As we get busier and the world gets more digitized, we need to understand the importance of going outside now more than ever. Creating new hobbies, such as gardening, can be a therapeutic and stress-relieving way to enjoy the outdoors.

Wendy Love, parent of a Tualatin grad, shared her opinion on the importance of gardening. 

“Gardening gives you a chance to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with the Earth,” she said. “It is important to know how to grow your own food. Nothing tastes better than the fruits and vegetables from your garden.” 

Finding new ways to enjoy the sunshine is a wonderful way to spend this 2025 spring season. To help get you started on a new gardening project, here are some tips and tricks to help make your garden vibrant and healthy: 

Encourage pollinators with native plants:

• Pollinators play a crucial part in plant reproduction. If you want a thriving garden, planting flowers, herbs and shrubs will ensure that animals such as bees and butterflies will visit, supporting better plant growth.

Crack an egg into the soil before planting your vegetables:

• As a natural fertilizer, eggs release nutrients such as nitrogen and calcium into the soil, helping the plants grow stronger.

Sprinkle used coffee grounds into your soil: 

• When mixed into the soil, coffee grounds make it easier for plant roots to access moisture. Pest numbers will also decrease due to the caffeine content; animals such as slugs, snails and ants will avoid your garden with this hack. 

Bury a banana peel:

• For an easy and natural way to boost plant growth, planting a banana peel near your vegetables will encourage earthworms and improve soil aeration. 

Sprinkle cinnamon into soil:

• Sprinkling cinnamon on your soil allows for natural antibacterial properties to enter the plant roots.

Bury rusty nails for nutrients:

• Common garden plants like blueberries or hydrangeas are very acid-loving, meaning they crave iron, something that can be given through rusty nails. As the soil absorbs the iron, it helps prevent yellowing leaves.

With these weird but useful tricks, create something new, something that will encourage you to go outside and de-stress. Even if it’s just a few tomatoes in a pot or a row of herbs for your cooking, try your hardest to care for it, sit in the sun with it and enjoy the outdoors in a new way this spring.