The need for Gardening

Well today I feel like I have finally made some huge headway on getting the garden finished. The edging went up around the plot, the stepping stones went in down the middle and the best bit is that the first lot of plants have gone in. All that's left to do now is get the wood-chips for the path and finish it off. I have also just sown a new batch of veges that will be ready in a few weeks. I have been sowing seeds periodically so that I don't end up with all the vegetables being ready at the same time. Although I love when I do have lots and am able to share them around my flatmates and others I am creating the garden to stop myself having to spend so much money on veges that go bad before I get to finish them. Which now brings me to the topic of today's blog; my need for gardening.

• Need to save money:
  Well as I said above gardening in the long run will save me money. And I do have a great need for any extra money I can get my hands on while studying. I don't have the time to work hours on end to get a bit extra and the money I do manage to save needs to go on placements in order for me to pass my course.
   
• Need to create a more usable space in the backyard:
  For the last 2 years I have often spend time starring at this patch of land and wondered how on earth I am going to actually use it. It is semi-detached from the house by a huge, old (and crumbling) retaining wall that has steep stairs that lead up to it. I hated seeing the space not be put to good use other than a dumping ground for rubble and wood left over from renovating. There was a plan to turn it in to a car-park as it is beside the road. I couldn't really warm to this as I felt it was too definite. If we were to put concrete down it was going to have to stay concrete. I feel using it as a garden still leaves this space open for other things later if the need should arise for something else.
• Need to spend time removed from study and work:
  As a busy student who still manages to hold down two jobs I have a great need for being able to get away from both of them. I think it is healthy to have an activity that is separate from both of these otherwise I would feel too consumed by them which may end up leaving me a bit lost when the study year comes to an end.
• Need for accomplishment:
  I have always loved finishing things projects as I'm sure many other people to do. Being able to create this garden from nothing will leave me with a great sense of accomplishment and has already started to now that I am so close to the end.
• Need to 'escape':
  Although this may seem similar to the need to get away from work and study this is more about escaping all the thoughts and pressures of everyday life as well as work and study. It gives me time to not think about anything in particular and in my relax my mind. Although there is still things I need to think about while gardening they are things that are removed from social pressures, from deadlines, from requirements of study. There are no rules or expectations of others in building my own garden and that is what I love. "Feeding the birds, watching the butterfllies, and listening to the bees is a fabulous way of de-stressing, and high on the feel-good factor too - you know you're doing a bit for the environment." Fisher, MacCaskey, Marken (2006)
• The need to feel 'real' again:
  "The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses" - Hanna Rion. That feeling of just being another 'clone', after having joined the ranks of hundreds of students that spend theirs day's and most of the evening starring at the computer in the library, only coming out for food and sleep I need a little time back in reality. To get that feeling that my 5 senses are still working, that sense that yes I am still alive and the world is much bigger place than just the few blocks between my house and the library keeps me powering on through the hard slog that is second year Occupational therapy.
  
  
• Need to be self-sufficient
  If the Christchurch earthquake is to do anything positive it would be to teach us that we should learn to be more self-sufficient. To not have to rely on supermarkets being open in order to get food for ourselves and our families. It has emphasised the need for getting back to some of our old habits and one way that I am doing this is through creating my own vege garden.

References:

Fisher, S., MacCaskey, M., & Marken, B. (2006). Gardening for Dummies. England: John   Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Quote from http://www.quotegarden.com/gardens.html