A post by Maria Rodale called A Harvest of Healing got me thinking about how gardening and growing your own food is much more than what you harvest.
One line that really resonated with me was, “With gardening, we harvest more than food and flowers; we harvest health and healing.”
Rodale explains everything that’s involved with gardening from a physical standpoint including the weeding, planting, water transport and shoveling. It keeps you active and your body moving.
Since I’m apartment gardening, I don’t get as much of a workout, but my fire escape garden did prove to be an adventure sport.
It’s not a complete cakewalk though on my balcony garden. Since I’m on the second floor, I do need to carry the containers filled with water to empty them out.
Rodale also spoke of the food and nutritional value of gardening. Since you are growing your own food, you know what’s going into it and can make those decisions.
The spiritual aspects of gardening are also discussed. This is something that I think gets lost on a lot of people. As I get more involved in doing this I think there is something to be said about putting your hands in soil, caring for something and being responsible for it to grow. By doing this we become more connected with the earth and nature.
When I started out I just want to grow my own food, but it’s become much more than that to me. This is true especially when it comes to the spiritual aspect of it. I can honestly say that I feel more connected and appreciative for the food that I grow and for any food that I consume.
This is why that I say that I believe that people should grow just one vegetable and it will change the way they think.
What else is gardening to you?