Spring is here: Let's get ready to garden

As we welcome the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, near-record warmth Friday and other signs of spring, gardening looks like a more serious endeavor this year.

While the planting and growing celebrated at the show that opens today at Navy Pier may seem a frivolous pastime to some, experts say it's actually good for you - especially in these stressful times - and it can be done without breaking the bank.

In fact, gardening is wholistic and can spur physical, emotional, spiritual and environmental health, says Frank Ardito, health and wellness department chairman at the College of Lake County in Grayslake.

If that's not enough to spark your green thumb, there's always the financial benefits of growing food rather than buying it.

Anticipating just that, the College of DuPage's horticulture department is gearing up with more edible seedlings for its plant sale May 9, expecting gardeners will abandon at least some flower or lawn space to fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Small bulbs like winter aconite and snowdrops have already been coaxed into bloom by recent warm temperatures, including Friday's in the mid 60s that approached the record 70 degrees on March 6, 2000.

Add it all up and gardening can reap: safer, less-expensive, better-tasting food, as well as reduced stress and more exercise, experts say.

• Many people who want to avoid pesticides, soil contaminants and other health scares are growing their own vegetables because organic ones are so expensive in grocery stores, said Chris Sieff, general manager of Knupper's Nursery & Landscaping in Palatine. She's noticed folks in their 20s who are living in their first apartment or house want to plant a few containers of tomatoes or rows of vegetables.

• Yes, gardening can reduce stress, said Toyah Wilson, a clinical psychologist who practices in Schaumburg under the name Enlightened Journeys. Gardening gives you an opportunity to break away from mundane, everyday pressures, she said, and it is fun, which produces vitamin D and improves your mood.

"It helps you focus on things that are important and connect with nature and opens up space for you to be more connected with yourself," said Wilson.

• More and more people recognize the exercise benefits of gardening. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rank light gardening and yard work as moderate exercise that burns 165 calories per half-hour for a person weighing 154 pounds. That's comparable to walking or slow biking.

You must move vigorously and vary your motions to prevent exhaustion and sore muscles the next day, said Elizabeth Britt, manager of the horticulture department at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. "That's hard for us gardeners. Once we get into doing something we want to get it done."

• Your youngsters will eat fruits and vegetables that they help grow, said Rory Klick, chair of the horticulture department at the College of Lake County, especially if you choose colorful varieties like purple green beans.

Cheap gardening

• Just $50 worth of seeds and fertilizer can produce $1,250 in food, according to Burpee, the mail order garden company. Sieff agreed that planting seeds is the most cost-effective way to garden. Most vegetable seeds at Knupper's are priced under $2 a packet, but heirloom tomatoes might be $4. Each packet contains about 20 seeds, but gardeners probably select and grow only the strongest seedlings. Every plant could produce 12 to 25 full-size tomatoes. Most gardeners, however, purchase seedlings for $3.99 each.

• Get free stuff - join a garden club. Ellen Gauntt, a member of the Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners, says members of her club bring various things to give away at meetings, including perennials, tools, seeds, magazines. Local clubs also sponsor plant exchanges, while a member who is moving might tell others to drop by and take what they need from her garden. Of course, plentiful advice from members is always free. Dues for the Batavia club are $10 a year.

• Compost. You can cut down on your need to buy fertilizer by using compost you make in your own yard from grass clippings, leaves and non-meat food scraps, said Bryant Scharenbroch, urban soil scientist at Morton Arboretum. Try for 75 percent brown material like leaves and 25 percent green such as grass and food scraps. Mix it with a shovel every four or five days. If you live in an apartment or space is a real concern or you're worried about attracting animals, you can consider worm composting for your food scraps.