By Mindy McIntosh-Shetter

The other day I was in the home improvement center and noticed how many different gardening books there were on the shelf.

I then took my purchases home and turned the television on, to my surprise, a gardening show.

I channeled surfed my choices and found a show that showcased not only gardening but also cooking. What more could one ask for as far as entertainment.

Gardening in recent time is viewed more as a hobby instead of a necessity of survival.

This fact can be found in the community garden movement, recession gardens, and the overwhelming number of programs on television that demonstrate gardening skills. And in some areas there does exist cable channels that solely deal with gardening.

Reality shows on gardening can also be found and range from floral design to landscaping. But I am an old fashion girl and believe that gardening’s popularity goes deeper than soil deep.

Below are my top 10 reasons to garden and combine not only a personal perspective as to why I garden but also some scientific facts that make gardening the new health plan.

1. Gardening provides exercise that seems to be lacking in the American lifestyle. This comes from picking up pots, hoeing, raking, and chores related to tending the garden.
2. Gardening creates an opportunity by which vitamin D can be absorbed. It only takes 15 minutes out in the sun without sunscreen to absorb a daily dose of this vitamin.
3. Gardening provides more control over an individual’s food supply especially for those who are concern with food security. Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

When you think of urban cities, you may think of skyscrapers, traffic jams, and pavement everywhere.

However, the urban garden revolution continues to spread.

The Daily Green has created a wonderful article about the top 10 US urban cities when it comes to the number of community gardens.

Top of the list is Seattle, Washington. Our friends the Shibaguyz are right there in the trenches, growing their own food thanks, in part, to the city’s fabulous P-Patch program. I hope I can visit this lovely city soon and see all the good work for myself.

My internship landed me in the city of McMinnville, Oregon for a summer. I enjoyed being so close to Portland (number 2 on the list) – just 35 miles northeast. Known as the “City of Roses”, there are gardens everywhere. It’s natural, then, that they would also have a significant number of community gardens.

I was glad to see Read the rest of this entry »