Reasons[edit | edit source]
- Excitement of first green shoots
- being outdoors
- graded exercise for health and fitness
- learning about what grows well where, locally
- knowledge of growing techniques
- invoking wonderment, reawakening a sense of wonder in the natural world (quote FWD c77?)
- seeds burst forth
- mental wellbeing
- seed collection
- conservation
- harvest, and abundance
- sense of community
- groupwork
- meeting new people
- productive, unpressurised way of socializing
- generates sense of belonging
- mindfulness via growing local food
- awareness and appreciation of seasonality
- knowing, or getting to know the producers or growers
- being able to trust the provenance of produce
- growing confidence
- building self esteem
- learning and sharing knowledge
- shared kinship with local growers across the country (UK) and worldwide
- enhancing the environment
- enhancing environment quality
- free stuff: foraging, blackberries
- helps biodiversity
- keeps open spaces
- composting is a form of recycling
- reusing old pots and containers
- getting stuff to reuse from the wider community
- promoting localism which also helps road safety
- lower carbon footprint in growing the food
- lower carbon footprint in distributing the food locally
- encouraging cycling, several members cycle to the plot
- encouraging local schools and others in partnership working, which fosters social inclusion eg there is currently a group doing work experience with Communigrow
- local food projects can help build local communities online
- local food projects generate community involvement
- Communigrow's plans include solar water heating
- working with local food projects can combat depression and reduce anxiety, there is a lot of evidence-based research on the impact of the environment on health and mental wellbeing
- contact with nature
- community activity, for example growing food: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
- the scents of growing crops
- birdsong out in the fields
- seeing more wildlife
- experimenting with different growing methods
- practising ingenuity
- using appropriate technology for growing local food
- learning more about appropriate technology
- devising new appropriate technology
- welcoming rain
- appreciating sunsets when still out in the fields
- learning about the importance of using water wisely
- learning about how to keep soils healthy
- learning about how to do more with less when growing food
- learning about seed saving
- the joy of nurturing living things
- doing stuff for others boosts happiness, doing stuff for others with others, eg whne growing food, boosts happiness even more (ref?)
- sitting in the growing field, just listening to nature
- being up with the lark, literally
- learning the patience to wait for the right or auspicious time for planting
- local food growing can be bee-friendly and so aid resilience of pollinators
- finding new varieties of fruit or vegetables to grow
- finding crops to harvest even in early spring
- returning to an overwintering crop for the first spring crop
- participating in a local food project, for example in growing food, can increase your learning curve, there is always something new to learn, new challenges
- sustainable decentralized farming systems can help regenerate local economies
- ...
Headings and topics[edit | edit source]
- tips on propagating
- cultivating
- growing-the basics
Danielle: Wellbeing aspects of local food
Brett: Growing local food, putting up solar tunnels
