How to Live Longer? Surround Yourself with Plants!

Gardening not only helps you stay active and healthy but can also be a fun and rewarding way to extend your life. Let nature nurture you!

Living Longer with Green Spaces

A study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that a 10% increase in vegetation within 1,600 feet of your home can lower your death risk by 4%.

Why Gardening Could Help You Live Longer

- Nature Exposure: Being outside boosts your mood.
- Exercise: Gardening is a great workout.
- Healthy Eating: Grow and eat your own fresh produce.
- Mind Exercise: Gardening can reduce stress and keep your mind sharp.

Gardening and Longevity

- Many centenarians (people living to 100) garden.
- In "blue zones," where people live longer, gardening is common.
- Gardening promotes daily exercise and a plant-based diet.

Natural Movement vs. Gym Workouts

- 100 years ago, 90% of jobs involved physical activity; today, only 10% do.
- Walking 2 hours a week can lower the risk of major diseases.
- Gardening offers fresh air, exercise, and fun.

Gardening vs. Gym

- Gardening can be as effective as gym workouts.
- Research shows 3 hours of gardening equals a 1-hour gym session.
- Tasks like weeding, digging, and mowing burn significant calories.

Calories Burned in 1 Hour of Gardening

- 340 cal: Chopping wood, using power tools, tilling, mowing with a hand mower, shoveling.
- 272 cal: Carrying wood, digging, clearing land, wheelbarrow work.
- 238 cal: Blower operation, planting, trimming, weeding.
- 224 cal: Raking and sacking leaves.
- 136 cal: Picking fruit, gathering tools, walking.
- 102 cal: Fertilizing or seeding a lawn.
- 34 cal: Watering plants.

Fun Facts

- Half an hour of weeding burns 150 calories.
- Gardening five hours a week burns 700 calories.
- Over a year, that's 20,000 calories, equivalent to running seven marathons.
- A lifetime of gardening can burn a million calories.

Five most useful edibles for your Food Forest

Tired of mowing a boring lawn? Use your yard instead of being used by your yard - grow edible landscape! Below are several plants that made our life happier and meals healthier. Besides, these are fun to grow! Try them out:

1. Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel - Flowers are used to make a tea "Agua de Flor de Jamaica". Medical studies show that it lowers blood pressure and has diuretic effects. The pleasant flavor is on the tart side similar to a cranberry juice. We make this cold tea every day - perfect for hot summer. Full sun.
Watch video >>

2. Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, Cholesterol spinach - one of the Superfoods, and there are many claims that it lowers cholesterol. We use it in our cooking all the time and so far we are all alive! Full sun.
See recipe >>

3. Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus. Delicious young shoots, one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, people cook it in stews and soups. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Full sun or semi-shade.
Learn more >>

4. Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass: Versatile performer in the kitchen where it can be used in teas, beverages, herbal medicines, Eastern inspired soups and other dishes. Full sun or semi-shade.

5. Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf: Mexican herb with incredibly sweet leaves that can be eaten from the plant like candy or tossed into fruit salads for an unusual addition. It has been used since the time of the Aztecs for coughs and colds. Tastes great, can be used by diabetic patients. We add this herb to Karkade or Mint tea as a sweetener. Shade or semi-shade.