Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The Well-gardened Mind
Last year I interviewed Sue Stuart Smith on her book, “The Well-gardened Mind – the Restorative Power of Nature”, detailing her grandfather’s journey from POW in Turkey during WWII and his recovery back to his life. Here’s the link to the interview.
Her grandfather, a WWI British veteran, had nearly died as a POW in Turkey, made it back a shell of a man but his gardens restored not just his physical health but his mental health.
It’s been well documented how being out in nature, tending gardens, growing flowers and vegetables, getting our hands in the dirt, has healing powers.
That porch has been a refuge for me. The pandemic has hit people in ways we’re still trying to figure out, in the meantime I’ve had some major life changes. Putzing, planting, pulling weeds, planning has been a balm for me.
Interesting article here: Horticultural Therapy
From those who’ve lost loved ones to those who’ve suffered PTSD to those with physical disabilities to those who are healing from surgeries to those who are just having a hard day………… Get thee into the GARDEN! ?
I planted ‘Luna’ daisies and ‘Pomegranate’ yarrow last Saturday. I manage to keep finding places for plants!
I really got into gardening after the death of my father and brother just a year apart. Gladiolas always remind me of my dad, they bloom around the time he died.
It’s not a sad memory for me but an acknowledgement that life goes on and in beautiful ways if we look.
As we are all continuing to go through so much collectively and individually over the last year and a half, the garden has become a refuge for many more than ever before. The joy of planting a seed and watching it spring forth from the soil, grow and become that tasty vegetable or beautiful flower or towering tree gives us hope.
My father loved homegrown tomatoes and would grow them in buckets on the side of the house. After living in Australia, he became fond of the banana plant and started one in a big tub in Minnesota. Every year, he would lug that thing in and out of the house as the seasons changed. Drove my mom nuts! But there was something about it that brought him joy.
May you find JOY in your garden this weekend!
