There are so many benefits of gardening. Many of them relate to frugal living. For example, gardens remind us to enjoy the little things, rather than spending money on flashy stuff. The following quotes about the benefits of gardening remind me of the important stuff.
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.” – Alfred Austin
If you enjoy frugal gardening, then you spend barely anything at all except time in your garden. It doesn’t cost much to feel dirt on your hands and sunshine on your skin. And yet, the benefits are immeasurable. Your body as well as your mind will thank you.
“I like gardening—it’s a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.” – Alice Sebold
We often try to tackle life’s problems and challenges by ruminating on them. However, at times, this just makes things worse. Gardening gets us outside of our heads, into our bodies, into the greater world around us. This often points us to creative solutions we could never have just thought up in words.
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.” – May Sarton
We rush through so many moments of our lives, missing out on much of their beauty. However, you can’t rush gardening. The plants work in their own time. You must work at them diligently, daily. As a result, you learn patience. You might also learn to reap the benefits of mindfulness.
“Gardening simply does not allow one to be mentally old, because too many hopes and dreams are yet to be realized.” – Allan Armitage
Of course, people of all ages enjoy gardening. However, over the years, I’ve often especially enjoyed learning about elderly people who garden. The activity and planning and experience all contribute to keeping the mind young. And I love this idea about how the garden offers hope and that keeps you excited about what’s to come. After all, the bulbs you just planted aren’t flowering yet.
“I can think of no better form of personal involvement in the cure of the environment than that of gardening.
A person who is growing a garden, if he is growing it organically, is improving a piece of the world.”- Wendell Berry
One of the greatest benefits of gardening is that it allows us to contribute to improving the planet in our own small way. We can’t control the entire world and the choices made there. However, we can control our own choices. When we choose organic, natural, slow, frugal gardening, we make our corner of the world a little bit better. When we share that, we encourage others to do the same. This is how change happens.
Michael Pollan addresses the same thing above in a different way:
“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum …
and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world.”
And finally, Minnie Aumonier puts it more succinctly:
“When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden.”
Quotes sourced from Treehugger
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Kathryn Vercillo is a long time writer, crafter and author of several books. A resident of San Francisco, she is committed to helping others explore, articulate and share their own individuals stories. When she’s not evaluating investing opportunities Kathryn is an avid knitter, researcher, and blogger.
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