Benefits of Having a Garden

By: Olivia Bornhoft

Here at Day by Day, we believe that feeding your body nourishing foods is integral to true, whole body health. This is why we’re committed to helping our clients learn about nutrition from the ground up! 

Recently, our Registered Dietitian Nic Schmittou along with Day by Day staff and members of the community built an on-site community garden full of delicious, seasonal veggies and herbs! We built this garden for the purpose of helping people learn how to start their very own vegetable garden and all the steps along the way.

We have found that having and working a garden has a plethora of health benefits that go beyond nutrition as gardening can have the power to improve your mental and physical health as well! Gardening is a whole body practice. It requires you to disconnect, get outside, and get your hands in the Earth - all to cultivate healthy and delicious foods for you and your family to enjoy. 

This work can be grounding and therapeutic for many as it creates space for you to connect with yourself and the world around you. Studies have found that gardening can help boost mood and lower stress levels as you move your body beneath the sun, soaking up the vitamin D. There’s even a beneficial bacteria found in soil that when your hands come in contact with it, it can trigger the release of serotonin in your brain, uplifting your mood and improving your brain function!

Engaging in the more physical aspects of gardening such as digging, planting, and weeding can have a myriad of healthful effects on your body such as:

• Increased strength

• Improved cardiovascular health 

• Stronger immune system

• Improved memory retention 

• Improved hand dexterity

• Improved sleep

• Maintaining a healthy weight

With regards to nutrition, your garden, your rules! You can control any and all added pesticides and chemicals to your garden, giving you more freedom to choose what you put in your body. And once your garden reaches your table, your daily meals will see a great improvement on all levels- taste, nutrition, and cost! Having a garden encourages you and your family to eat and cook with more fruits, vegetables, and herbs which have more nutrient value and richer taste than store bought products!

All in all, gardening is a healthy and fun hobby for you and your family to engage in as it heals you from the inside out. We hope to see you and yours at our next Gardening Series class so you can kickstart your nutrition journey from the ground up!