"Plants are powerful."
People are opening up about dealing with mental health … with urban gardening.
People are opening up about dealing with mental health … with urban gardening.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I have ME, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
00:03Postpartum anxiety, I neglected myself.
00:07I suffer from anxiety and actually have addiction issues from the past.
00:11I had like COVID pre the boost.
00:14Something that was within that plant and within myself that was like,
00:18all right, we got to fight to survive, right?
00:30I don't know if it would be presently on this earth.
00:35I was deep in the darkness of postpartum anxiety.
00:39As you're, you know, wiping down the leaves or as you're watering
00:42or checking for pests or removing yellow leaves,
00:45that really kind of helped me realizing how powerful plants are.
00:49It just is magic.
00:50It's like being a fairy and sprinkling berry dust everywhere
00:55and just, yeah, seeing things happen.
01:00I'm staring at the garden right now and I just can't help but just smile at it.
01:06It's just so beautiful.
01:07I developed my disability and my illness and I was like, I can't do much anymore.
01:15Being on my feet for any period of time can lead to me being stuck in bed for like a week.
01:21It just disconnects me from everything.
01:23That is a practice of being mindful.
01:26Unapologetically being myself in the plant realm because it is a space
01:30where you don't see a lot of people that look like me.
01:33Your focus is just on, I'm here right now making sure I give this plant enough water.
01:39I loved being able to see a plant go from the seed or the sprout
01:45and then a week later it might be like 30 centimeters high.
01:48It was magical.
01:50It was soothing and that would just remind me that life exists
01:55and life keeps going.
02:10Living in Minnesota, there's times in the winter where we only see about
02:14eight hours of sunlight a day.
02:16So that alone, that level of darkness per day can kind of put a damper on someone's
02:22mental health.
02:23This is like a happy light times like a hundred.
02:26Like waking up in the morning and even when it's dark in the morning,
02:29you come out here and you just get to see that big, bright, beautiful garden.
02:31Like you can't help but have a smile on your face.
02:44Like it can just bring that little bit of life
02:48where you don't feel like there is life around you anymore.
02:52It's the release of dopamines when you see a new leaf coming in
02:57and because you took care of it, it grew.
03:00In a way, it kind of helps you take care of yourself.
03:02I was like, I'm going to buy this plant, this plant, this plant.
03:05I couldn't do it and it died immediately.
03:07Suddenly when you've got like 13 plants that you're like,
03:09all have different watering schedules and all have different fertilizing schedules
03:14and it can be very overwhelming,
03:16especially if you've already got other stuff going on like a health condition.
03:19I'm not a very good plant mom.
03:20I'll get a succulent and I can't keep it alive.
03:42They'll tell you like, okay, you need to refresh your water.
03:44Okay, I get reminded like, oh, time to have plant food.
03:47Super easy step.
03:48Add a little bit of plant food in the water and mix it in and boom,
03:51and they're just growing.
03:52It's beautiful.
03:52Even me being a horrible plant mom can grow a beautiful garden that can feed our family.
03:58My two-year-old, he likes to come out here and like before bed,
04:01he'll like to say goodnight to the babies and be like,
04:03I hope you sleep well.
04:04I hope you grow big.
04:05Just instilling a little bit of like empathy for plants and it's just, it's beautiful.
04:19There's just no green space like anywhere in the city.
04:24There was one time where I felt overwhelmed by the amount of plants that I had.
04:27The worst thing is that you see all of these people using their big hose or shovels
04:32and digging in and they're jumping on it and getting the soil up
04:35and they're throwing things behind them.
04:38It just doesn't have to be that way.
04:49I think it's so clever and it makes it so easy to do.
05:03Being able to nourish our bodies versus having the barriers that
05:08maybe some people aren't able to get to the grocery store.
05:11I feel proud of me for taking care of them.
05:13I feel proud of the little baby plants for growing so strong and beautiful
05:17and grateful, grateful because they provide sustenance and they provide happiness.