Nature: why is growing your own food so beneficial?

Have you ever wondered why pottering in the garden is so popular? It does not look exciting, not much happens, so why do people love it so much?

For over 200,000 years humanity has been living and developing on Earth. It is not so surprising that even the hardest of city lovers gain great value in being with nature. Whether you believe in an ‘inner you’ and that you exchange energy with the world around you is immaterial. You are doing it all the time but may not be aware of it.

When you go out in the garden, to the park or allotment you are receiving soothing energy from the grass, trees and plants. They take your stress and give it to Mother Earth to deal with. As you tend your plants, watering and feeding them, your mind starts to slow and you enter that calm space within that brings so much clarity. As you breath out, the stress from the difficulties in your life leaves you. As you breath in, new energy and vitality enters you. What a great stress buster!

I love my city allotment and consider myself very lucky to have one. It is a box a metre square and a number of pots. It amazes me how much my husband and I manage to grow in it. Today’s treat is to make tabouli from our own ingredients (apart from the lemon and the couscous). It is the first time I have made it myself. My ingredients are – parsley, rocket, onions, tomatoes, cucumber, two types of mint and some verbena – lemon tasting leaves.

My wonderful verbena plant was a gift from a neighbour who used to grow it in the Middle East as a child. It has really thrived in this year’s hot summer. You can also use it to make a hot lemon drink.

It took me ages to chop up all the ingredients but the smell as I did it was truly wonderful. Here is the result. I now have to put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to settle. It has been about 45 minutes from soil to dish so it is lovely and fresh.

It was so satisfying to make a dish for my dinner from plants that I have grown. There was a real sense of achievement not to mention all of that lovely energy the plants kindly gave me. It is the best tonic possible.

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