The Art of Gardening

The health benefits of gardening have been widely documented through research and continue to be advocated as one of the main ways to de-stress and combat depression and other mental illness.

There is a widespread misconception that Kuwait, or any country in the Arabian Gulf, doesn’t have the suitable weather or soil for growing organic natural food. Despite this common belief, people like Alzainah create content on their social media that guides and teaches new gardeners about the endless possibilities of gardening. She is eager to spread the culture of gardening, promoting healthy and organic home-grown food in hot and dry climates.

She also finds great joy in inspiring people to try the healthy practices that go with gardening, like composting, sprouting, juicing and healthy cooking.

Through this wonderful hobby she also founded www.plantnmore.com, an online store that provides gardening and kitchen tools, as well as a line of beautiful seed packets that are especially created for this part of the world’s growing conditions and timings.

We talked to Alzainah to find out more about how gardening can create a safe place for gardeners and how it can positively impact the wellbeing of people.

I've always loved healthy cooking, and I was jealous of the chefs I saw on tv shows or read about in books that go out to their home garden and cut the freshest herbs to use. I thought that this can’t be possible here because of our notoriously harsh weather. My impression about our vegetables is that they either had to come from a faraway greenhouse tucked away in the ends of the country, or they had to be imported from abroad.

I started out of curiosity and instantly fell in love with the hobby. It had immense effects on my mental and physical health and my overall wellbeing.

One thing led to another and I began blogging about my journey. Being an amatuer photographer helped make documenting my gardening adventures a fun learning experience.

Q2. Why did you call your page ‘It all grows’?

Because I had such a wrong idea about my homeland, I wanted through this title "it all grows" to prove to myself and others that it does all grow. I wanted to spread awareness that this hobby is for us all, and that we have a long enough growing season to enjoy it.

Q3. what plant gives you the most joy to grow? And why?

I love growing vegetables the most because they only take a few months to harvest. I love witnessing the looks on people's faces when they smell and taste the huge difference in aroma and flavor when it comes to homegrown produce. Tomatoes are always the star in any home garden, and they're fun to grow and take care of. I'm famous for growing different Italian basils to make all kinds of pesto sauces. I love growing pumpkins and zucchinis as well. I always make sure I grow something new with every passing season. You never stop learning.

Gardening is very much free therapy. It’s scientifically proven to lower cortisol levels while also raising serotonin. Touching and working with plants and soil is the perfect sensory play. Looking after a live plant that will grow each day gives you a sense of purpose, responsibility and optimism. Each passing day and week will bring change in the garden, and you want to witness and live this change. I love the saying “to garden is to believe in tomorrow" because, even if you are the worst pessimist or you are going through the most difficult time, you are looking forward to tomorrow for your garden.

Being outdoors and under the sun in peace and quiet is also beneficial and is much needed in this fast paced tech reliant age we live in. Sometimes you would get lost admiring your plants or the insects that live around them. It’s the perfect dose of nature that we desperately need in our lives.

Q5. You have been gardening for over ten years now. Do you see a change in people’s views on gardening in the region?

I most definitely do! I think that having Arabic language social media creators like myself as well as my peers has done so much to educate and inspire the public. Our gardens are proof of concept. There is so much English content out there but we needed everything curated to our climate and way of living. The gardening community online and especially on instagram is beautiful; gardeners are the most gentle and generous people out there. We all want to see each other's gardens flourish.

Q6. What advice would you give to someone wanting to start gardening as a way to reconnect with nature?

My advice would be to find local home gardeners on social media, be aware of when they grow, where they get their best deals on materials and equipment; get a shortcut on their journeys.

Start small, don't overwhelm yourself.

Always grow your plants in a sunny spot and be careful of overwatering which is the number one mistake.

Enjoy the time you spend caring and nurturing your green space whether it be small or large. Anyone can garden.

Learn from your mistakes and don't compare your beginning to someone's end.

I try my best to simplify and guide beginners, so follow me for tips and guides. Happy growing!