30 April 2018 
Why should we get our hands dirty?
I am passionate about gardening and aim to get out in the garden as often as possible, and my goal is to grow as much fruit and vegetables as I possibly can to feed my family. We have our own chickens for eggs, we grow vegetables and have a large poly tunnel. We are lucky to have access to this, but gardening can be done on your balcony, or on your patio using small pots.
Getting soil on your hands can help to increase the good bacteria in your gut.
The more diverse your gut flora the healthier your gut.
Gardening is a hobby that also calms you and helps to use up excess frustration, adrenalin and the stress hormone cortisol. Even tasks that are not physically demanding, like potting up seeds and planting is very calming. Gardening is also very rewarding; from one little clove of garlic that you pop in the ground, let soil and rain do their job then at the end you get a bulb of garlic. One year I grew our garlic supply for the year which was very satisfying, you can’t get more local than that!
I believe gardening is a hugely beneficial thing for children to do.
This has been seen in a very successful project where I worked with my children’s school along with other parents, to create a kitchen garden. The benefits of having children exposed to the food they eat, growing their own food and having experience of getting their hands dirty is widely publicised, and that early healthy start in life is crucial for all children.
Knowledge is power and once they know the magic of creation, from one seed, to a plant, to food they can eat, they too will develop a passion for gardening and choose to live a happy and healthy life and help to prevent long term chronic diseases.
Empowering ourselves and our children is the most important thing we can do as parents and as a society as a whole.