Toiling in the dirt is one of my top three favorite things to do. I get the love of gardening from my mother, who probably got part of it from her father. I, in turn, have shared the love with my son. Spring is always an exciting time for us because it gives us a chance to plan out what, and where we will plant our veggies, herbs, and flowers.
Here are a few of the reasons why gardening is self-care:
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I love knowing where my herbs or vegetables came from. There is a sense of accomplishment and joy when you grow a pepper from seed to seedling, to planting it in your garden, to harvesting the vegetable, to cooking it, and serving it to your family. The whole farm-to-table premise really is an uplifting experience. Last year I made fresh ragu from my garden and put it over hand-made fettuccini noodles, and it was a spiritual experience to eat food so fresh, and wonderful.
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Fresh herbs in your house make your home smell wonderful. I always keep basil and lavender in my home. I harvest basil twice a week because it grows so quickly. That means we use basil, fresh and dried, in a lot of our dishes. I even found a great recipe to make basil cheddar bread to go with pasta night. The fresh, warm bread, paired with fresh veggies in the pasta from our garden is a true treat.
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There is something wonderful and gives a sense of accomplishment when you nurture something to grow. Braxton and I pick out about 10 different veggies every spring to plant. This year he chose tomatoes, basil, mint, peppers, cilantro, chives, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, daisies, and sunflowers. We get a lot of our seeds and seedlings from The Soil Sisters and love the quality of the plants. Tiger, our dog, knocked out plants over about three times, so we aren’t sure what is growing where or what will come up, but so far, sunflowers and cilantro are growing steadily.
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Gardening is a great physical activity and meditative practice. Planting our flowers, scooping dirt, digging, and watering all take physical action, which I love since my work from home job now limits a lot of the physicality I had in my previous jobs. Also, I love anything that gets me outside doing something, so enjoying the sun on my back, and dirt in the ground equals pure bliss for me.
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I love that gardening is something that I can do with my whole family. With little funds, you really can grow a beautiful garden or flowers. My mom and I will pick out flowers, and get them planted in the spring. Braxton is in charge of watering the flowers every night, which is great for the push work that he needs as he is a sensory seeker.
Gardening for me is a seasonal (or two) self-care plan. Will you start your own garden as a form of self-care? Let me know by sending me a message here.
Be selfish with your self-care
xoxo
Tori