Reach for a trowel…

…and try your hand at gardening.

Last Sunday, I planted container after container with seeds and seedlings I’d picked up at my local farmer’s market fromUrban Harvest, a Canadian supplier of organic seeds. It was too late to start tomatoes from seed, so I’m focussing on fragrant herbs like mint, lavender and sage, spicy salad greens like arugula and mizuna, and baby root vegetables. I now find myself rushing home in the evening, eager to see if anything has sprouted and, well, to just get my hands dirty.

Iwas inspired to try my hand at gardening last year, after reading about Gayla Trail, a young Torontonian with a very green thumb, who runs an excellent web site calledYou Grow Girl. The site is filled with gardening advice—mostly geared at novices and apartment dwellers, like myself, who must resort to growing things in containers—and beautiful photographs of Gayla’s handiwork.

Although dozens of other people from around my neighbourhood were buying seeds at the market last week, this urban-gardening trend appears to be more widespread than I thought.An article,"The ‘Zero Mile Diet’ Blooms in BC,"that appeared Monday in the Canadian online newspaperThe Tyeereports that organic seed distributors have seen a dramatic rise in business this spring. The article quotes Dan Jason, owner of Salt Spring Seeds, who says, “I’ve never seen the likes of this in over 20 years of selling seeds.

"The phone calls, e-mails, letters, seed orders are relentless. Everyone wants to grow food now. So many people are attempting gardens for the first time."

The article credits this trend to more people adopting the eat-local diet—out of concern for the environment and in the face of global food shortages and the rising cost of food. But there are real health benefits to gardening too. Producing your own food is one way to make sure it’s truly pesticide-free. And, there’s nothing like gardening to improve your mood, relieve stress and add a little exercise and fresh air to your day. (For more on this, read “Force of Nature” in Best Health’s premiere issue.)

Have you started gardening? Why? Let us know, and share your gardening tips with other readers in the Best Health Forum.