Chapter 10 - Grow a Garden Just for the Health of It

It's Not Nice to Bully Mother Nature


I've learned more about keeping healthy in the garden than I ever did in the classroom or from books and magazines about human nutrition.

The Herb Garden at
Cheesecake Farms - After

Keeping a garden healthy is pretty simple.  A little fresh air and sunshine, a drink of water every now and then plus the occasional good meal.  Not much to it.

People,  I've come to realize, respond to the same health promoting principles.  We get into trouble, just like gardens do, when we tinker with Mother Nature.

The Herb Garden - Before 

Sometimes gardens require a modest amount of intervention.  You pick off some bad bugs or cut back a bush to encourage new growth but these are gestures of love for your garden not its over management.

We get into trouble when we ignore Mother Nature's basic principles for good garden health and try to bully her into doing things our way.

The same thing is true about people.  Keeping healthy is pretty simple.  A little fresh air and sunshine, a drink of water every now and then plus the occasional good meal.  Not much to it.  And, like a garden, the only interventions we require are those that come as gestures of love.