Gardening for the Mind, Body, and Soul
Planting a vegetable garden can reap so many rewards. Beyond the nutritional benefits of fresh produce and saving money by growing your own vegetables, studies show that gardening is good for your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Gardening boosts cognitive function in adults and seniors, even lowering the risk of dementia. For kids, gardening can improve perceptual, motor and physical development. For families who garden together, it can strengthen the familial bond. For neighbors who garden together, it builds neighborhood solidarity, strength, and health, and often lowers crime rates. Studies also show that acts of kindness, like sharing garden produce, increases the emotional well-being of the generous person.
Garden Produce Sharing
What if planting an extra row in your backyard garden, throwing some seeds or plants into a container on your porch, balcony, or patio, or even lining your windowsill with a few pots could help to alleviate hunger and improve health? By sharing your produce with a neighbor across the street, across the hall, or across the city, you can have a meaningful impact.
Resources - DIY Home Gardening Initiative
Whether you’re experienced or new to gardening, community advocates from across the city have come together to make it as easy as possible by identifying resources (below) that help and guide you with step-by-step information, including instructional videos and downloadable flyers, about how to plant and care for a yard or container/pot gardens, when to harvest and where to distribute your produce, as well as other useful information.
Plant the seeds of home gardening benefits
Getting Started
- Backyard Farmer, Starting a Vegetable Garden - Deciding what to plant, finding the right space, video and step by step page
- Omaha World Herald - Tips for Starting a Vegetable Garden
- Tim’s Square Foot Gardening Page Planting Calendar - When to plant different vegetables
- Nebraska Extension, Fall Planting video
- Community Crops, Starting Your Home Garden - downloadable flyer
- Community Crops, Mowing to Growing video series on converting yard space to garden space, including seed selection, and seed starting, planting depth, and using containers for growing vegetables.
- Nebraska Extension - Seed Starting Indoors
- Nebraska Extension - Tips for Buying Seeds
- Nebraska Statewide Arboretum - Transplanting Nursery Plants to an Outdoor Garden, Container, or Pot
- Backyard Farmer - Constructing a Raised Bed video
Seed Sources Exchange seeds or plant with others, find low cost or free seeds, plants, learn how to save seeds for future planting
- Community Crops - Plant swap and plant sales
- Omaha Public Library - Seed library
- Free Heirloom Seeds
- Sources for free and inexpensive seeds
- Almanac - How to Save Vegetable Seeds
Tools
- Gardening Tool Libraries - How to Build a Tool Library in Your Community
- Backyard Farmer - Recommended Tools for Starting a Vegetable Garden
Grow a home garden for better family and community health
Education/Gardening classes
- Community Crops – Urban Farmer series
- Nebraska Extension, GRO Big Red: Starting a Vegetable Garden - video seminar covering site selection (including in-ground, raised beds, and containers), plant selection, preparation, planting, maintenance, and resources
- Nebraska Extension - Master Gardener classes
- The 3 Bags – free online course on growing vegetables
- Find videos and information on everything gardening at BackYard Farmer.
Container/Pot Gardening
- Community Crops container gardening – video series
- Backyard Farmer container gardening - video series
- Nebraska Extension container gardening – downloadable flyer
- The Spruce - Growing Vegetables Indoors
Tending your garden
Preparing the soil
Adding nutrients
- Almanac.com - How and When to Fertilize Your Vegetable Garden
- City of Lincoln Earth Fuel - Composting
- Nebraska Extension – Natural vs. Synthetic Fertilizers
Watering·
- Nebraska Statewide Arboretum – Effective Watering
- Nebraska Statewide Arboretum – Tips for Drought-Tolerant Landscapes
- Nebraska Extension GRO Big Red - Using Rain Gardens
- Almanac.com – Waterwise Gardening
- UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources - Water Conservation in Vegetable Gardens
Weeding
- Nebraska Statewide Arboretum - weeding
- Clemson University Dept. of Agriculture – controlling weeds by cultivating and mulching
- Iowa State University Extension - weed control in the vegetable garden
- Community Crops - Common Weeds, downloadable flyer
Pest control
- Nebraska Extension – Creating Balance in the Garden
- Nebraska Extension – Handling Pesticide Safely
- Nebraska Extension - Insect and Disease Control for Organic Vegetable Gardeners
- Community Crops - Common Insect Pests, downloadable flyer
Harvesting
- Nebraska Extension – When to Harvest
- Iowa Extension – When to Plant, When to Harvest
- Colorado Extension - Freshness, Safety Rules for Donating Your Harvest
- Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act - Outlines the protections for persons donating food to non-profit organizations in good faith
Growing Family Health
- Alliance for a Healthier Generation – Health Benefits of Gardening
- American Heart Association - Homegrown Foods From the Garden Make Family Meals Healthier
- Garden Tech - Nutrition Benefits of Garden to Table vs Supermarkets
Healthy Recipes
- Mayo Clinic – Heart Healthy Recipes
- Bryan Health and April Sampson Cancer Center– Free wellness recipe book from Master Chef Nazim Khan and Registered Dietician Melanie Mitchell
- USDA My Plate Kitchen - recipes for delicious healthy eating
- Nebraska Extension/UNL Food - 13 Fun Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
- Nebraska Extension - Preserving Your Harvest, tips on canning, freezing, and drying
Share your bounty
Fight hunger, where to donate your extra garden produce
- Nebraska Extension - Plant a Row for the Hungry
- University of Nebraska – Husker Pantry
MORE DROP OFF LOCATIONS TO COME!!
How to start a Grow a Row for the Hungry campaign in your neighborhood
Feeding America - 5 Tips for Growing a Garden That Fights Hunger
Colorado Extension - Freshness, Safety Rules for Donating Your Harvest
Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act - Outlines the protections for persons donating food to non-profit organizations in good faith
Build family, neighborhood and community connections around local food, home gardening
Our Community
- City of Lincoln - Local Food Systems Plan website - Increasing Food Access, Investing in Local Production, Conserving Resources, Reducing Waste; City of Lincoln – Local Food Systems Plan video
- City of Lincoln - FAQs on the Local Food Systems Plan
- City of Lincoln - Food Access/Resource Map - where to find food distribution, free food pantries, farmers markets, composting locations, and more
- Community Crops garden locations
Our Neighborhoods
- Guide to hosting a neighborhood plant swap
- Garden Sharing: Tips for Gardening Together
- Garden Partnering and Bartering
- Starting a Plant a Row for the Hungry Campaign in your neighborhood to help alleviate hunger
- Feeding America: 5 Tips For Growing a Garden That Fights Hunger
Neighborhood gardens in Lincoln
- Hawley Hamlet - block bounded by 25th and 26th and 'T' and 'U' Streets in the Hawley Historic District 12 blocks from downtown Lincoln.
- Prospect Street Gardens
- Arapahoe Garden for the Indian Village Neighborhood - 3434 S 13th St
Our Families
Engaging kids in gardening
- Nebraska Statewide Arboretum
- Partnership for a Healthy Lincoln
- Lincoln Lancaster County Health Dept. - downloadable flyer
- Insteading.com
Engaging seniors in gardening
- Gardening Know How - Gardens For Senior Citizens: Creating An Easy Care Senior Garden
DIY Home Gardening Initiative Advocates
