This year, the theme for Mental Health Awareness Week is ‘Connect With Nature’. In keeping with this theme, Milnshaw House have been enjoying planting seeds and watching them grow, in sessions facilitated by Prospects Foundation.
“Horticulture and gardening have been an occupation of mine for many years at home and on our allotment. When Milnshaw House opened, I was keen to share this with our residents. Social and Therapeutic Horticulture is the use of plants and gardening in a structured and formalised way to promote health and wellbeing’, (Sempik, 2003).
We have linked in with Prospects Foundation who have kindly provided us with seed starter packs containing a variety of seeds including, potatoes, carrots, onions, radishes, cabbages and many more. Gareth from Prospects facilitated a session at Milnshaw for Mental Health Awareness Week. Residents who don’t normally engage joined in the session and we made a great start on sowing the seeds. The beds are gently blooming, and Gareth returned in June for a second session. Horticulture activities are widely used in Occupational Therapy, it is easily graded and for any skill level from heavy digging work to short session seed sowing. It generates a level of responsibility and ownership and once grown the produce can be cooked and eaten adding an extra element to the session.”
– Victoria Bolton, Service Manager Milnshaw House
Interacting with nature is essential to maintaining a sense of well-being. Through gardening and spending time around plants, individuals can reap a wide range of psychological benefits. Limited outdoor space? No problem. Most herbs can be grown indoors, but those that tend to really thrive inside include no-fuss picks like basil, chives, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme. You can start herbs from seeds or cuttings. A cutting is a branch of an existing plant cut at the node and soaked in water until new roots sprout.
Find out more about Milnshaw House, or read about the range of other activities that have been taking place!
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
