From Burnout to Blooms: How Gardening Rescued a Former Executive
Kathy Slack, a high-flying advertising executive from London, experienced severe burnout and depression that led her to a life-changing discovery in the garden. In an effort to improve her work-life balance, she relocated to the Cotswolds, only to face a longer commute. This prompted her to quit her job, after which she spent a significant period unable to get out of bed.
Her mother eventually coaxed her outside, sitting her down with a cup of tea among overgrown vegetable beds. "I looked at the weeds and the worms and watched the bugs tootling around and it kind of calmed me down. It wasn't a huge moment where I went, 'My God! Nature! I'm cured!' but it made me feel slightly less awful," Kathy recalls.
A Journey of Healing Through Horticulture
Kathy's mother handed her some seeds to scatter, and within weeks, radishes and lettuces sprouted, sparking a deep passion. This marked the beginning of a transformative journey over a decade ago, which she documents in her book, Rough Patch. The book details her shift from a jet-set lifestyle to fruit-picking on a local farm, followed by cooking, teaching, and writing.
"I know it would be glib and a massive oversimplification to say, 'Oh, vegetables saved my life', but they really were significant," says Kathy. "When I got into nature, and particularly into growing vegetables, I realised what my values were, which I think is an exercise in knowing yourself a bit better anyway. I found it very creative and I found it very calming."
Five Spring Gardening Tasks to Boost Wellbeing
Kathy recommends five spring tasks that can help enhance mental and physical health, as shared by PA's Hannah Stephenson:
- Get Sowing: Sow radishes for instant gratification or peas for hardy growth. "This is all just a way of feeling that sense of wonder and awe at watching something as tiny as a radish seed turn into a golf ball-sized ruby that you can eat," she explains.
- Get Your Hands Dirty: Touch compost to benefit from soil bacteria like Mycobacterium vaccae, which triggers serotonin release. "God, I love compost!" Kathy exclaims, noting its mood-boosting effects.
- Plan Your Growing Year: Browse seed catalogues to inspire hope and excitement. "I like to browse and turn pages and dream about how many different types of pumpkin I can grow this year," she says.
- Get Physical: Engage in outdoor tasks like wheelbarrowing or weeding to release endorphins. "Just to potter around, going out with a bucket and pulling a few weeds up, can be very therapeutic," Kathy advises.
- Grow Windowsill Herbs: Cultivate herbs even without a garden to add a personal touch to meals. "Now it's not a ready meal, it's a little bit of nature that you've tended and created and fed yourself with – and that is uplifting," she adds.
Gardening Books for Health and Inspiration
For those interested in exploring gardening for mental health, several books offer guidance:
- Rough Patch: How A Year In The Garden Brought Me Back To Life by Kathy Slack – includes lessons from the soil and recipes, priced at £12.34 in paperback.
- Feel-Good Gardening by Claire Stares – provides tips and advice for reaping nature's benefits, priced at £12.34.
- A Wilder Way: How Gardens Grow Us by Poppy Okotcha – shares inspiring moments from tending a garden, priced at £15.39.
- RHS Gardening for Mindfulness – a beautifully illustrated guide for finding peace in any garden space, priced at £10.
Prices are correct at the time of publication. Gardening offers a powerful path to wellness, as Kathy's story vividly illustrates, turning soil and seeds into sources of solace and strength.
