After all, the amount of stress that impacts you each day is intense. According to a study done by Excil Journal of Experimental Sciences, says that stress "effects our central nervous system and can cause structural changes in the brain."

A small garden can help reduce stress & help you breathe. Another study done shows that gardening, "provide(s) experimental evidence that gardening can promote relief from acute stress," according to PubMed.gov.

Therefore, a garden fits into every stage of life to bring continuity and stress reduction. Watching things grow slowly, harvesting from your own space, all bring a sense of slowing down. This is crucial in a time when things can feel out of control. The garden space has a rhythm that creates that sweet whisper, "It's going to be okay. You are going to make it through."

In this post, I will be sharing how a raised kitchen garden with a plan can bring health, enjoyment, and stress-reduction at any stage of your life and how to make this simple gardening happen in your everyday life.

In reality, a garden can be a grounding space at any stage of life to combat the stress of life. I remember many times that a simple garden plan has helped me to de-stress & find perspective in life.

As a Young Mom

Unquestionably, as a young mom, gardening gave me a space to show my young children where food came from hoping they would fall in love with eating healthy things from the garden. As seen in an article by Michigan State University, gardening with children helps their development in "every stage of the process." I wanted that for my kids.

Mom of Teens

Undoubtedly, as a mom of teens, the garden has given me a space to breathe because they don't want to follow me out to the garden. They leave me alone and give me space when I run to my garden. Watching things grow that don't talk back to me is so refreshing!

Health Seeker

In the same way, as a health seeker, the garden has given me the ability to make health a priority through herbal teas, making tinctures, making infused oils, herbs for cooking, and organic food for health all from the garden. As seen on Healthline, herbs provide "powerful health benefits."

As a Provider

In the same way, as a cook (for my family), I have expanded my knowledge and learned how to use fresh organic food in my kitchen daily. Learning how to preserve from my garden to use later in the year has also been a gift to my heart. I have saved hundreds of dollars each month from my budget by cooking from my garden.

 As the Penny Hoarder site shares, "how a backyard garden could save you $500 on groceries," shares the truth into using the garden to save.  And I love the breakdown that Proverbs 31 Homesteading blog shares by giving the exact amounts of savings from her garden.

Becoming a Grandma

In the hope of becoming a grandma in the future (not yet!), I see the garden being a place where I can show my grandkids how things grow. I can bring continued health and beauty into life as the garden provides health for their future selves. 

The ”Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein was a staple in my classroom as a third-grade teacher. I enjoyed reading to my students about a tree who gave a little boy unselfishly everything it had. The boy used the tree to have fun by climbing on it and swinging from its branches. He would eat the apples and rest under its shade.  

Later in life, as he grew up, the boy’s needs changed, and he used the tree to sell the apples, to build a house, and then a boat from the wood of the tree. Soon the tree was just a stump in the forest. The ending of the book leads us to the boy sitting on the stump of the tree and enjoying resting together.

In conclusion, this book's message is what a garden has done for me in each stage of life. It has provided protection, space to think, time to watch things grow and in turn has provided a place for my heart to destress. 

Therefore, growing a garden can bring up images of people hot & sweaty, working the land. A garden can be hard work, but it doesn't have to be. Setting up a space that is compact, manageable, and accessible takes away the “hard” work of gardening. Check out how Create My Garden reduces the work for you through a consultation & installation.

Using a raised bed system allows the gardener control over the environment and makes it easy to plant, enjoy, and harvest instead of pulling weeds constantly, digging hard dirt, and fighting the environment.  Instead, gardening could be set up as a system that is simple and enjoyable for you!