Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It's 816. I'm joined by Christina Ellers from Cornell Cooperative Extension. Good morning, Christina. How are you?
Christina Elhers: Good morning. Thank you. I'm doing great. What a beautiful sunny day.
Paul Szmal: Oh, yeah. And happy National Garden Month, by the way.
Christina Elhers: Yes, this is a great month to start our plants and get outside and also this month is a stress awareness month. And we really encourage people to have the well-being and the renewal and growth and acceptance of others. So by doing that, gardening offers a lot of physical and mental health benefits. And we really encourage people to start growing their own gardens and produce. By doing so, the fresh produce that you grow is more filled with nutrients and is a better value for your families. And it reduces waste for the landfills and lowers your grocery bills. There's a lot of environmental benefits as well by reducing the greenhouse gases and absorption of carbon dioxide and provides habitats for the pollinators like bees and butterflies.
Paul Szmal: It's interesting to me that Stress Awareness Month and National Garden Month are occurring at the same time. Is there a correlation between gardening and maybe lowering stress levels?
Christina Elhers: Oh, definitely. There's so many benefits. When people are interacting with gardening, they're outside and even helping your neighbor or getting involved with other gardening clubs, providing, being a mentor or just talking to people. It nourishes the body with the fresh wholesome foods and it's physical exercise as well. So yeah, that relationship of connection, which last month was connecting people to join together, share foods. And this is another way of connecting with other people to help lower your stress levels and just help your mental health.
Paul Szmal: You were talking about environmental benefits of growing your own garden. Can you elaborate on that a little bit?
Christina Elhers: Sure. Well, when you're growing your own food, there's less waste. So you're actually using that food. You're not going to the grocery store. The absorption of carbon dioxide from the plants creates the photosynthesis and creates oxygen into the air. And that's what we do by breathing it in. And it just also provides the habitats for the bees, which in the butterflies, if we didn't have the pollinators, we wouldn't have food. So yeah. That's an important way to help maintain the ecosystem too.
Paul Szmal: Is. It is. It's very important. So you might not want to get rid of those dandelions or other we call weeds in our yards and stuff like that, but it does help. And protecting those bees and butterflies are definitely an important aspect of our livelihood.
Christina Elhers: You also touched on the social element of gardening, i.e. talking with and networking with other people who garden, perhaps maybe even joining a garden club.
Paul Szmal: Yes. So, you know, our senior citizens, our communities, they have a community garden. I know there's a community garden here in Seneca Falls, and they're always looking for, you know, volunteers and getting involved with that kind of a project. It enables people to help each other. You can learn some things about gardening as well and interacting with other people that might just need that socialness even more than you do. So, you know, being a mentor or going out and getting involved helps you and other people.
Christina Elhers: Yeah. And there are other a couple of other benefits to networking with other gardeners. Number one, you're going to learn some techniques that you may not be aware of. And number two, there's always the possibility of being able to trade some of their produce for your produce and vice versa.
Paul Szmal: Exactly. You know, grow an extra row for the food pantries and sharing your plentiful gardens is an important way of spreading that great produce around. So, yes. And, you know, it's just a win-win all the way around.
Christina Elhers: It certainly is. And to that effect, I know Cornell Cooperative Extension, Seneca, has their annual free garden kits giveaway underway.
Paul Szmal: Yes. So, it's our sixth annual free garden kit giveaway. And we have been distributing to schools, libraries, and food pantries. And all the kits include facts and tips of growing a plentiful garden. We are focusing in on the three-sister garden this year. There are some more other seeds involved in the kit. But the three-sister garden is another way of connection. The garden kit includes corn, beans, and squash. Those are the three sisters. And the corn is grown. It's nice and tall. So, the beans can climb up those stalks and then also provides a lot of nitrogen for the soil. And there's the squash, which has big leaves, which cuts down on the weeds and keeps the soil moist. So, they grow very well together. The other seeds that are involved or included in this kit are zinnias and sunflowers. And there's tomatoes and peppers. So, yeah, it's a great fit.
Christina Elhers: So, if you're looking for a kit, the public can go to the libraries or your local food pantries. The food pantries will have them at the beginning of next week. Everyone else has them. So, yes, thank you.
Paul Szmal: And if you do it right, you're going to wind up with a nice bountiful little harvest of stuff by the time fall rolls around.
Christina Elhers: It definitely is, yes. And we'll be having some canning classes, food preserving classes during the summer and through the fall. So, those will be coming up.
Paul Szmal: There you go. That's important not only to be able to grow it and harvest it, but then preserve it to be able to use it for a long time. That's one of the benefits of having your own garden at home.
Christina Elhers: Before we go, I wanted to give a shout out for the Celebrate Earth Day event that's coming up sooner rather than later.
Paul Szmal: Yes. So, that is April 22nd, and it's from 9 to 11. There'll be composting workshops, tool sharpening workshops, and preparing your garden for spring. It will be held at the Seneca County Community Garden at 108 Ovid Street in Seneca Falls.
Christina Elhers: Wonderful. All right, Christina, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
Paul Szmal: Well, thank you very much. Everyone have a glorious day. It's 825 on FLX Morning.
