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natural world which continues ac–
cording to basic laws can be more
than a small comfort to people
caught up in the urban rat race for
survival. The germination of a seed,
the growth of a plant and finally,
the harvest of a nutritious fruit or
vegetable provides not onJy food for
the stomach but a lso an understand–
ing of life. This points the mind
to a source of life and energy
beyond the full control of human
beings. The germinating forces in–
side a seed, the natural tendency for
plants to grow toward sunlight, the
interdependencies between pollinat–
ing insects and the nectar-bearing
flowers these insects fe.ed upon - all
these are mysteries which man does
not fully understand. Yet, what bet–
ter method of
experiencing
nature
does the average person have than
by personal observations readily
available in a home garden?
To these psychological benefits,
add the effects of the regular physi–
cal exercise necessary to prepare the
soil, plant seeds and tend the crop,
and you heap up one more reward
- a convenient means of keeping in
better physical condition.
Stimuli for Children
Children also benefit from a
home garden. Prior to the coming of
the Urban Era, children grew up in
rural surroundings. Trees, grass,
animals and birds were a common
part of the everyday environment.
Today, much of the Western
world, and increasingly the devel–
oping world, is urbanized. Multi–
tudes of people moving to big cities
have resulted in depriving children
of contact with nature. What was
once a tlower, a blade of grass, a
babbling brook or a robin's song
has today been transformed. Now,
glaring neon signs, telephone poles,
concrete-walled river beds and
screaming sirens take the place of
the former sights and sounds of na–
ture. This artificial, dehumanized
environment produces strange, in-
44
human qualities in people. Children
respond to their environment and
develop accordi ng to the variety of
stimuli with which they are pro–
vided.
Dr. René Dubos, who spent much
of his early chi ldhood in rural
France, north of París, wrote: "The
quality of human life is inextricably
interwoven with the kinds and vari–
ety of stimuli man receives from the
Earth and the life
it
harbors"
(Audu–
bon,
July, 1972, p. 33).
Home gardening offers an oppor–
tunity to bring a little of the rural
peace and natural harmony, plus a
great variety of beneficia) stimuli
into a child's early life: The value of
such stimuli was recently demon–
strated by a group of nurses working
with mentally retarded children in a
hospital. The nurses got the idea of
bringing chickens and rabbits inside
the hospital's sterile walls. Not sur–
prisingly, the formerly somber, pas–
sive children began responding to
the living things they were shown.
For the first time, they actually be–
gan to enjoy life. Later, the nurses
took the children outdoors for more
sensory exercises. They discovered
that feeling a blade of grass, touch–
ing the bark of a tree, or seeing a
beautiful flower was a stimulating
challenge for these retarded chil–
dren.
Such sensory exercises stimulated
the children's minds. Of course,
such exercises did not perform a
miracle. .The children still remained
mentally retarded. But life did be–
come less boring, more exciting and
stimulating, even for these not-so–
blessed youngsters.
How much more valuable are the
same stimuli to the millions of chil–
dren endowed with normal in–
telligence and physiques. If a child
can poke his own chubby little
fin–
ger into the soil and drop in a seed,
he can begin to learn about the mys–
tery of life. He can learn that he
must
care
for plants, or they will wi–
ther. He can learn responsibility and
even sorne basic lessons of ecology.
If a child is given the responsibility
of managing his own plot, the re–
sults are even greater. He can reap
the benefit of his own labor plus
learn basic lessons from the mis–
takes he will undoubtedly make.
Then he will begin to apply these
same lessons to relationships with
other human beings. He will learn
that
caring
for human beings is an
attribute which must be exercised,
or it too withers, just as a plant does.
Much of the urban environment
spawns
"care-less"
attitudes, which
actually cause children to become
dehumanized.
Patience and diligence, which are
greatly needed for success in any
walk of life, are two more attributes
gardening teaches.
Space for a Garden
"But where and how can 1 grow a
garden?" you ask.
The answer is surprisingly simple.
Wherever there is sunlight and soil,
plants will grow. You may not fe.el
like tackling a full-blown vegetable
garden the first year. If you live in a
big city apartment, you have Jittle or
no space for a large garden . Never–
theless, a window box planted with
herbs or a section of a ftower bed
planted with leafy lettuce, radishes,
squash or even tomatoes offers
many of the same benefits. With
only a few square feet of soil space,
a Chinese cook living in a Los An–
geles high-rise apartment grew a
successful
window-b~x
garden of or–
namental ftowers. You can grow
vegetables in the same manner.
Yard space in cities is at a pre- .
mium, but anyone who can find six
square feet of soil space that re–
ceives direct sunlight can grow
enough lettuce, for example, to pro–
vide a family of four with salad
throughout the growing season.
Many experienced home garden–
ers carefully select a house with a
larger space for a garden. My own
family's vegetable garden occupies a
25- by 50-foot space behind our ga–
rage. In addition, a fence row makes
PLAIN TRUTH Morch 1973