Gardens are a strange thing. Those who have them often take them for granted, and spend little if any time there at all. Those who don’t have them often pine after them, and daydream about all the awesome things they’d do with their garden if they actually had one.
With research showing that people who spend more time in nature — or, at the very least, outside with some plants around them — have better health outcomes and mood scores on average, it seems pretty clear that if you do have a garden, you’d be doing yourself a major disservice by not using it, and getting the most out of it.
So, if you’re just looking for a bit of extra motivation to spend time in your garden, here are some reasons that you might find compelling.
It can make you more autonomous
One of the great benefits of gardening is… well, gardening. In other words, planting fruit and vegetables, harvesting them, and then eating them. It’s one of the great, eternal pastimes of humanity, and it can certainly make you more autonomous.
By growing your own produce, you equip yourself to be less dependent on the wider social food system. That might not immediately seem like much, but in an age when so many of us are completely overwhelmed by the sense that we are not truly the masters of our own destiny, it’s nothing to sniff at. Simply feeling like you’re more in control of your life can radically increase your sense of wellbeing
Of course, this particular benefit of increasing your sense of autonomy, does not only depend on your ability to plant vegetables. There are plenty of other things you can do in your garden, or with your garden, that can help you to enjoy this deep and meaningful sense of autonomy.
For example, you could buy a water tank from Clark Tanks, and could then collect and store rainwater, which would in turn make you that much more independent in terms of your water supply.
It’s a great way to get out of your own head and do something tangible
Sometimes, we can all get lost in our own thoughts and feel that we have no real connection to the outside world.
This happens especially often when we have fallen into some kind of a slump in life.
Getting busy in the garden, whether in the form of gardening itself, or through doing outdoor DIY projects, is an excellent way of engaging physically with the world around us, and of getting out of our own mental funk and rebuilding our confidence.
Making things grow is one of those simple pleasures that can make you feel better about life
If you’ve been feeling down about life recently, there are a few things that can uplift you and give you a sense of renewed well-being, as much as making things grow, and seeing the benefits of your work, through gardening.
Growing things in the garden is the perfect metaphor for effort being rewarded in any area of life.
First there is nothing, then you put in some work, then you literally reap the rewards of your labours
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