Hidden Benefits of Gardening and the Suwassett Garden Club

The Suwasset Garden Club of Port Jefferson and Belle Terre have done a great deal to promote gardening in our community. This was evidenced in the recent Annual Street Garden Recognition Program held this spring, in which “over eighty families in the community took part.” The benefits in terms of the beauty brought to our village and local streets are obvious however, there are other valuable lessons to be gained from tending the garden that one often overlooks.

I think gardening builds character. It teaches us patience, as we plan and await next year's blooms to sprout. Except for planting newly purchased annuals in flats, perennial planters know they must be patient and wait a year or sometimes more than a year to see the fruits of their labor. With so much instant gratification enticing us in society, it is good for one to learn that things of value and beauty take a long time to establish and grow. Moreover, we learn from our labors through out the year that with planning, care, and attention we stand a better chance of having our time and work create something that endures the harshest conditions time and nature challenge us with.

Gardening also awakens us to the natural cycles in life. We learn that not everything lasts forever no matter how much we would love for it too. “Nothing gold can stay,” Robert Frost tells us in his poem by the same name, and that teaches us the value of life and cherishing what we have when we have it. It teaches us that we need to appreciate life for its mystery and beauty and our loved ones for who they are and what they do for us. We learn that just as in a backyard garden, nature will eventually take its course and life will fade away as the season's change. We also discover that new life comes to replace the old giving us hope for the next season or the next day.

Of course Gardening is good healthy exercise. Try digging out old shrubs, planting new ones along a fence, or weeding out a garden bed and feel the muscles that you did not know you had come alive again. Try mowing and trimming while you are at it and tell me you aren't just a trifle tired. There is watering though, during the early morning hours before your neighbors get up or at four in the afternoon when the sun heads west and it get a bit cooler. This is certainly relaxing, especially with a cup of tea or coffee just nearby to keep you company. What a nice relaxing way to start or end a busy day. And you're outside, doing something healthy and productive; an activity that will reward you with a pleasant front lawn and a cheerful flower garden.

It is important to discover that when we put time and effort into a task we can get something back in return. When you garden you are taking a chance on not knowing what will take and what will not. You learn to accept your failures and rejoice in you success. You certainly do learn to take your time with things if you want them to work. When you do put your time and energy into your lawn, gardens, flowers or vegetables, you do get something beautiful in return; something you and Mother Nature created together. Now that's what I call teamwork.

I love to work outdoors and get my under the soil. Having the Suwassett Garden Club in Port Jefferson has been a motivating factor in getting me out in the garden. Their work in recognizing various gardens in our community and in sponsoring tours, programs, and contests is to be commended. Even when it rains I have something to be grateful for, and that alone makes all the difference.

Enjoy.