AgEBB-MU CAFNR Extension
Green Horizons
Volume 25, Number 2
Spring 2021
Essential Gardening: Finding comfort in the garden during the pandemic.
Kim Lovelace-Hainsfurther, Forest Keeling Nursery
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| "Picking pawpaws" Photo credit: Kim Lovelace-Hainsfurther |
Some of my favorite childhood memories are of time spent with my Grandmother. My Grandparents always had a robust garden and it always needed tending. I would go out with my Grandmother in the early morning and help her pick beans, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and squash. After serving up lunch for Grandpa, Grandma and I would head to the front porch swing and commence snapping beans in preparation for canning.
This was time to enjoy an ice- cold glass of lemonade as well as stories of Grandma's childhood, funny things my Dad did as a kid, a few Bible lessons, and when Grandma ran out of stories, she would simply hum to the tune of songs I recognized from church. I have such wonderful memories of growing up near my Grandparents in rural Missouri. Time felt different then, somehow slower and richer.
2020 was many things. It was tragic. It was frightening. It was surreal in so many ways. It's still hard to wrap one's head around the fact that the entire world basically shut down. And now, after more than a year, we are still restricted, we are zoomed out and just beginning to peek back out into the world. Our world will never look as it did prior to the pandemic. New ways of going about our day-to-day lives have been created from our nation's resiliency.
Sadly, many businesses were forced to close indefinitely. Other essential businesses remained open with heavy restrictions and safety protocols in place. Curbside pick-up became a thing and delivery options quickly multiplied and serviced the American people who were quarantining in place.
Nurseries and forestry related businesses were determined essential, and in most states, doors of these businesses remained open. Quickly, the green industry saw a healthy increase in demand for plants, especially food producing plants. There were multiple conditions created by the pandemic that led to the gardening industry experiencing an influx of new gardeners as well as renewed interest in gardening, especially for growing food producing plants. According to the 2021 National Gardening Survey published by the National Gardening Association, 18.3 million new gardeners were engaged in 2020. Of these, 88% have indicated they intend to increase or maintain this heightened level of gardening in 2021.
The survey points out that many of those new to gardening represent a diverse group of younger and traditionally underrepresented groups. This is good news for the future of gardening. The younger gardeners are driven by growing food and by the benefits of gardening rather than simply beautifying their homes. All age groups related to the mental and emotional health benefits as the number one reason for engaging in gardening.
Specialty crops such as fruit and nut trees, especially those with nutritional and medicinal benefits continue to push ahead in popularity. This growth in popularity is a strong indicator of a shift, not only in the way, but in the why we garden.
Looking back to a year that brought immense collective hardship and heartbreak to our nation, it's comforting to find bright spots. I believe the overwhelming number of those new to gardening and growing food crops speaks volumes of our need to connect, with family, with nature, with our food and with our roots.
We all had to learn to slow down. This unprecedented time-out gave us more opportunities to gather around the family dinner table. Time returned to something to be savored and enjoyed. We had more time to plant and nurture, not only plants but relationships and values.
Many things were in short supply during the Pandemic, RV's, bicycles and plants, to name a few. In fact, there was a shortage of canning jars. I hope this means somewhere a child and grandmother were able to bond over sipping freshly squeezed lemonade, sharing life stories and snapping green beans.