Consumer Health Minute: Gardening

Posted by Carolyn Martin on June 1st, 2026 Posted in: Consumer Health Minute, Public Libraries
Tags: consumer health, libraries, library programming, outdoors, outreach

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“Might I,” quavered Mary, “might I have a bit of earth?”

Many of you may remember this line from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, a popular children’s book written over a hundred years ago. Books can have a way of encouraging readers to explore and try something new. For many, gardening or just even being in a garden can have a profound effect on our mental and physical health just as the secret garden did for Mary and her friends.

In fact here are just a few of the mental and physical benefits of gardening:

• Encourages socialization (connect with family, friends, and the community)
• Better sleep
• Boosts mood (you feel better)
• Considered moderate physical activity by CDC
• Reduces stress
• Improves cardiovascular health

Vegetable gardens can also help with eating a healthier diet and can help reduce the cost of groceries. Often, we are more willing to eat something we helped to grow and this can be true for kids too.

In addition to considering adding books about gardening to your library, consider adding to your Library of Things with a variety of gardening tools. This can especially be handy for those just starting out and giving gardening a try as well as for those who have limited space to store tools.

Some libraries have held gardening related events such as:

• Partner with the local Cooperative Extension Office to host basic gardening classes
• Start a community garden at the library
• Create a mini seed-starting greenhouse
• Hold a gardening “Throwdown”
• Host a flower garden planting at the library and watch them grow

These programs encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to participate and share their questions and knowledge.

Additional resources for gardening programs

Growing Library Garden Programs (WebJunction blog post)

Programming Librarian (search “Garden” or “Gardening”)

CalFresh Healthy Living – Gardening, (University of California Garden Initiative)

Community Gardens, (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps)

Libraries and Gardens: Growing Together, (ALA book)

Resources about the health benefits of gardening

Gardening as Occupational Therapy,(NLM Circulating Now blog post)

The Health Benefits of Gardening, (Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener)

Why Gardening Is So Good for You, (Cleveland Clinic)

Gardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis, (freely available PubMed Central article from the journal, Preventative Medicine Reports)

Urban Agriculture Interventions in Refugee and Immigrant Communities: A Scoping Review, (freely available PubMed Central article from the Journal of Urban Health)