Gardening for stress relief

Along with spending quiet time at the ocean, for me nothing beats gardening as a form of stress relief. It allows me connect with the earth in a way which feels almost spiritual. I love the feeling of my hands in the cool moist soil, while the smell of soil and grass transports me to a very special time in my childhood.


Although I love growing flowers, it is wonderful to be able to grow things which can be eaten. My garden, though small, has a tiny vegetable and herb patch. At the end of September I planted some parsley, celery, origanum, thyme, mint and spinach seedlings and snapped the following pics about a week after planting these.

Now, a month later the little seedlings have grown so much and the little patch appears so much more dense and lush (although also a bit unruly- I need to spend some time weeding).

I've been constantly snipping at the origanum, thyme and mint for use in chicken and meat marinades and sauces. But I realise that I'm not finding much use for my celery and parsley. I should probably have put more thought into what I planted by choosing herbs I actually use (as opposed to just grabbing anything that looked familiar in the Builders Warehouse nursery).

Here are some pics of the other plants in my little garden

I love this fake rock pond built by hubby. Can you tell that the small rock on the left is fake too?

Aisha also took pics of her favourite flowers using her toy phone