Why do I garden? Let me count the reasons...

By Steve Carter, Mental Health Promoter, Mental Health Foundation

We love gardening at the Mental Health Foundation. Even those without green thumbs can comprehend the value in a hands-on connection with our own little piece of nature.  

Last year we sold Go Potty seedlings as a fundraiser and we also supported the TV show Get Growing with NZ Gardener.  We support community gardening, gardens in schools, vege growing and all the associated spin-offs including farmers’ markets and food barter systems. Gardening is fun, healthy and, let’s face it, pretty zeitgeisty in these transition times. 

Why? 

Well, I’ll tell you what it means for me and I’ll use the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework (more info here) to describe it. 

Let me put my cards on the table (or onto the garden furniture):  I love my garden.  In fact, outside of music, gardening is possibly the single thing I would rather be doing above all else. I work on organic and no-dig principles, so it’s barely an effort, it costs very little and the returns are many-fold.   

Stuff just grows. Abundantly.  Indeed, you might say my garden is flourishing. 

So, five ways to a flourishing garden? 

CONNECT

It might be true that I spend a lot of my time alone in my own garden, but gardening implies community. Exchanges of ideas and advice, working bees, harvest parties and other nature-cycle celebrations – I might have only two green thumbs myself, but I am surrounded by a community of people who love to get their hands dirty and reap the rewards of a relationship with nature, with themselves and, most importantly, with others.   

All this before you even think to venture out to the local community garden, or the farmers’ market, or the edible gardening group (yes, we have such a thing in Brighton).  

Guerrilla gardeners, urban foragers – there’s a whole network out there if you choose to connect to it.  And, hey, gardeners here in Otautahi have even been ‘Greening the Rubble’, bringing colour and life to otherwise crumbling earthquake-stricken gaps in the community. 

KEEP LEARNING

Refining your skills as a gardener is a constant and ongoing process.  New techniques, new ideas, different perspectives all contribute to better and better seasons. For example, have you ever wondered why you seem to spend so much time weeding?  It’s almost as if the weeds want to be there, again and again drawing you into a battle for supremacy.   

But grab a book on organic gardening and you might find that they offer more benefit than harm. Taproots draw nutrients from deep within the ground, so leave the dock; nettles make a fine tonic used as tea and contain more iron than spinach; chickweed is one of the best compost activators your garden will grow for you.   

There are so many things to learn, it’s a lifetime’s journey.  What is mulch and how should I use it?  How do I make compost? Could I maximise my water usage from house to garden or even from the sky?  How can I give nature a helping hand? 

BE ACTIVE

Now this one is something of a no-brainer, even for a lazy, no-dig gardener like me.  Sure, I don’t spend heaps of time breaking my back breaking ground any more – and to a lot of people that’s the essence of gardening: mammoth, boring effort and drudgery. It needn’t be.  

But I’m always moving stuff around. I can walk miles just ambling around my garden (see TAKE NOTICE below), shifting mulch and compost, building raised beds, erecting a new chicken run.  And, rather than hosepipe fresh Canterbury artesian water on the garden, I have a complex rainwater collection system, an outside bath and a watering can and buckets. Lord knows how far I walk and how much weight the train of buckets and watering cans add up to, but I can tell you an hour watering the garden is as good a workout as you can get. Not to mention heading to the beach to collect driftwood and seaweed to bolster the resources of my patch. 

It’s an active, outdoor lifestyle with a healthy eating payoff at the end of it.  The bath under the stars is a pretty cool wind-down too. 

GIVE

Like I say, stuff just grows in my garden. Right now, lemons are literally throwing themselves off the tree faster than I can make marmalade, cordial or preserve them in salt and spices. Last year I had so much parsley I thought I might suffocate under the onslaught, and this year the patch has doubled in size.  My broccolini and spinach have become triffid-like to the point where I get tired of eating them. But “waste not, want not” right? 

The answer? Give it away.  Who doesn’t love free, fresh, organic veges and fruit? 

Not just that. I now save seeds from my best crops and they are yours if you want them. You want some advice on how to plan for a thriving garden?  I’m happy to give you as many tips as you need. It feels so good to share. 

TAKE NOTICE

It has been pointed out to me that I can spend hours in my garden doing nothing, but in truth I’m rarely doing nothing. What I enjoy most is a very conscious presence in the natural environment I have helped to flourish around me.   

I am fascinated by the life teeming just beneath the surface of my soil. I love to watch the bees buzzing around my flowers, doing their pollinating work for me. Is that a new patch of silverbeet that has established itself in a hitherto bare patch of ground? Is that little family of coriander emerging from the ground once more, ready to burst into tasty life? Is it time to feed my berries and fruit trees so that the tiny buds can explode into flower for a new season’s yield?   

The birds are singing, winter is cycling into spring and what seemed lifeless and still is flushing into the hope of life and colour. Nature is a dynamic, endless process of change and it is a wonderful thing to engage fully with a very mindful appreciation of its diversity and energy. 

So, that’s why I garden. What other activity can you think of that offers such an array of benefits to mind, body and spirit? You get to work at it, develop new skills and refine the ones you have. You get to share it with others and build a community of like-minded people around you. You even get to appreciate the days when the rain comes. And best of all, you will relish all the many returns for your (not very hard) labours. 

You don’t have to hug any trees or talk to the flowers (but you can if you want to).  

Be good to your garden and it will be good to you.  

Maintaining your wellbeing after the earthquake

CONNECT

Now more than ever is the time to stay in touch with the people around you: family, whanau, friends, loved ones, neighbours.  Everyone will have their own way of dealing with a crisis, and some will be experiencing grief.  Talk, and listen.  It doesn’t have to be about the disaster, although that may be all that’s on your mind.  If you don’t feel able to talk, just being around people can be enough to help you stay connected – it does make a difference.  Let the people in your life know that you’re there, even if it’s just your presence.

Pay particular attention to older people, children, people with physical impairments or disabilities and those who may be isolated; people who may have difficulty getting a clear idea of what’s happening around them – it’s incredibly important that we all stick together and feel connected.

GIVE

In the face of disaster and tragedy, a simple word like “give” might seem overwhelming.  You may have lost people, treasures, and memories that are close to you.  Focusing on the needs of others by giving your time, your words, your thoughts and your presence, may help you put your own losses to one side at least temporarily. 

Give time and your help to others around you in the same boat, as much as you are able to, but don’t forget to include yourself and your own needs.  We all have different skills and strengths – some of us are good with our hands, others are good listeners and great support people.  

TAKE NOTICE

In the face of destruction, it may feel like you want to close your eyes and hide rather than take notice of anything. 

But in the words of Skylight’s Tricia Hendry, who lost her husband to suicide, “I had to seek good moments in the middle of the horror.  Giving someone a hug, or doing something with my children that was special.  I knew that life had to be more than tragedy, and I had to do more than just survive.”

LEARN

Getting our city back on its feet again is going to mean working together, and there’s no better time than now to reach out and learn something new you can do to help that you’ve never done before.  There can never be enough volunteers, and the challenge of achieving something – no matter how small – helps to maintain hope.

 

BE ACTIVE

We’re living on shaky ground - literally.  Some areas are unsafe.  But trying to keep physically active is an important part of staying well, keeping your mind active, and staving off the blues that come naturally in the face of overwhelming events like this.  If it’s safe where you are, go for short walks or runs if that’s part of your normal exercise routine.  Even if you’re not able to move far from where you are, there are a range of on-the-spot exercises you can do to help keep your strength and fitness up.  Originally designed for use in classrooms, its application can be much wider.

Ride Out Of The Blue gains momentum

Just over three weeks to go till our Ride Out of the Blue (ROOTB), and things are getting hectic.

Our main riders are busy getting miles “into their legs” and riding consecutive days – all in the name of preparation.
We have received expressions of interest from several other riders, including a number of fitness and cycling clubs, planning on joining the ride at various stages.

Our core riders have taken delivery of their ROOTB cycling outfit. It looks great. 

Hazel reports: “I rode in my outfit today and received a lot of positive comments. I thought I looked quite smart. I took the elastic out of the legs of the shorts so they are more comfortable. The jersey is really light and comfy.”

On the supporters and sponsorship front, Ultimo Clothing has offered support with a riders kit,  Avanti is assisting with bike maintenance and service en route, while Bluebridge Ferries is providing inter island transport. It’s wonderful to find such interest and support for what we hope to achieve.

Media coverage and awareness grow

We are fortunate to already have received media coverage in several city and regional newspapers, magazines and online publications.  TV coverage is expected for the start of the ride on Saturday 5 March. During the ride, a national radio summary is proposed every Sunday night on RadioLIVE’s The Nutters Club.

Our aim of raising awareness of mental health issues is beginning to find success. An exciting development is a proposed community awareness event to be held at Waiheke Island with the WISH trust. More details will follow.

To date, Ride Out of the Blue (official site) has raised over $5700 for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand.Donations can be made through Fundraise Online or directly to the Foundation. A special thank you to Blue Fitness Ltd for its generous donation of $1000!

It's exciting to see the challenge gathering momentum and achieving its aim to "celebrate life, raise awareness for depression, and raise money for the Mental Health Foundation." 

For us the excitement is compounded by the realisation that we are less than a month away from your beautiful country.

Read more in the latest issue of In Touch

Alison

(Alison Blyth, Organiser, Ride Out of the Blue)

Ride Out of the Blue

A first: a first Ride Out of the Blue Blog, my first blog. 

More firsts: a first bike challenge for mental health in NZ, my first event. So I beg your patience. With so many firsts I’m bound to muck this up a bit.

Ride Out of the Blue is a 2,500km journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga to raise awareness of depression and money for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand to held provide resources for depression. I’m organising it because I love riding,

I’ve suffered depression, I’ve lost relatives who’ve suffered depression to suicide, and I can’t do nothing whilst New Zealand’s brightest and best young men commit suicide. 

But! Off the soap box. Ride Out of the Blue is about celebrating life. In the words of James E. Starrs, “Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling.”

Riding is brilliant.  Whether getting out to turn the pedals with friends, to sip lattes and talk about lycra, or to ride hills beyond my abilities and in doing so to put back into perspective what’s dogging me. I can think of no other activity that enables a balance of healthy body, healthy mind, as simply as riding.  

On ya bike!

It’s non-exclusive, universal, empowering. Get a bike.

Planning Ride Out of the Blue and training for it has been, is, a mammoth task: gathering support, commitment, putting myself out there as an event organiser and long distance cyclist – vulnerable moments as I'm not either, bothering my family and friends with constant updates about “the Ride”.

It’s happening now – in six weeks.  We have four committed riders, we have the support of the NZ Police, and we have raised over $4k.  We’ve made a difference and have the chance to make a bigger difference. 

Seriously exciting pursuit

It’s seriously exciting to be a part of this. One of our riders, Dave, has had some great press coverage: Ride To a Better Life

Providence has opened every door for this Ride to come about, despite the rain and the floods here in tropical Queensland where three of the riders live.The torrential rain has stopped any training, the floods have destroyed our cycle paths and, in my case, inundated our rental house. Check out the photos!

Now the sun is out, the flood damage is being assessed and repaired, and riders everywhere are back on their bikes. This weekend  Chris (one of our riders) and myself are heading down to Victoria to do the Audax Alpine Classic 250km and 200km. With little riding lately it’s going to hurt some.  But with alpine scenery around us, where else would I rather hurt – where else but New Zealand of course!

Alison Blyth, Organiser, Ride Out of the Blue