Gardening for Long Life!

[bower]

Well that's what they say!

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20 ... ive-to-100

[EdieJ]

I can tell you this from firsthand experience; my husband's grandmother always grew a huge garden. Then she got Alzheimer's. But as long as she was still allowed to go out in the garden she maintained most of her cognitive skills. But of course someone had to be with her and it wasn't long before her D-I-L decided it was "too much bother" and denied her any more outings into the garden. She went downhill rapidly; it was terrible. We lived so far away and had a toddler so visits were too few and far apart to be of any help.

[Blackbear]

There must be something to it !
From Okinawa to Loma Linda California...to Sicily ...the high levels of centurian societies have a high incidence of
gardening culture ...

I can see the activity can be like a nutritional therapy and activity therapy and best of all you can be
tuning out all the crap of CNN or Fox …and maybe listen to some Nice string Quartets or Chamber Music etc. lol

or Just simply be quiet in the cool of the am while you tend garden .

[Texgal]

As a young adult, I started my career at a small town radio station and every time someone turned 100 I would have to go interview them. Of course the typical question was always "What's your secret to a long life?" And the answer from every single one was "I work in my garden every day."

[Growing Coastal]

I have heard a neighbour refer to me once by the title of 'the gardener'. A while later I told him that I try to get out to the garden daily in any time of year for the exercise if nothing else. It keeps the old body going and getting things done in small bits makes starting up in spring easier.

[Donnyboy]

I will soon be seventy eight years old. I'm still in almost perfect physical and mental condition. I firmly believe the year long planning, planting, hard physical labor, walking; and other requirements for gardening have helped keep my mind and body in shape. I also believe the activity has helped keep me sane through the shelter in place we are experiencing. I would like to hand my knowledge down to someone who will have my passion and garden when I am gone. I don't think it will happen because we live so far out in the country. I can't expect our kids to make a fifty
or sixty mile trip daily to care for the garden.

[worth1]

For me it isn't so much the garden but the ability to go out and run my engine lathe or some other machine to make something.
It requires so much concentration it is unbelievable.
Then there is the work I do that requires labor and deep thought also.
Sitting in front of a TV and stagnating is all it is, stagnating.
That is what my elderly neighbors do on both sides of me.
Neither ones have the memory of a gold fish.
I read many years ago that humans developed their minds by throwing things like a stone or a spear.
It helped develop brain cells.

[GoDawgs]

I have always said, "Who needs a gym membership when you're a gardener?" Yeah, there's not so much cardio but a ton of stretching, upper body, quad and glute work Not to mention the mental exercise that goes on while doing a lot of digging, weeding, etc.