Inch By Inch

From left to right: the outdoor fire pit, a weathered patio bench, and new plants that my parents picked up this morning from East Bay Nursery. My whole street is going garden-crazy, and I love it! The developments in my own front yard are particularly delightful, since I see them through the window while I'm working. I don't have a green thumb myself, but recently I ate fresh strawberries straight out of our raised beds, and immediately felt an influx of gratitude for my family.

At our old house, the one where I spent a decade of childhood, we had a glorious tiered garden. I remember pansies, rosemary, red hot pokers, and plenty of places for fairies to hide. When my parents bought our current property, it was an atrocious mess, so it's taken a while for gardening to become a home-improvement priority. But now that other pressing concerns have been dealt with, my mom and dad have become wild about baby trees and lettuce heads.

I've been watching this green progress from the sidelines (read: the couch), but maybe I should step in with a trowel and a handful of seeds. There is evidence to suggest that gardening is a happy-making hobby. Some of it is just common sense, but there's also surprising science. Naomi Sachs explains, "All sorts of reasons have been posited: [gardening is] a meditative practice; it's gentle exercise; it's fun; it allows us to be nurturing and to connect with life on a fundamental level." She goes on to describe recent research which indicates that a bacterium in the soil may elevate mood levels and reduce anxiety in those who interact with it.

On the other hand, a different study asserts that urban gardeners are worryingly unaware of potential soil contaminants and how to limit exposure to them. So... ingesting dirt might act as an antidepressant, but that's only if it doesn't ruin your liver first! Alright, I'm being dramatic. I have no doubt that people underestimate the toxicity of city soil, but I think it's worth a little heavy metal to have fresh, homegrown strawberries.