Garden your way to good health

As if you needed another reason to get gardening, it could be just what the doctor ordered.

According to an article published on the Express newspaper website, experts are now advising British doctors to prescribe gardening to alleviate conditions such as dementia, stress and high blood pressure.

These “green prescriptions” as they are known, are also being advocated by various charities and healthcare organisations, as well as GPs themselves.

Of course, it’s not the first time that gardening has been linked to good health. Locally, The Brighton and Hove Food Partnership champion the benefits of getting out into the garden, and have had very promising feedback from volunteers about their experiences. The partnership also point to a number of scientific studies which demonstrate the benefits of gardening and community food growing for both mental and physical health.

As well as this, Brighton and Hove City Council have carried out surveys as part of the Allotment Strategy 2014-2024, which aims to make allotments enjoyable, inclusive, sustainable and affordable for the people of Brighton & Hove. Those answering the plot holders survey were asked to rate their overall health. The same question was asked in the 2012 health counts survey:

From these results, we can see that generally allotmenteers say they have better health compared with the general population.

“It would not be possible for me to put a price on the significance that having an allotment has had for me in terms of improvement to my physical and mental well-being. I am able to harvest a small but reasonably sized amount of produce from my small half plot-all delicious of-course! But the primary benefits are social and spiritual. I can’t imagine my life now, without having an allotment” – Plot holders survey response

Green fingers and rosy cheeks

• If you don’t have a garden of your own, there are plenty of community gardens in and around Brighton and Hove. For details on getting involved in a community garden, contact The Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, by emailing info@bhfood.org.uk

• One of these community gardens is of course yours truly – The Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group. We are always on the lookout for volunteers to join us on our allotment. Whether you are a seasoned expert or have never gardened before, we would love for you to be part of our community. Just email Alan Phillips – alan@alanphillips.org for more information.
  
  

The Express article: ‘Gardening, key to longer life’, can be viewed here, while the full results of the Brighton & Hove
Allotment Strategy can be viewed here.