Here’s how gardening can improve your health Sales

The Washington Post

Those who garden look forward to the season of seed packets and plantings, careful tending and abundant harvests. But research indicates another reason to eagerly anticipate gardening: improving your health.

A study in the journal the Lancet Planetary Health found that people who participate in community gardening programs eat more fiber and get more physical activity than their counterparts who don’t garden. Both of these factors are associated with better health.

Though research on gardening abounds, the researchers wrote that they were able to find only three other studies that tested gardening’s effects on disease risk factors by assigning participants randomly to groups who did and didn’t garden, then comparing their health.

In this case, the researchers ran a study at 37 community gardens in Denver and Aurora, Colo. After raising awareness of the program in a variety of neighborhoods, they recruited those on the waiting lists for the

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From Page 6 of backlogs – increased to the highest since March.

The number of completed homes that were sold in December declined.

The weakening in housing last year weighed on the economy. The government’s initial estimate of fourth-quarter gross domestic product showed residential investment subtracted 1.29 percentage points from growth.

New-home purchases account for about 10% of the market and are calculated when contracts are signed. They are considered a timelier barometer than purchases of previously-owned homes, which are calculated when contracts close.

Still, the new-homes data are volatile. The report showed 90% of confidence the change in sales ranged from a 16.2% decline to a 20.8% increase.