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Everyone knows you should eat your veggies, but did you know growing them could be good for your mental health as well?

Coinciding with Mental Health Month, the City of Canterbury Bankstown along with gardening guru, Toni Salter, is showing the community how to create garden spaces of all shapes and sizes to help reduce stress and anxiety.

Toni, known as “The Veggie Lady” said she found a safe place in her garden when she first started to grow veggies 25 years ago.

“I took up horticulture because I had a passion for gardening, but I also had young children, I was away from my own family and I didn’t have a support network,” she said.

“My husband worked full-time and we were down to one income and so gardening was an interest and an outlet for me.

“When the children were young, it provided a bit of sanity for me. I had a baby and a toddler. I was feeling overwhelmed from the motherhood experience and gardening let me get away without being away.”

Toni said after experiencing the therapeutic effects of gardening first-hand, she discovered she could help others through mindfulness in the garden.

“About ten years ago, I did a gardening program with a disability group and from that point I could see a real need for therapeutic horticulture and pursued additional study,” she said.

“You can plant 20 plants or just pot up one thoughtfully; it’s all about enjoying the process and approaching it mindfully.”

Toni will be sharing her tips and tricks in a webinar that will identify which plants to grow for better health, how to garden for stress relief, how to be mindful and what activities build mental resilience.

With more people starting to garden for the first time, Toni’s advice is to start small, and for those who don’t have a garden, try picking up a house plant.

“Start with herbs and as you increase your knowledge then you can expand.”

Join us for a free webinar, Build resilience through gardening on Sunday 11 October, 10.00am to 11.30am with Toni, The Veggie Lady. Limited spots available, register on Eventbrite or visit cb.city/theveggielady