By Victoria Q

Home gardening has become trendy now. It isn’t just about decorating your house with green plants. Although that could be one of the reasons, however, home gardening has a huge impact on health and wellness. It is an easy activity to share, and you could benefit from it. Interacting with flora not only improve your mood and mental health, but a calm and green environment can lower people’s cortisol levels – the body’s main stress hormone.

Home gardening is a physical exercise that contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Here are some benefits you can get from home gardening.

1. Mood Booster

Studies have found that home gardening reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. When people spend time gardening, they get to focus on something and empty their minds. This causes their anxiety levels to drop and feel less depressed, which also improve mood and increases self-esteem. In fact, healthy bacteria that live in soil, can increase levels of serotonin and reduce anxiety.

2. Save Money

Home gardening does cost money on pots, seeds, soils, and fertilizer during the beginning of growing your own vegetables. However, a single plant often grows more than once, which means it produces lots of produce so that you often save money. Also, those gardening tools could last you for a very long time. If you do the calculation, I’m sure you get back more than you paid.

3. Build Relationship

Home gardening can be a solo or group activity. It provides a great opportunity for building a relationship with your loved ones such as kids, family, friends, partners or even neighbours. Working in a garden with people of different ages, and backgrounds is a good way to expand both what you and others know. Kids also get to explore more by early exposure to dirt.

4. As A Hobby

Most people started home gardening out of fun but once they started, they could never stop. Home gardening is indeed providing enjoyment, especially for the homebody. Watching your garden grow from bare ground to ripe produce or beautiful plants offers a sense of satisfaction. Some people even find the activity relaxing and stress-relieving, which definitely improves mental health benefits.

5. Easy Access

A home garden gives you instant access to fresh produces within a few steps and you’re not forced to visit a grocery store. Let’s say you have to get to the grocery store just to buy herb that you need to use for tonight dinner and ended up stuck in the jam for hours during peak time. On the other hand, if you already planted it in your garden, you could save time and spend it on something meaningful instead of stucking in the jam.

6. Pesticide-free Produces

Nowadays, it’s hard to get fresh vegetables and fruits free of pesticides, unless you’re willing to make a trip to the local farmer shops every single time. However, if you grow your own vegetables, you’re getting fresh produce that you know hasn’t been treated with pesticides. Eating healthy and fresh produce is crucial for your body to get all of the nutrients especially for kids, who are still growing up.

7. Improve Your Hand Strength

Gardening involves hand movements to keep hand muscles strong and agile. When you do all the digging, planting, and pulling, it keeps your hand muscles working out, which from time to time will also increase your hand strength. However, it’s important not to push yourself too hard. Overworked muscles can cause inflammation or carpal tunnel syndrome.

8. Boost Of Vitamin D

When you’re outdoors and your skin is exposed to the sun, you’re also gaining vitamin D for free at the same time. This vitamin is found in sunlight, fish, and fortified foods. Exposure to sunlight helps achieve adequate amounts of vitamin D, which increases your calcium levels, a mineral essential for bone formation and the immune system. However, you mustn’t forget your sunscreen if you’re planning on spending more than a few minutes in the sun to lower the risk of skin cancer.