Resident Garden at The Lodge
The Lodge recently completed construction on a new fenced area specifically designed as a Resident Garden. The garden will have raised planting beds, fruit trees, and anything the residents would like to plant. Everyone knows that exercise helps keep you healthy, but what you might not know is that studies show even the gentle exertion involved in the simple tasks of maintaining a garden can go a long way towards a longer, healthier life.
There have been several studies released over the past several years that support this. In The British Journal of Sports Medicine, they released a study in 2013 that focused on 4232 individuals over the age of 60, who did limited non-exercise physical activity (NEPA) in their daily lives vs. those who didn’t. In this 12-year study, they concluded that people who had an active live (whether by exercising or not), had a longer life expectancy. Just by being active, it reduced the risk of a stroke or heart attack by 27%, and death from any cause by 30%! Dr. Tim Chino, a consultant cardiologist from the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said the study’s message is simple, ‘if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, be more active. Don’t sit down for long periods; get up on your feet and do something you enjoy that involves moving around.’ Christopher Allen, a Senior Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, stated ‘…activities such as DIY and gardening count towards the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity [weekly] activity recommended for a healthy lifestyle.’
In two separate 16-year studies, the researchers “followed people in their 60’s and 70’s found, appropriately, that those who gardened regularly had a 36% and 47% lower risk of dementia than non-gardeners, even when a range of other health factors were taken into account,” so this proves that tending to a garden helps the body and the mind!
On September 26th, residents and staff celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day by planting two apple trees at the just built, Resident Garden. The apple trees planted were a Fuji Apple Tree and a hybrid apple tree that has Anna, Eisensheimer and Dorsett Golden apples. Residents and staff, including COO, Stephen Zimmerman, took part in planting these wonderful trees. It helped that the weather was perfect for doing this.
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