We hope that you’re enjoying the gradual return of the light as we move through this odd-weather winter and into what promises to be a brilliant new year! During this season, we’ve resolved to help our clients and community members carry out their new year’s resolutions. Here are a few common commitments (from USA.gov), on which a garden can help us all follow through:

Get Fit / Lose Weight / Manage Stress
Gardening offers gentle, consistent exercise, and a chance to take action in a manageable sphere. A garden can be large or small, and should be built in a way that fits into your schedule and helps you meet your activity goals.

Save Money
Gardening can save you money on your food bill, on yard maintenance expenses, and on healthcare. And, while building infrastructure can add cost up front, it will save time and energy in the long run!

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
From rebuilding raised beds to reimagining growing containers to composting kitchen scraps, the garden offers ample opportunities for lessening our households’ and organizations’ footprints.

Volunteer to Help Others
Gardening helps people help themselves: there are many local programs that help us share what we’ve learned (see Growing Gardens’ current mentorship opportunities) or the produce we’re not able to use (see Oregon Food Bank’s Plant a Row program).

Eat Healthy Food
In an edible garden, you can grow your own delicious, abundant, healthy food: organic, local, and always in season. Taste-wise and health-wise, nothing compares.