Gardening As Therapy...seriously...i've Been Trying It Out....

[Sludge]

Yeah. I hear you laughing. But seriously. My major professor suggested I try it out. Given he is a PhD rather than an MD, I figured if it works for and is suggested by a real scientist, why not give it a shot. If anything it makes my wife happy as I have put in two large-ish vegetable gardens, six huge flower beds, planted over 500 ornamental flowers, 100 ornamental plants and shrubs, six trees, and built a really neat-o indoor houseplant garden in our dining room windows.

I don't really understand why, but getting out in the sunshine and fresh air, the smell of clean dirt and aged compost, and getting the self-satisfaction out of turning our corner lot into that house in the neighborhood everyone talks about for something other than the crazy squid living there really feels awesome.

Plus, all that tending and weeding tires one out well enough to sleep like a rock.

My advice: Try it out. It isn't expensive, and really seems to help.

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http://www.gardeningleave.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/completeglsummary.pdf

If you are already doing/participating in/ decide to try this out, let me know. I'd like to hear of your experiences. It really seems silly, but a big assed burger smothered in tomato, lettuce and onion I grew myself, plus real cheese I traded zuchini and broccoli for really makes the "stupid" factor go away.

Screw the beast, grow stuff in stead. Win-win situation.

 

[Ned]

Agreed. Herbs as well for the kitchen. And home-grown lettuce just seems to 'taste' so much more than the shop stuff.
It is good therapy.

 

[Sludge]

Agreed. Herbs as well for the kitchen. And home-grown lettuce just seems to 'taste' so much more than the shop stuff.
It is good therapy.

Wish I could do lettuce here. Too dry and windy.

 

[Jimmy1]

I used to grow herbs in a tent in my garage. After all, marijuana is a herb?? lmao.

Gardening is great therapy, there is nothing more satisfying than eating something you have grown from a seed.

 

[Anglesachse]

I normally have a plot 20mtrs by 5mtrs. Spubs, onions, turnips, swede, peas, beans, beetroot, carrots, lettice, tomatoes, radish. Plus I have Apple, Cherry, Pear trees on or around the land, Gooseberry, Ribes, Blackberry and I even get Elderberry and Black Thorn for making Alc.

But this year, what with the shop I haven`t gotten round to planting anything.

 

[JennyMac]

Gardening does it for me. I agree about the sun and dirt and exhaustion after a day in the weeds...the first few days are the most tiring and the best IMO :) It has given me a sense of accomplishment, something to care for and focus on outside of my "problem" and it gives me an outlet for my creative side - something that was not considered useful in my day to day life in the green machine.

I live in military housing for now...they said I had to fill out a shit ton of paperwork to have permission to extend the current garden bed that was here when I moved in. Well my husband built several garden boxes on my fence....and I bought a load of planters from various discount outlets plus some paint and other stuff and painted all of them and filled it all with flowers and basil, chives, tomatoes etc...I now have the same amount of space it would have taken on the ground but without the paperwork. Will post pics when I can get my poo in a pile.

I am also learning how to "zentangle" - a form of meditative drawing ... and painting in watercolour...it helps on the rainy days plus it is something I can sit in my garden and do. My garden in my peaceful space...without it I would not go outside much at all.

 

[Sludge]

Gardening does it for me. I agree about the sun and dirt and exhaustion after a day in the weeds...the first few days are the most tiring and the best IMO :) It has given me a sense of accomplishment, something to care for and focus on outside of my "problem" and it gives me an outlet for my creative side - something that was not considered useful in my day to day life in the green machine.

I live in military housing for now...they said I had to fill out a shit ton of paperwork to have permission to extend the current garden bed that was here when I moved in. Well my husband built several garden boxes on my fence....and I bought a load of planters from various discount outlets plus some paint and other stuff and painted all of them and filled it all with flowers and basil, chives, tomatoes etc...I now have the same amount of space it would have taken on the ground but without the paperwork. Will post pics when I can get my poo in a pile.

I am also learning how to "zentangle" - a form of meditative drawing ... and painting in watercolour...it helps on the rainy days plus it is something I can sit in my garden and do. My garden in my peaceful space...without it I would not go outside much at all.

One way to get in the zone is most definitively to draw or paint what you grow. I don't paint anymore, but I recently rediscovered drawing.

 

[JarHed]

Hey Sludge

That's great! There's nothing as satisfying as eating the food you've grown. Being outside and working, it just can't be beat. I'm happy for ya.

Jar

 

[tho9900]

my sister went to organic gardening after her husband died... after all the research and trial and error she is happy as a clam... everytime I talk to her she just got in from the garden... wish I could do it.. maybe I need to try one of those little herb garden kits since I love to cook... I live in and apt so no land to till... But I loooove to cook, as does Nichol (that is part of my therapy... focaccia breads, pot roasts you don't need a knife to cut etc... Nichol and I have our own mini restaurant almost... too bad we are the only customers besides family sometimes lol)

 

[JarHed]

An herb garden indoors is great. I have one for the same reason. Love to cook. It really brings out the flavors of food that you can't believe. It's all good.

My wife and I used to have a large garden. We've done raised beds, organic and a few other things. It's work, but good work. It's very satisfying when you plant, grow then harvest your crops. There's nothing like fresh broccoli from the garden. Just gotta' make sure you get all the worms off it first.

I also found it quite interesting to see all the insects and small animals that are drawn to an organic garden. I found that to be half the fun. We're planning on another one, probably for next year, hopefully.

It's great to find things that make you happy and help to bring you back to the fullness of life. I think that sometimes we get so caught up in our malady and dealing with it all that we miss out on the things that really make life worth living.

Jar

 

[Sludge]

Oddly enough, other than houseplants and my...umm..."horti-frakking-culture" of my younger years, I have never had luck with indoor herbs and vegetables. I keep trying, but for some reason it eludes me. My dream is to convert part of my office/man-cave/lab/critter room into a simple hydroponic system that utilizes the "dirty" water from my 30 or so aquariums into wintertime lettuce and tomatoes.

The more I contemplate on this whole gardening thing though, the more I realize why it works for me. Before the beast was unleashed, I was a bit of a granola eating outdoorsman-type. I find myself fascinated by learning about organic growing, dealing with pests big and small, and the trial and error experimentation to find what grows well here without spending inordinate amounts of cash and labor on the project.

Since we are talking gardening, we might as well share some pictures!

 

[JarHed]

Hey Sludge

I'll have to go into the 'archives' to get some pics. give me a bit of time on that.

I can't remember where I saw an article on doing just what you said about using the old water from your aquariums to feed the plants. maybe the Whole Earth Catalog if it's still around. WoW that takes me back.

Jar