Farming and Gardening Great Options for Seniors

By Racquel Simpson

arming and gardening remain relevant in conversations about people and planet, because of their derived benefits to food security as well as physical and environmental health.

Replanting a seed after consuming a fruit or vegetable is more than an occupational activity; it is both a responsible and generous act. Replanting helps to preserve various plants, ensures that a future meal is met and further helps to reduce the number of environmental health risks such as soil erosion and global warming.

A lot of knowledge can be passed on through farming or gardening especially when it is done as a family activity and seniors can play a pivotal role in this at only the expense of creating special bonding moments, gaining a bit of wellneeded physical fitness and saving an extra dollar on produce.

Some seniors often recount stories of their childhood to their children and grandchildren and these stories sometimes include their encounter with ‘farm-life’ be it crop or animal rearing.

With an increase in the number of young people actively pursuing agricultural careers today, these knowledgeable seniors can be extremely impactful in food security and environmental preservation efforts by sharing with these budding farmers, reliable and useful information about best practices in cultivation and harvesting.

Additionally, the associated weeding, ploughing, watering, measuring and even counting linked to both farming and gardening can provide seniors with a good amount of outdoor physical activity to keep their bodies active and their minds alert. This is especially true for seniors whose active lifestyles may have been altered by retirement. Farming and gardening are great activities to keep seniors up and about. This bit of outdoor productivity can inspire a new and relaxing hobby (especially where floral gardening is concerned) and source of income for seniors. On the other hand, farming may be the right start for the elderly to take active control over their nutritional health, as they can begin to replace a lot of expensive processed foods in their diet with more affordable healthy homegrown choices.