How to Start Your Own Garden and Three Amazing Benefits
Starting your own garden might seem daunting, but there are many benefits to creating a space for fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs to thrive. Here’s how to get started and all the incredible benefits you might notice once your garden is in full swing.
Choose Your Location
The first thing to do when planning a garden is to decide where to put it. You want an area of your property with plenty of sunlight and easy access for watering. Most produce enjoy well-drained soil with a pH between six and seven — though that can vary depending on the type of seed and time of year you plant.
Broccoli, spinach and some vegetables do well in the shade. If your garden is partially under a tree, plant your shade-tolerant items and more vulnerable plants where they can get some cover. You don’t have to dig up ground to plant a garden. You can purchase or make gardening containers that work just as well as in-ground gardens. Some plants thrive in indoor pots, so experiment with what works.
Prepare Your Soil
When planting an outdoor garden, you must prepare the soil for the best results. Tilling the soil breaks it up and aerates it, creating space for plant roots to grow. Mix in an organic fertilizer to help ensure your seeds or seedlings get the necessary nutrients.
Plant The Seeds
It’s time to plant once you prepare your in-ground garden, or add nutrient-rich garden soil to your beds or pots. Always follow the seed producer’s instructions on when to add them to the dirt and how far apart to place them. Even out the surface of your soil as much as possible and prepare to nurture your plants as they grow.
3 Benefits of Gardening
There are a few major benefits to starting your own garden.
1. Better Nutrition
Locally-grown food often contains more nutrients than the produce at grocery stores. The fruits and vegetables on store shelves often traveled thousands of miles to get there. The older an item is, the less likely it is to have all the advertised nutrition. Plus, most people agree it tastes better, helping you eat more.
What’s more local than your backyard? Eating freshly-picked items can improve your diet. You’re also more likely to make healthier choices with easy access. Driving to the store for produce can take a while, while ordering is often fast. However, going outside to pick your fruits and vegetables is quicker than waiting for delivery.
2. Improved Mental Health
When you spend time gardening, you’re around sunlight and soil. Both can have mental health benefits by increasing your brain's endorphins. The effect is so powerful that many recovery centers now use horticultural therapy as an addiction-fighting tool in their programs.
As a human, embracing your connection with nature offers many benefits. Being in green spaces can help you practice mindfulness — a key method for reducing your overall stress levels, and calming symptoms of depression and anxiety. Spending time in nature can also boost your mood, increase your creativity and improve your memory.
3. More Outdoor Exercise
Gardening encourages you to move your body in ways an increasingly sedentary society does not. Tilling the ground, building a bed, and raising your plants require lifting, bending and stretching your muscles, creating nice opportunities for low- and high-impact exercise.
There are many benefits to moving your body. It improves your physical health by increasing your strength and flexibility. Sunlight also boosts your vitamin D levels and regulates your circadian rhythm — both things many Americans struggle with in a society full of screens.
Exercise helps you release tension and encourages your brain to produce feel-good hormones like serotonin. These hormones are a deficiency in many people with mental health conditions and getting them through gardening can help relieve symptoms. A survey of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic found exercise improved their mental health and increased their psychological resilience.
Growing a Garden at Home
Gardening comes with many benefits. Not only is it a fun hobby, but it can nourish both your physical and mental wellbeing. With these tips, you can start your own garden and begin reaping the benefits.
