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Reinforcing gardening’s innumerable benefits

Re: “Finding Silence in the Garden,” Oak Bay News, July 8

Re: “Finding Silence in the Garden,” Oak Bay News, July 8

I have to admit something, I creep on people’s yards. If I get a glance at the backyard, I’m always checking to see if they have a vegetable garden, because everybody should have a vegetable garden.

I walk my dog every morning near Carnarvon Park and I always see this gentlemen doing something in his yard. (I might add that I have a wee person on my back, sun is shining, and it’s 6:30 in the morning). During my forays past his yard, I have noticed that he has a garden, and I’ve always been curious about what he’s got growing. Anyway, I was walking near there today, he was out in his yard, so I said hello, and then gave the: “How’s the garden growing?”

He said, “Great, want to come check it out?”

“Sure.”

And that there is the essence of gardening. We chatted for 30 minutes about gardening, shared acquaintances, and family. He shared some of his of growing tips, I shared mine. After our delightful conversation, I carried on (said child on back was getting a little restless), and when I came past his house again, he gave me some lettuce. I will return his kind gesture with some veggies from my garden and the relationship will continue, which brings me to this:

Everybody should garden because the health benefits are innumerable. We all get something different from gardening, whether it’s gazing at the beauty of bees at work, watching butterflies flit to and fro, admiring an area of the garden you’ve just weeded, or making new friends. Too often we are ‘connected’ and lose ‘connection’ with what we should be ‘connected’ to: ourselves, and the sharing of our love of growing with fellow gardeners, or even better: ‘gardening converts’.

W. Moore

 

Oak Bay