Spring is here, and everyone wants their beach body, but the healthiest thing in sight isn’t always the gym. It’s the person kneeling beside a row of tomatoes – hands in the dirt, pulling weeds, listening to birds, not checking a single notification. It may not look like a wellness routine, but it kind of is.

Before the gym crowd gets defensive, let me be clear: I love the gym. Heavy weights, hard workouts, long runs – I’m all in. This isn’t a turf war between dumbbells and begonias. Gardens just deserve more credit.

Spend time with plants, and you feel it. Your breathing slows. Your shoulders drop. Your mind softens. There’s an energy in working with living things – something subtle, almost unspoken. Most people notice it, even if they can’t quite explain why.

The best-selling book “The Secret Life of Plants” took that feeling and ran with it. It talked about experiments where plants seemed to respond to human attention – small shifts in electrical activity when someone entered a room, even before they were touched. In some cases, the reaction was stronger if the person had previously harmed the plant, as if something had been remembered. A lot of that work has been debated, and some of it hasn’t held up under closer testing. But the idea sticks around. Not because it’s been proven beyond doubt, but because it lines up with something people already feel. Spend enough time in a garden, and it starts to feel less like you’re just managing something and more like you’re in a relationship with it. You show up, and it responds. You ignore it, and it shows.

Research echoes that experience. A Scientific Reports study published on July 1, 2025, found that daily gardening was associated with a 43% less likelihood of poor health. The authors didn’t claim causation. But when something this simple keeps showing up next to better outcomes, it’s worth paying attention.

In 2025, researchers reviewed 23 studies involving more than 4,500 people with chronic conditions and found consistent mental health benefits from gardening. Other guidance that same year pointed to better mood, lower stress and improved balance and mobility over time.

I write about positivity for a reason. I’ve had my share of difficult seasons, like anyone, and working with plants and animals has had a real effect on me.

You move your body, but it doesn’t feel like punishment. You focus without a screen. You get sunlight. You do something useful. You pay attention. You wait. In a world that pushes everything to be faster, it helps to slow things down. The first couple of times I planted a garden, I had zero patience. I wanted results right away. The garden fixed that.

You don’t need land or a pile of gear to get started. Just seeds, water, and a little consistency. It can be herbs in a window, a few pots on the porch or a small bed by the fence. It’s not about acreage, it’s about paying attention.

There’s also something to be said for growing a little of your own food. During World War I and especially World War II, they called them victory gardens. Governments encouraged people to grow food in backyards, schoolyards and public parks – anywhere there was space. Farms were focused on feeding troops, supply chains were tight, and regular households were expected to help carry the load. By the mid-1940s, millions of people were growing their own food, producing a big share of the country’s vegetables right at home. They weren’t just planting tomatoes – they were helping keep things running. It was a small, everyday way to contribute to something bigger.

Gardening puts you back in the world instead of just watching it. You’re responsible for a living thing. Plants don’t care about your schedule or your opinions. They need light, water and follow-through. That’s it.

Nothing flashy. Just the steady reminder that living things respond to care.

The tomatoes won’t solve your whole life. But they will grow if you keep showing up. Not everything important needs to be rushed, tracked or optimized. Some things just need time, attention, and a little bit of faith that something is happening, even when you can’t see it yet.

• Toby Moore is a Shaw Local News Network columnist, star of the Emmy-nominated film “A Separate Peace” and CEO of CubeStream Inc. He can be reached at feedback@shawmedia.com.