The Benefits of Gardening: How Growing Your Own Produce Will Benefit You in Retirement
Do you have an allotment?
This week, we’re looking at the benefits of gardening and the advantages of growing your own produce:
The Benefits of Gardening: Topping Up Your Vitamin D
Spending more time outside can help to top up your Vitamin D. This is essential for keeping your bones, teeth and muscles strong and healthy.
Healthy muscles and bones help to keep you strong as you progress through your retirement years, leading to enhanced physical health. You’ll also retain a stronger sense of balance which can help to prevent falls in your later years.
Increasing the Time You Spend Out in the Fresh Air
Fresh air is essential for your mental health. One of the many benefits of gardening is that you’ll increase the time you spend outdoors.
From providing a distraction from the stresses of everyday life to giving you a safe space to retreat to, having an allotment can be incredibly beneficial for your mental health as you get older.
Benefits of Gardening: Helping You to Sleep Better
Fresh air can lead to a better nights’ sleep. The increased movement will naturally tire you out, and the fresh air can help to reset your internal body clock.
Being outside also helps to reduce stress by increasing your serotonin levels; this can help you sleep better at night, and improve your overall mood.
The Benefits of Gardening: Eating Seasonally
Another of the many benefits of gardening is that it can encourage you to eat seasonal produce.
This not only helps to reduce your carbon footprint as you’re not buying imported vegetables that aren’t in season, it also helps you to be more adventurous with your meals.
As you’ll be growing according to the season, you might find that you adapt your meal plans to suit which vegetables you’ll have available and when.
Having an Allotment Can Increase Opportunities for Social Interaction
Having an allotment can encourage you to interact with new people; try striking up a conversation with the people in the neighbouring allotments. You can swap tips and tricks, and even share each others’ produce.
You could also invite a friend or family member down to your allotment to help you as a way of spending quality time together.
The Benefits of Gardening: Encouraging You to Move More
One of the benefits of gardening is having more opportunities to move more. Between digging, raking, watering, potting, planting and picking, you’ll be increasing your daily activity levels and working lots of different muscles.
This can lead to improved physical health as well as enhanced mental health.
Growing Your Own Produce Can Lead to Feelings of Accomplishment
Finally, gardening and growing your own produce can lead to feelings of accomplishment. Tending to your produce and nurturing it until it’s ripe enough to eat, and then serving at the table, is a great achievement.
This can lead to you feeling more confident, which can help to improve your mental health.
If you’ve found this article helpful, why not read our previous blog on the best technology for seniors?
Alternatively, to enquire about Friary Meadow, please contact a member of the team.