Gardens for a Lifetime
Sure, gardening is great. Gardens are beautiful, colorful, and make us all think about how great it is to be alive. Many people tend to their gardens the way others tend to their children, and lovingly nurture every bud and leaf to perfection. There are magazines, clubs, and awards dedicated to the incredibly popular art of gardening. Many people do not realize, however, just what can be gained by families, communities, and individuals through the often taken for granted hobby of gardening. There are several different aspects of personal satisfaction and community building that can be addressed through the simple process of creating a garden.
Much like team sports, a community garden can function as a means of creating a sustainable culture of shared investment and teamwork. Team members each have something to contribute to the final goal of creating a sustainable garden, and each member knows that the success of the garden rests evenly upon each of them. There is not only a shared investment in the success of the garden, but also a shared sense of responsibility, a sense of community, and a sense of satisfaction when the final results come to fruition. This satisfaction is also shared, and binds the community together in a shared sense of pride.
Creating a community garden in an urban area can also introduce the concept of self-sustainability to members of the community. Learning to grow your own food and harvest it from the soil to fresh vegetables and fruits not only can supply a community with sources of healthy living, but also a sense of satisfaction and empowerment. Not having to depend on others to create sources of life gives members of a community an incredible sense of vitality. Gardens can even create products to sell at a farmer’s market as a source of income.
On a more personal level, there is a sense of achievement and pride attached to gardening. Being recognized for having the nicest lawn on the street or the most attractive garden is only one part of it. The satisfaction of being responsible for the life of something can not be underestimated. Planting a handful of seeds and then nurturing it into a beautiful bed of flowers is a very self satisfying process which not only beautifies your environment, but also creates plants that aid in the creation of oxygen. Also, if you plant bushes or trees, they can be passed on to future generations, which means that you have now created a legacy that will outlive you, and be a part of lives beyond yours. That’s an awe-inspiring idea.
Like many other aspects of life, which we obviously do not have a full grasp on as a race of humans, the process of gardening has implications far beyond pink flamingos and green beans. Thinking about this stuff may sound silly, but really considering the ramifications of the things that we do every day can really change the way that we view our world and make us think more about the positive contributions that we can make to society and ourselves every day.
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Very few people truly like insects of any sort. In most cases, gardeners are amongst those who like them the least. Even the most pacifistic of gardeners could second guess his stance when he sees the destruction that some insects can do. A gardener could spend an entire summer pruning his flower. . .
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