BrianWriter edition

Research has shown that by gardening for about 45 minutes to an hour on a daily basis, an individual can benefit from the following:

· Increased flexibility

· Reduces the risk of acquiring diabetes

· Helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels

· Helps strengthen joints

· Slows down osteoporosis

Community gardening can be a major boost to the self-esteem of children and teenagers. This is because empirical data suggests that when children and teenagers partake in a group effort aimed at improving a school society or community, a sense of interdependency and loyalty to that institution develops. In a different case altogether, take a hypothetical situation of a child who is an academic failure in all ways and you introduce them to gardening. Involve the child in all the processes involved from preparing the soil, composting raking, planting and watering together with the classmates. Then eventually the plants grow healthily and produce good yields. Additionally, the teacher even gives the student public commendation for the outstanding achievement. This will most definitely boost the child’s self-esteem. In addition, it will inspire the child to improve on their weaker areas.

Personal growth and development is another very important benefit acquired from community gardening. The main virtue behind gardening is patience. Gardeners will always have to exhibit a lot patience as they wait for the plants to develop to maturity. Christopher Lloyd, the world renowned British gardener, said for the first five years after planting “there`s nothing to talk about.” He was patient enough for those five years for him to get his plants to a state he would be proud of. Impatience on the other hand is the reason why gardeners ignore the species that grow slowly and in most cases those that die fast too. This is to the detriment of the garden entirely since it’s the slow growers that happen to be the most successful of landscape plants (Rogers 89).

Community gardening can also be a source of income for the members of the respective group. This is because as they pull their resources together to make a good and productive garden with well tendered plants which will fetch profits when harvested and sold off. For example, in botanical gardens, the group members dedicate their time to tending to their gardens. The flowers hedges, waterfronts lawns and other plants are thus well taken care off. Occasionally, these gardens are rented out for functions such as photo-shoots, garden weddings and other numerous income generating activities.

Team building days are a great opportunities for businesses or employers to get the best out of their employees. By improving their morale and motivation, the team spirit is fortified and a great working environment established. In turn, this promotes innovation and development of leadership skills. Most companies are doing this by through their corporate social responsibility platforms by volunteering for the local projects around them and helping the local community.

Some of the activities may include tree planting occasions where they plant trees and each person is responsible for the survival of their plant. This tends to inculcate a sense of collective responsibility.

Communal gardening is also one of the ways of continuing cultural traditions. These traditions will always vary from community to community depending on their ways of life. A case study was carried out with a focus on the partnerships involving the growing population from Burma in Orange County. The Orange County partnership for young children got a grant from the Us Department of Refugee resettlement to expand their current Growing Healthy Kids project to have an incubator Farm to specifically train the refugees in sustainable agriculture (UNOW 20). They expanded the project among the refugees due to their desire expressed from their present refugee families. One of correspondents explained her family`s involvement as a continuation of a past tradition. She was quoted saying “we like gardening because our lives depended on gardening in Thailand and Burma before we moved to America.” (UNOW) Another man also expressed his enthusiasm by stating that they hoped they would get more land so as to continue with their gardening traditions of a variety of vegetables and fruits.

Governments are increasingly concerned with the high and rising rate of serious physical and physiological conditions such as heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, asthma, depression and emotional stress in city populations around the globe. Many of these are as a result of obesity which stem from poor eating habits. This is particularly due to the high consumption of fats and sugar and the insufficient consumptions of fresh vegetables and fruits. Medical interventions are limited in solving this problem and thus wholesome changes in the urban planning must be undertaken. The urban practices of car dependency and long commuter distances from home to work are a strain to good eating habits. The consumption of fresh food is also not that common due to their high prices. This has prodded various governments to advocate for the development of community gardening in community land or public land. It is believed that, this would provide a wholesome solution to almost all the health problems encompassing the society. For example, the issue of fitness is will be addressed as people will engage in physical exercises in the course fulfilling their gardening duties. Other issues such as healthy living will also be addressed since people from their respective communities will always have a fresh supply of healthy and nutritious vegetables from the community gardens.

The community gardens also server to empower the members of the respective community with knowledge on healthy living. Through active involvement in community gardening, the members of a particular community also learn a lot from each. Such cooperation in a community can also instigate a platform for financial development.

Moreover, the community gardens can also create a platform for companionship. The action of making common and exchanging ideas does not only open our minds to new ideas but also leads to innovations. On a psychological level, this form of interaction may help people to talk about their stresses and possibly get insights from other people on how they can best handle stress. The source of companionships found and formed at the community gardens may also go a long way in creating a trustworthy community and a society that is responsible for each of its members socially, physically and mentally.

Environmental education is also one of the main aspects that community gardening tends to focus on (McMahon 57). Environmental education involves the study of how to maintain a clean and natural environment. People who do not care about the water they use in watering their plants may end up using water containing harmful chemicals which may possibly be retained in the plants. When such plants are ingested, they pose a health hazard. Additionally, the various hazardous chemical contained in water may pollute the soil ultimately killing the microorganisms that help keep the soil aerated for good crop development.

Communal gardens are usually situations where people in the community work together and grow large patches of different types of vegetables and fruits. They are grown for benefit of the entire society. The excesses collected during the harvest are given to those in the community that are in most need. They not only benefit the community by providing them with food, they also serve to foster unity among the people in the community. This is because they work together to achieve a common goal. In addition, they promote healthy lifestyles as they require one to be physically active and promote healthy eating. These and other benefits are the reasons why we need community gardening.

Works cited

Douglas, J.M. The Forest Farms of Kandy, 2013. Print.

Huffstutter, B.J. Los Angeles Times, 2010. Print.

McMahon, R. Kansas State University Research and Extension Horticulture Agent. Sidgewick County, 2009. Print.

Rogers, E.B. Landscape Design. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2009. Print.

UNOW. Refugee Agricultural Partnership Project. UNOW, 2009. Print.

Faculty of The Built Environment. Sydney: NSW Australia, 2010. Print.