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Lesley and Richard Evans discuss adventures in home gardening. Gardening is exercise, nature-bathing, achievement and fun at any age. There are so many ways of gardening, one for every personality, and ways that work from the cradle to the grave.
He is busy planting and growing and weeding a big range of fruit and vegetables in their city garden, and she is harvesting and eating and preserving and giving the rest away.
They're both in their 80s, which is not that unusual for gardeners. That's because if you get the opportunity, gardening is something you can enjoy from the age of 3 to 93, at least.
You can start and stop at any age, although it must be said: Richard never stops. Mind you, they pace themselves. If you are learning how to be old, and if gardening is a possibility for you — well, you can see from Lesley and Richard’s example just how interesting and fun that can be.
The garden produces more than foodIt's an inspiration for paintings. Gardens are beautiful. And so is food. Irresistible fodder for an artist like Lesley.
They began as a young married couple in Kunde, in Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Not ideal terrain for a vege garden. They were working in Kunde Hospital founded by Edmund Hillary, and their garden succumbed to wandering yaks.
Obviously gardening is exercise. It’s also a way to plunge into nature, a mental challenge, a budget boost, a social thing and even a neighbourhood thing. One word of advice: You might want to start small!
- Raised garden beds for over-50s
- Making garden connections (Age Concern)
Photos are by Rachel McAlpine except for A. villages of Kumbila and Kunde, which is by Moralist, CC SA-BY 3.0 and B. Lesley Evans' painting of children eating apples off a tree, by Lesley Evans and C. Lesley with 2 enormous carrots, by Richard Evans
