Here are some options on how to to spread the energy of gardening in your community.
Plant a Row for the Hungry at a Local Community Garden
In this land of abundance it’s difficult to envision lacking access to high quality food at a realistic price. Nonetheless, for millions of Americans, finding a healthy meal is not always simple and easy. It’s projected almost 33 million people, including 13 million children, turn to emergency food because they cannot purchase the food they need.
Hold a Plant Swap at a Local Church
The ideal plants aren’t always from your nearby garden center or seed catalog. As a replacement they are assembled through quick cuttings or by gathering seeds from the garden of a friend or family member. These “pass-along plants” deliver both grace and sentiment to your garden.
Have a Spring Cleaning Green Up Day at a Senior’s Home
Spring cleaning — indoors and out — is a ritual that marks late winter and the beginning of a brand-new season, and like many functions, it’s more fun when you share it. A senior’s home, your street, neighborhood, town park, and any other public space could use some greening up; it just takes someone to organize a small group.
Yard Sale Philanthropy
The arrival of spring, coupled with lengthier days and higher temperatures, generates dreams of green oases teeming with tomatoes and brimming with beans. Spring is also a time for cleaning out. This year, celebrate National Garden Month in an unexpected way-by visiting yard sales in search of second-hand stuff that every senior’s garden needs.
Organize a Garden Visit with Senior Friends, Over Tea!
Gardeners grow more than plants – every one of us has stories to share. For a change, why not share them in over tea? Socialization and admiration of another person’s garden brings joy to everyone.
Other tips for having fun with seniors in your area:
-Prepare or be part of a town beautification day.
-Check out your community farmers’ market.
-Compliment a neighbor on his or her garden.
-Gather with neighbors to purchase compost and mulch in bulk quantities.
-Volunteer to plant and sustain a garden at your community library.
-Submit a gardening article or essay to your nearby paper.
-Arrange to Talk With an elder to learn what foods his or her family grew when he or she was a child.
-Search for neighbors from numerousethnic groups to study about their native cuisine and gardening techniques.
-Clean up your street or a local park by picking up trash.
-Share a cutting of one of your favorite landscape or houseplants with a senior neighbor.
-Look at your gardening gear (e.g., pots, seeds, stakes) and give the excess to a neighborhood gardening program, assisted living facility or school garden.
-Celebrate other important “green” holidays: Earth Day (April 22) and National Arbor Day (April 26).
-Volunteer at your local school’s garden.
-Volunteer at a local senior center’s garden.
-Start a neighborhood garden club.
-Share your garden’s bounty with a senior neighbor.
-Have fun doing a gardening project with a senior.
-Deliver houseplants or flowers to a nursing home, assisted living or children’s hospital.
-Donate past issues of gardening magazines to your library, or buy the library a gift subscription.
Senior care counselors at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Senior Care in Lisle.
