Provided/Eldergrow Educator Mikkele Lawless leads the group in a celebratory cheer.
GALLOWWAY TOWNSHIP - Nature-inspired crafts were the focus of January's Eldergrow sessions at Seashore Gardens Living Center. Residents created a beautiful rock garden featuring painted stones to resemble cacti. In another session, assisted living residents created colorful designs using real leaves as stamps.
The Culinary Herb program introduced sage as an herb from Italy. This fragrant herb is used fresh or dried as a flavoring for many foods, but sparingly as the flavor can be quite strong. Residents discussed their own travels to Italy, the Colosseum, and more during this lively session, which featured much laughter and singing.
Resident Diane paints a rock to resemble a cactus.
Eldergrow is a therapeutic gardening program that engages residents in meaningful ways: physically, socially, cognitively, creatively and spiritually. The benefits of therapeutic horticulture are numerous and include: improving motor skills, reducing the risk factors for dementia, elevating mood, improving sleep, reducing falls, reducing agitation, improving self-esteem, and acting as an antidepressant.
The cactus rock garden provides a colorful winter display in front of the live plants at Seashore Gardens Living Center in Galloway Township.
