JULES HOEPTING
Design Editor
Study after study has shown gardening is good for the brain and the body. And in a time of unprecedented stressors, finding ways to keep yourself healthy is essential.
So, why not pat some seeds into some dirt?
Growing and eating your own food has proven to harvest beautiful benefits.
Not only does growing produce provide easy access to healthy, delicious food — which has been linked to healthier eating habits — but it also provides a boost of serotonin.
That means by touching soil, you can get a natural dose of an antidepressant and an immune system strengthener.
In fact, an abundance of studies have shown gardening of any kind is an instant mood-booster, as gardening activities release dopamine, the feel-good hormone.
Now, you may be thinking, “That’s great and all, but I don’t have the space for a garden.”
You probably do.
When you think of a garden, you probably envision a plot of land in someone’s backyard with produce popping out of the ground. And although that is the reality for many gardens, gardens can come in lots of different forms.
Plants have an inspiring ability to adapt and can grow almost anywhere. Thus, as long as you have the three special ingredients — water, sunlight and soil — you can grow a garden.
That windowsill in your dorm? Load it up with plants in pots and you’ve got a garden.
That small deck on your apartment? Put a bunch of pots with plants on it and you’ve got a garden.
Lacking floor space? Create a vertical garden — a series of shelves dedicated to plants.
And gardens do not have to grow food, either; if you wish to grow fabulous flowers or fragrant herbs, you can still be a gardner. Who needs candles or plug-in-the-wall air fresheners when you can just sniff your plants?
To further fertilize the pot, being around all that oxygen is good for your work. Studies have shown being around plants can increase memory retention up to 20 percent.
Work completed in an environment with plants tends to be of better quality than work completed in an environment lacking any nature. After all, we are respiration-based living beings meant to be around photosynthetic living beings, not bodies of cells meant for concrete cubicle cells.
So don’t dwell long on the matter, and plant some plants in or near your dwelling. Because there is really nothing quite like watching the plants you planted break through the ground and stretch toward the sunlight.
And even if those plants don’t grow to be worthy of produce stands or florists, a hands-on learning experience grew out of the attempt.
Life is enriched by learning, and learning is how we grow.