Buchwalter, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Cleveland, said her personal prescription for stress reduction, better nutrition and exercise is working her raised bed gardens in Polk County and eating homegrown fruits and vegetables.
The wife and mother of two said gardening has a number of health benefits for her and her family, not the least of which are physical fitness, healthier meals and the therapeutic values associated with outdoors work.
“To me gardening and running are relaxing,” said Buchwalter. “I spend a lot of time in the garden. Almost every night I go out there and either pull weeds, pick something, dig up the dirt or lay the mulch down. Sunday night I was out there till dark picking strawberries.”
“I really like to get out there and work. I like to exercise and I run a lot. Sometimes hauling mulch around or digging dirt is a substitute for running exercise.”
Buchwalter said the other benefit is that she stocks the freezer with the healthiest vegetables in the healthiest way.
“Literally, if you take it from the garden that day and blanch it in a pot of boiling water — like for instance, green beans — then put it right in the freezer bag and take the air out of it with one of those ziplocks — it tastes unbelievably fresh when you get it out of the freezer.”
According to Buchwalter, she has been gardening since before the age of 7, planting seeds, potatoes and onion sets with her father.
“Dad always made me pull weeds in the garden and I always swore I would never have a garden when I was older,” she said. “I even remember going out there and helping my dad dig up the potatoes. We’d pull the onions and eat them. I’ve always liked onions. It’s so funny how that comes around and you change your mind. I’ve had my own garden since 1997.”
Buchwalter and her family moved from Ohio to Polk County in November 2007, and now her children are emulating their mother when helping her in the garden.
“It’s funny because my kids will pull the tops off my onions and garlic and eat them. I thought, I can’t believe they do that. But when I thought back I remember eating raw onions right out of the garden when I was a kid.”
According to health experts, gardening represents a good source of physical activity for young children who often lack physical exertion, adults who need more of it and seniors who are looking for ways to increase daily movement. Gardening can also encourage youths to try a wider range of fruits and vegetables.
Buchwalter admits, her children have ambivalent feelings about gardening at times, saying, “At first they loved it. They love to get out there and dig in the dirt and plant the seeds. Then after a while it becomes work and they want to do something else. But they still do love it. They love to go out and pick. They love to eat more than anything.
“We have blueberry bushes and my son will pick the blueberries every night. So we never get them into the house. They’re not producing very much. Blueberry bushes take about five years to get going.”
In addition to blueberries, Buchwalter also grows strawberries, green beans, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, squash, zucchinis, red onions, garlic, snow peas and more in her garden. She said one of the main reasons for her healthier lifestyle is the trend toward eating more organic foods.
“Truly, I know where my food is coming from. There’s no pesticides on it and it’s so much fresher. You can tell a difference in the taste. If you think about how long it takes them to pick the broccoli, get it shipped and on the shelves — I can taste a huge difference, especially in the broccoli and the carrots.”
Although they have a front loader, she said she’ll often use her wheelbarrow and pitch fork to work her garden and get some exercise. One of her motivations is to remain a pesticide-free family. Buchwalter said her husband had a family-owned pest control business in Ohio. So he was around pesticides all the time.
“Gary is a big believer that there is a low level of pesticides everywhere and it’s just a matter of not getting too much of it. It really doesn’t hurt you,” she said. “One part of me wants to believe that but at the same time I try to limit it as much as possible, especially for the kids because their brains are young and developing.”
After reading the list of the ‘dirty dozen’ which reveals produce with the highest pesticide residues, Buchwalter said she is taking her own precautions. According to Organic.org, the 12 most contaminated foods were strawberries, peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, cherries, pears, grapes (imported), spinach, lettuce and potatoes.
“I’ve done pie pumpkins for a number of years and they have done wonderfully,” said Buchwalter. “I just love the taste of a pumpkin pie made with pumpkin I just cooked. I had always heard they’re much better than the canned pumpkins. So I tried it. Now I make muffins, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cake, pumpkin bread — my kids love it. I’m trying to grow 100 lb. pumpkins this year.”
”As far as genetically engineered fruits and vegetables are concerned, Buchwalter said that is not a personal cause for concern to her.
“I have thought about it but I don’t know if that really bothers me,” she said. “I think that’s OK. For the most part I think they’re tampering with it to make it better. I’m all for seedless watermelons.”
As far as herbal medicines are concerned, Buchwalter said, “I think there’s definitely a time and place to use those types of things. I think mainstream medicine is becoming more open to those types of things. I think the difficulty is getting the studies out there so that physicians feel comfortable recommending or using them.
“It’s very difficult because a lot of those are not FDA approved or FDA regulated. It’s also very difficult to keep up on all the mainstream medicines and study the herbal data that’s out there. But I think there’s definitely a use for those types of therapies. You just have to do everything in moderation. You don’t want to do too much of one thing.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Studies show gardening promotes physical health, mental health, relaxation and satisfaction as well as better nutrition, it has also been linked to the prevention of dementia in seniors.
