Gardening gives life

I believe in gardening. Since I was a child, gardening gave me inspiration, solace and wonder. Gardening has given me life.

Everyone can benefit from gardening. Gardening helps keep you active, providing good exercise. Gardening can help relieve stress, and it can also help you connect with your community, sharing your produce with others, exchanging gardening tips.

Nothing would make me happier than for you to enjoy the benefits of a garden. Here’s how you can get started:

• Start small. Pick a container or small piece of land, cultivate for a season and learn from it.
• Create a plan. Decide what you want to grow and learn how to best cultivate that produce.
• Have patience. Learn from the garden. Let it teach you how to grow.
• Protect the plants. Check on them every day. Bugs, animals and fungi can cause damage. There are easy ways to protect your plants.
• Use good soil. I use soil with compost provided by the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
• Talk with others. Gardeners love to share ideas.