect time to start. Are you ready?

For more information about gardening in the Santa Clarita Valley, visit Jane Gates on YouTube at https: // you
tube.com/user/Janieg8s.