Gardening
rainbow chard
Image by Sandy Repp

Swiss Chard

Houseplants

Beets

Gardening

Why is gardening important? 

Gardening is the opportunity to create a connection with your environment and discover thousands of life forms, while seeing your plants growing and producing beautiful flowers, fruits or vegetables. This exciting world of gardening bring multiple benefits to you, such as: 

  1. Natural mood enhancer: being in your garden for couple minutes (or many hours) is a natural distraction from the daily life. Feeling stressed? go to your garden, appreciate the life forms in it, touch your plants, water them, fertilize them, touch the soil, etc., all these little activities can make you feel better, studies have shown that being in contact with soil and plants can increase levels of serotonin, the chemical compound  that increases feelings of well-being.
  2. Good for your health: Not only for your mental health and well-being, growing your own fruits and vegetables is an opportunity to have organic food on your table, reducing the risks of cancer and many other diseases caused by toxic pesticides. 
  3. Keep communities together: Gardens inspire conversations, building connections between neighbors, coworkers, and community in general. Community gardens are a great way to share knowledge and connect with other gardeners, and plant lovers like you!
  4. Saving money: Growing your own vegetables can help you to save money in groceries, with the proper care your crop can produce a lot of food for you. 

How to do it right and have a successful harvest this year? stay tuned for our events to learn about this and many other topics!

And if you started your garden already, and you have problems with pests, plant nutrition, questions, etc., reach out your nearest Cooperative Extension Office by phone, in person or email.

Contact

Cristian Acosta
Agriculture Educator - Master Gardener Volunteer Coordinator
cfa34@cornell.edu
585-268-7644 ext 14

Last updated February 13, 2024