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Superior, AZ – Gardening is scientifically proven to be good for us. To speak of it in that frame of mind, there would be mention of cortisol, stress reduction, training one’s mind to pay attention and other such, which cannot and should not be discounted as truths. All it takes is a quick Google search to find a plethora of information on the well-studied and proven benefits of gardening.
According to emerald insight, studies which evaluated the benefits of gardening-based interventions for adults who are experiencing mental health issues showed reduced symptoms of both anxiety and depression. While Rasmussen College offers a list of ‘7 Practical perks of gardening with kids’, which includes the fact that, when it comes to healthy eating, ‘.. the positive effect a sun-warmed strawberry has on your little ones will continue to ripple through their lives.”
Gardening is a touchstone to history, in most cultures and all countries, for both health and beauty. During both World Wars, the Western World gardened for the sake of feeding families, supporting troops and to feed the needy. The largest war garden in the United States of America was created in the Copper Corridor. In gardening, there can be thrifty household management, patriotic duty, State pride, entertainment, nobility and charity. These are also truths.
All these are good reasons to garden, and worthy of looking into and considering. Yet they are, in the majority, reasons based on cold fact and public duty and do not speak to the reasons why gardening lessens stress and does so much good in the very immediate acts of engaging in it.
Gardening is primal. It is nature. It is a gentle, relaxing, meditative assault on our senses. It is sight, sound, touch, smell, thinking ability, hunting, gathering, engaging in the knowing of our secret selves, reaching out to God in thankfulness and sharing our lives with others.
We are made to touch the earth, to feel the plants. We are meant to smell well-watered earth and plants throbbing with burgeoning life. They need us. We need them. This is who we are as a species. It doesn’t matter what color we are, and it certainly doesn’t matter what color they are. We literally breathe for plants and they return the favor. All of us.
It doesn’t matter if you are conscious of this need, in the here and now. Nor does it matter if you only want to garden out of loneliness or to be fed. Any reason that gets your hands into the earth is a good reason to start. Once you begin, you will reap the benefits, from brain, to nerves, from spine to toe and sole to soul.
Would you like to take your part in this natural, nourishing activity? Join in and be a part of a community garden in Superior, taking your place in the community and in history, like so many have before you.
Rebuild Superior is heading up a community garden project and is looking for volunteers to help get it set up. There will be assembling of the garden beds, making steps from railroad ties leading down a slope in the yard, filling the beds with organic soil, and planting and reaping the benefits from the garden. They have the materials ready. What they need is you!
Rebuild Superior, Inc. is an all volunteer organization designed to help the community. The produce from the garden will be shared by the people who work on it. It’s a great way to be involved in the community and to get fresh food, all in one.
For more information on joining this project, call Leanne Taylor at 520-342-7307. She’ll call you back so can explore the possibilities.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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