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Wellness - Tampa Style

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Michele Ogilvie

Jun 10, 2022

United States of America

Categories:

Health, Wellness, Gardening, Community

The City of Tampa, Florida, recently made news of its desire to become a wellness destination. So what is Wellness? It is the overall balance of a person's physical, social, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, environmental, and occupational well-being. Wellness influences a person's health, and health is where the physical body is free from disease.


One of the ways the City is guiding wellness is the access to fresh, healthy food. The strategy is to establish community gardens in the City's neighborhoods with poor health indicators. Mayor Jane Castor states that access to fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables improves the well-being of a community. Access can help change eating and exercise behaviors, improving health risks like diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.


Community members seem to agree. Front yard gardeners recently asked the Coalition of Community Gardens, a local group, to host a Herbal and Plant Remedies workshop. We gathered around our small garden and thought of our grandmother's and great-grandmother's way of life. The garden played an essential role in the family's health and wellness. Our ancestors relied on the plants and herbs that grew in the kitchen garden or gathered in the fields and woods surrounding their homes to help promote health. For example:


Fennel is a garden favorite known for its tasty bulbs and beautiful flowers and is excellent in salads. Did you also know that fennel helps with inflammation and itchy skin and supports breastmilk production?


Rosemary has such a delightful scent! Did you know that its dried leaves make a fragrant tea? The tea has anti-inflammatory properties, improves memory and mood, and may have potential applications for managing high blood sugar among people with diabetes.


So here is a promotional message to start gardening to promote your wellness and health:


1) Gardening is exercise. Activities such as shoveling, raking, digging, and chopping work major muscle groups in the body; after a few hours of this, a good night's sleep is a benefit!


2) Gardening can foster feelings of connection with the earth. People report that gardening is mentally soothing and somewhat meditative-like. Getting your hands into the dirt, helping something grow, and harvesting and eating the produce is a very satisfying experience of accomplishment.


3) Gardening can foster feelings of connection with our community. People of different ages, abilities, and backgrounds love to garden, and you may find yourself working alongside someone you never knew. These encounters expand both what you know and who you know.


4) So, whether your garden is large or small, a raised bed, community garden, or window box, getting dirty and eating clean are good for you. We take gardening seriously, and we have fun gardening in my hometown, Tampa, Florida. We improve the quality of life for our neighborhoods. There is no magic to doing it. If we can do it, so can you.


Here we grow again!


Photo by Michele Ogilvie.

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Catalog #:

0522.101.01.061022

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