A garden can stimulate memories from long ago.

Spending time in a garden can bring back memories of once having a garden, or a friend or family member’s garden.

Here are some activities for the garden and outdoors that might bring back memories. Reminisce during each activity.

• Find and pick ripe berries-strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc…
• Pick ripe vegetables and then cook in a dish.
• Cut flowers and arrange in a vase.
• Identify flowers, vegetables, and fruits.
• Identify shrubs, trees, and leaves.
• Aromas can bring back memories. Smell flowers, pinch and smell the leaves of mint plants and other herbs.
• Pick mint leaves and make tea. Sit and drink it outdoors.
• Pick flowers and dry for sachets and potpourri. After they have dried reminisce about when you and your older friend or family member picked them.
• Take a walk through the garden and look for wildlife as well as plants.
• Reminisce about gardening, farming, and country life. For questions see this post on Reminiscing about Farming and Country Ways of Life.
• Do some simple tasks in the garden to stimulate memories.
• Plan next years garden based on fruits and vegetables an elder grew in a garden when he or she was a kid.