Why my vegetable garden is good for my mental health – Kem Ormond

Getting your hands in the soil can be good for the soul. Photo / 123rf

Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s writing about the value of a vegetable garden for your mental health.

Research has shown that exposure to sunlight can boost serotonin levels, while contact with soil introduces beneficial microbes linked to mood enhancement.

The physical exercise of working in the garden makes you feel better, and it’s nice to work among all that natural beauty, vegetables, or plants.

Last Saturday, I hosted 24 Aucklanders through my garden, and what a delight it was for all of us to share our knowledge in both general gardening and growing vegetables.

One visitor gave me a wonderful hint for a thick tomato sauce recipe, and so that was my Sunday morning mission.

I turned my large bucket of beautiful-looking tomatoes into sauce.

With an abundance of herbs in my garden, in they went, and the result was a rich, tasty, thick sauce that I will use in pasta dishes, poured over meatballs, and added to casseroles over winter.

With an ample supply of vegetables and enough preserving done to get me through winter, I have been sharing my excess produce with friends, and I love being able to do that.

My vegetable garden is a great space to hang out in if the day has been a bit stressful.

I love to cook, so filling my trug up with vegetables that I will use for the evening dinner is really satisfying.

Onions are all plaited and hanging, beetroot is all harvested, sunflowers are doing their last showing, sweetcorn finished, beans are bottled, and I have left a few pods to dry for next year’s seeds.

Tomatoes and peppers are still going, but I think in another month or so, they will be finished.

Brassicas are still going strong, as are the lettuces and spring onions.

Now is the time to plant your miner’s lettuce, which I have talked about in previous articles.

This is one of the best salad greens to have over winter.

If your kale, silver beet or chard plants are looking a bit tired, chop off the tops, leaving a 15-20cm stump.

Give them a good feed at the base, and before long, you will have lovely, sweet little leaves perfect for a salad or for steaming.

You always need to be careful what you plant after your tomato crop.

Some of the best vegetables to plant are leafy greens like spinach and silver beet, or brassica crops like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.

It will soon be time to think about planting more beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, kale, lettuce, radishes, rocket, spinach, silver beet and spring onions.

Remember to get your plot ready to plant your garlic.

It is said to be good practice to plant in June and harvest in December, but I like to plant early and try to avoid the dreaded rust.

I am going to really swot up on planting garlic this season and trial some new varieties in various parts of my garden, as I do not have much luck growing it. I will let you know my results at the end of the year!

If you still have yams in the ground, remember they fatten up and get sweeter after the first frosts, so leave them to it.

Remember to tend to your herb patch, and you may need to trim back a few or even replace them with some fresh seedlings.

This winter, I am really planning to use my stockpot and try a few new recipes I have been compiling.

I am often asked if I save money by growing all my own vegetables.

I guess if you take into consideration your time, it could be doubtful, but I enjoy having vegetables on hand all year round, whether fresh or bottled, and I enjoy sharing both my produce and knowledge.

I like to know where my food comes from and how it is grown.

I would have to say having a vegetable garden is my happy place and good for my mental health!

On those fresh crisp winter days, I will still enjoy my vegetable garden, but maybe more from a chair in the sun and with a hot cup of tea warming my hands!