There are many reasons Nigerians pay little or no attention to gardening, many people claim not to have time during the week because they have to go to work and they dedicate their weekends for resting, partying or visiting family and friends. When we see gardens or a small piece of farmland that have been well tendered and taken care of it looks amazing and we wish we had one in our homes but a lot of us do not know the health benefits we are missing when we choose to give partying as an excuse to “not gardening”.
Gardening has many benefits apart from beautifying our homes, offices and streets, surprisingly, it has health benefits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Unites States labels gardening “moderate cardiovascular exercise.” A former editor for a gardening magazine in USA Dan Hickey says that according to studies he has participated in, 45 minutes of gardening can burn as many calories as 30 minutes of heart-healthy aerobics.
Health institutions have also recommended 30 to 45 minutes of gardening three to five times a week as part of a good strategy to combat obesity. If you get fatigued easily or can’t physically manage 30 minutes at once, you can still benefit by dividing your exercise into smaller portions. For instance, you can do 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the late afternoon. This way you can also avoid working in the heat and humidity of midday. The icing on the cake: Research shows that people that engage in gardening have an increased zest for life, sleep better, have a lowered risk for arthritis and diabetes and according to a new study have better sex lives. So instead of cementing the rest of your compound where you didn’t build anything, why not create a small garden?
