Depression and feel like an enormous dark hole, and climbing out can seem to require impossible effort. But researchers in the UK analyzing the results of 10 studies (with 1,250 participants) found that relief can take as little as five minutes surrounded by green. The researchers considered the effects of a variety of outdoor exercise activities on mood and self esteem. What they discovered was that people experienced a big boost in both after just five minutes out in nature. The effects increased with time, albeit less dramatically than the initial jump. Even greater improvements came when they added blue to the mix — in the form of lakes or rivers. So if you’re down, remember this simple, free prescription: just a few minutes Vitamin Green and Vitamin Blue. (Via BBC).
six great reasons to start gardening
My favorite seed catalog came in today’s mail.
What’s new for 2010: organic Floriani red flint corn, green meat radish, Bolivian rainbow pepper, purple pac choy, ruby streaks mustard.
This is why I started gardening – I was awed by the incredible diversity of life I could sustain on my little corner of earth.
There were other reasons too. After my urban upbringing, I longed for the pastoral and bucolic ideal of self sufficiency and thriftiness. And certainly there were the political reasons: getting off the corporate food trough while promoting biological diversity and personal health.
But what really pushed me past reading and into action was a full-color catalog that arrived one Winter’s day. I saw purple carrots, speckled lettuces, striped snappy string beans, and a bright orange tomato that turned out to be an eggplant! If your vegetable education came largely from mainstream supermarkets as mine once did, you’ll understand my shock. Who knew there were purple potatoes, or that we could grow Thomas Jefferson’s beans or the Anasazi’s corn?
These days I’m a passionate gardener and my garden supports over 100 species. Here’s why you should tend a garden, even if it’s just a couple of plants: (more…)
