Gardening is about nourishing the body, mind, and spirit. It is about adding color and vibrancy to both your outdoor and indoor spaces. A garden is your own personal statement, and it can say absolutely anything you want it to. May Sarton, a 20th century poet and novelist once wrote:
“Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.”
What we love about May’s philosophy is that she, like us, understood gardening to be much more than just a hobby. One of the greatest things about a gardening lifestyle is that you’ll reap what you sow. Whatever you put into your garden, you’ll most certainly get back from it.
Now if you’re like us, you can recall your very first gardening experience as a child. We remember plucking ripe red tomatoes right off the plant in the backyard and popping them straight into our mouths. They were still slightly warm from the summer sun, and left our fingers scented with the earthy fragrance of tomato leaves. Each gardening memory is filled with sights, sounds, and scents, engaging all of our senses. It comes as no surprise, though, that our favorite gardening experience is all about taste. There’s nothing like the fresh flavor that comes straight out of a garden.
It’s all about the flavor
You’ll find that herbs, vegetables, and fruits are simply more flavorful when they’re home or locally grown. Oftentimes major chain grocery stores use a chemical gas on their produce to quicken ripening. This gas leaves produce looking pretty, but often robs it of its naturally luscious flavor. On top of that, you’ll also find that this gas causes your grocery store produce to rot very quickly once you get it home. Gross.
The best way to avoid yucky chemical gases, insecticides, and pesticides on your food? Grow your own, or buy local organic produce. You’ll discover a whole new world of flavors that have been hidden by conventional farming procedures. Local or homegrown produce is best when prepared in simple recipes. Don’t fuss over complicated dishes; when you use fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruits, the flavors have the power to speak for themselves. Check out Amy Cotler’s book The Locavore Way for simple, tasty recipe ideas.
Savor fresh produce with simple recipes
For starters, try making this easy and absolutely delicious flat bread next time you entertain. We found this recipe in a recent addition of Real Simple magazine, and totally fell in love with it. It’s easy to make, and we love it every time we get to use fresh herbs from our herb garden. If butternut squash is not in season, try experimenting with what you can use from your garden, such as zucchini or tomatoes.
Butternut Squash Flat Bread with Cheddar and Pine Nuts:
1 pound of prepared pizza dough (We found pre-made whole wheat pizza dough in the prepared food section of our local cooperative food market. You could also make your own.)
1 pound of butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and sliced into 1/4 inch thick pieces
1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon of oilve oil
1 and 1/2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Mix together the butternut squash, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, pepper, red onion, and thyme. Next, prepare a pizza pan or cookie sheet for the crust by lightly spraying it with non-stick cooking spray, then sprinkling on a handful or yellow cornmeal. Press the pizza dough into the pan until it is the desired thickness. (We used a full size cookie sheet and ended up with a nice, thin crust.) Scatter the butternut squash mixture over the crust. Sprinkle on the cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Slice it up and serve!
Not only is this dish completely yummy, but it is wonderfully fragrant, too. It will scent your whole home with the terrific smell of fresh thyme. Try cutting this up into narrow slices at your next cocktail party. Or, serve it with a fresh fruit salad for a delicious brunch. You’ll never want to go back to flavorless prepared foods again.
Tags: Amy Cotler, gardening, lifestyle, local produce, simple recipes, The Locavore Way
Gardening is TOTALLY a lifestyle and for those arguing this point, you don’t know how to garden!
Gardening is indeed a lifestyle – it has changed my life completely. It is an instant anti-depressant. It is life.
For me it’s not about growing the veggies, it’s about feeding the hungry. It’s not about building a garden, it’s about bringing community together.
Loved this post – awesome!
Shawna Coronado
I agree gardening is a lifestyle! A hobby is an interest picked up when there’s time to indulge and set aside when there isn’t. Not so with gardening! From seed to table the foods we grow are an extension of what’s important to us and we nurture them with every ounce of our being. Once into the kitchen we have a whole new respect for the flavors and combinations in the dishes being prepared. That’s also true for extra food put away for the winter months when we can savor summer for a bit longer. I’ve never had a hobby that could accomplish that!
Love this post – and yet I do usually have dirt in my fingernails 24/ 7 because I get so into my green I forget to throw on my gloves. We grow what we eat and we grow for better health. Making our surroundings pretty isn’t such a bad thing either!
Love having you on my Garden Network!
I love the May Sarton quote, but I’m going to have to politely disagree with the statement that gardening is not a hobby it’s a lifestyle. I think for many people that is true, but I think that gardening should be as inclusive as possible. For some people it is a hobby and I have no problem with that. There is a spectrum of experience and involvement with gardening. I love that for some people it is really their life, not even just a lifestyle and for others it is simply a hobby. I applaud anyone who is growing anything for any reason. I think gardeners are some of the most generous people around, I worry though that sometimes we can become elitist and exclusionary.
I know a tomatophiliac for whom gardening is both lifestyle and hobby. No one really needs to grow 30 different kinds of tomatoes. But she’s into tomatoes like some people are into roses—they read about one they don’t have, and they just have to have it. You could argue that a passion for any kind of gardening is a lifestyle and not a hobby, but the definition of “lifestyle” is “a manner of living that reflects the person’s values and attitudes.” A hobby is “an activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.” The two are not mutually exclusive. Incidentally, not eating meat is a lifestyle, having fun with new recipes is a hobby—and your mouth-watering recipe suits both!
What fantastically thoughtful comments everyone. Where do I even start? After reading your comments, even the ones on Twitter, I realized we fell short in communicating the essence of an aHa! Gardening Lifestyle. Our goal was to point out that a garden “lifestyle” isn’t just about the act of gardening itself, nor a way to measure one’s obsession with growing stuff in their backyard. Therefore, I have decided the title of a future post should include the phrase: A Garden-inspired lifestyle. A post about how one chooses to live life by their activities, their beliefs, their passions, and even their obsessions.
I appreciated Debra’s comments about the definition of “lifestyle” and “hobby.” I then realized we should have titled the post “Gardening is a Lifestyle, not just a Hobby.” But now I think the title should change completely, one that reflects a “person’s values and attitudes.” Great insight Debra!
Kerry, your comment was one that made me reconsider the meaning behind the title. I hadn’t considered the title could be read as exclusionary or elitist. This is so far beyond our aHa! mission and how we live our own lives. I wanted to change the title, but thought, this gives me an opportunity to put out an even better post next time. Just so you know, I totally agree with everything you said. My apologies if it read otherwise.
Bren, I don’t even want to admit to how many gloves I have and end up tearing them off 20 minutes into playing in the dirt. I have a fingernail scrubber in every bathroom! Thanks for always sharing your passion and excitement.
I loved what you said Lisa, “From seed to table the foods we grow are an extension of what’s important to us and we nurture them with every ounce of our being.” Absolutely, respect the flavors and where they came from! I agree with you, I’ve never had a hobby influence so many different facets of my life. You’ve got the essence of an aHa! Lifestyle.
Shawna, I felt you and Lisa were saying the same thing but in different ways. It’s not about the act of gardening itself, but how it influences what you do and how to share yourself with friends, family and your community. You’re definitely one of the poster children for.
Katie, I can hear you saying your comment now. So you!
Some very special people are capable of incorporating their most cherished values into their gardening activities and you can feel this connection when you visit their gardens. For them, gardening is neither hobby nor lifestyle, but a way of expressing their personalities and creativity through their gardens, enabling body/mind/spirit plays itself out in their gardening activities, and increasing the pleasure they take in the journey.
These gardeners have invested some whole part of themselves, into their garden. To my mind, all reasons for gardening are valid, since gardening reconnects people to the Earth, something we desperately need.
Was that-Katie, me? Ok! I’m always happy to give my opinion
I’m glad I waited, so I could read everyone else’s comments!
I’ll start with this:
“There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.” -Elizabeth Lawrence
For me, that’s true. No garden can ever measure up to the garden I planted at my parents’ house when I was six. I had a trowel, a yearly cube of peat moss (WE DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS BAD THEN!), and lots of annual flowers in crazy colors: those petunias that were purple and white striped or magenta and white striped. Packets and Packets of zinnia seeds and sunflower seeds. I don’t know how I got those plants to grow, but we have proof that I did–lots of pictures. Maybe my mom and dad went out and watered them while I was asleep. Or, maybe it was the beginning of my green thumb.
All I know is that, from that point forward, I’ve torn up the soil at every place I’ve lived-rented or owned-to the point where my parents had to MOVE when I left home because they couldn’t take care of the garden without me. (Well, there were other reasons, but that was certainly a factor, according to them.)
Then there’s this:
“A Garden is not a place: it is a passage, a passion.
We don’t know where we’re going, to pass through is enough, to pass through is to remain.” -Octavio Paz
For me, the world is a garden, but for some reason, I feel a deep connection or deep love or deep fascination with plants, and so for me, the garden is the metaphor I use to organize my life.
For people with horses, perhaps the world is one big trail to explore.
For cyclists–an endless road ahead, filled with possibilities.
For divers–an ocean, deep, wide, and full of mysteries.
So, really, I’m with all of you. A garden is a hobby, and a lifestyle, and one pot of tomatoes and basil on the patio. For those of us that work with Jayme, at aHa!, gardening is a lifestyle, more or less, but we’re equally as thrilled and equally as interested in helping the hobbyists. Welcoming them into our world for a visit. Hoping they’ll welcome us into theirs.
Oh, don’t apologize at all! You and the whole concept of aHa! are totally a great force for inclusion and expanding the gardening audience. I know your title came from enthusiasm and passion. I certainly never meant to imply that you were either elitist or exclusionary.
Gardening means different things to different people. Since no two people are alike, It is hard to pin an exact definition to each individual. One thing that is absolute though… gardening is what You make of it!
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