Digging in the Dirt
Last month my child came home with a small shot glass-sized compost cup that had some rough soil and a tiny green leaf growing from the middle. Excited beyond measure that this young sprout would become something with their care, they talked non-stop about watering it and getting strawberries from it later. No one could confirm the budding seed was a strawberry plant but that didn’t stop the enthusiastic hope that someday with their love and care this plant would have juicy berries to eat. So, my partner thought, why not get a plant or two and start a patio garden.
My partner, when we met many years ago, understood that I liked the idea of patio gardens as I had attempted with some mild success to grow tomatoes and raspberries previously. I grew up with family who gardened for beauty even though my childhood home had a plethora of fruits year around. I took for granted that all yards and kids would have had access to this kind of backyard produce waiting to be picked. Who didn’t have a large avocado tree in their backyard or access to lemons anytime they wanted?
On weekends my family used this free time away from jobs to go tend the plants. Ensuring that anything dead or attacking the plants were properly taken care of, there was an unsaid rule that this meant I was to play on my own during this time. It was a time when the adults could focus on whether the soil needed more water or a boost in nutrients. It allowed the adults around me to be doing something in solitude for an hour or two away from any other responsibilities.
In recent years there has been a lot of research on gardening and the benefits it can bring. The sun has been shown to provide an increase in endorphins and a boost to vitamin D. In addition, the UV rays can be used as a natural light-therapy that costs health care plans hundreds to thousands of dollars for people with eczema or psoriasis. There are also wellbeing studies looking into the effects that the act of gardening can have on stress and mental health.
Beyond the physical and mental benefits, I now as an adult have come to understand that home gardens can also mean good things for the budget. I ran across a video series “Great Depression Cooking with Clara” where Clara, who has since passed away, discusses in one of the episodes the importance of home vegetable and fruit gardens during a time of great scarcity. The vegetables and fruit that were grown meant the family could focus on other parts of the meals with the small amount of money they used to keep their families afloat during the Great Depression.
There are a few hesitations with this though. I have a pretty “brown thumb”. I can kill plants that are supposed to be hard to kill like aloe and rosemary. But I wanted to have a variety of plants so if that “strawberry” plant never grew my child would still see plants that bear fruit while they impatiently waited for foliage and flowers to spring up. My partner had no objections to adding a few plants, or maybe 5, already started to the plants that we would grow from seed.
But then came the hard part. Not killing them. Enter a little coaxing for my partner’s green thumb guidance. My partner was very reluctant to join but has since joined in this family endeavor either because they have given up the fight or is at least more amendable to enjoy the moments of glee that come from our child whenever we go to check on the plant’s status. My goals with this project are
1. See if there is a benefit mentally even if I only check on it a few minutes a day
2. Try to get at least one plant to produce
3. Monitor how much this activity keeps all our interests
My child has been really eager to see the corn she chose go from seed to long leaves so far and we ended up buy strawberry seed s that are still attempting to sprout. But even if all the plants end up dying, if I still feel an emotional boost this will be considered a “win”. Hopefully? Maybe?
Sigh now what to do with that dead rosemary plant……..
Some references I used in my thinking:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290997/
https://www.verywellmind.com/gardening-for-stress-relief-3144600
https://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking?app=desktop
