Gigi’s Garden Nook

Gigi’s Garden Nook My love of gardening started during the summer of 2020, and it just keeps growing🪴💜

Added some detail to the center of this arrangement using Chinese Dunce Cap cuttings. Chinese Dunce Cap is a trailing su...
06/22/2026

Added some detail to the center of this arrangement using Chinese Dunce Cap cuttings. Chinese Dunce Cap is a trailing succulent that produces lots of babies on long thin vines. Can’t wait to see what the pot looks like once it fills in!

Good morning! I hope everyone had a restful weekend. Looks like we’ll be getting some rain today 🌧️🪴 As I was making my ...
06/22/2026

Good morning! I hope everyone had a restful weekend. Looks like we’ll be getting some rain today 🌧️🪴 As I was making my rounds this morning, I couldn’t help but notice how much fuller the Lavender is! Also caught a little friend helping themselves to some nectar 🪻🐝 ✨

If you recognize those beautiful doors, we can be friends 🤗 Took a trip down to Thanksgiving Farms this morning to pick ...
06/20/2026

If you recognize those beautiful doors, we can be friends 🤗 Took a trip down to Thanksgiving Farms this morning to pick up a few things for some arrangements I’m working on. Walked around a little bit, said hello to old friends, then headed home. If you haven’t been, you must check them out. This place is a gardeners dream, plus they have food trucks on the weekend! Plants and grub? Yes please! Snapped a few pics and also sharing my haul. Almost forgot to mention they have a whole market too! Everything from fresh fruits and veggies, to fresh baked breads and pastries and jams. If you’re a cheese lover, check out their fridge. You’ll be glad you did!

Just wanted to share this hiccup from a delivery I’ve been expecting. I received an attempt to deliver notification this...
06/19/2026

Just wanted to share this hiccup from a delivery I’ve been expecting. I received an attempt to deliver notification this morning, and when I clicked on it, saw this 🤣🤣 I’m guessing that the abundance of succulents on the porch led the delivery person to believe our home was a storefront 😅 I mean… 🌺🌻🌸

Baby Sun Rose is one of the fastest growing succulents I’ve ever had the pleasure of caring for. Can you believe that th...
06/18/2026

Baby Sun Rose is one of the fastest growing succulents I’ve ever had the pleasure of caring for. Can you believe that this beautiful specimen started as a 4” pot last summer? It sure has grown! And just noticed its first bloom since I’ve owned it! This plant thrives in direct sun but can tolerate partial shade. It can only withstand temps as low as about 23°F, so it’s best to overwinter indoors in our growing zone. Propagating is a cinch too! Whether started in soil, or water, rooting is a breeze.

Chickens are most definitely next and my husband is well aware of this. 🐣🪴👯‍♀️
06/18/2026

Chickens are most definitely next and my husband is well aware of this. 🐣🪴👯‍♀️

Oh, just some Moss Rose growing in a crack on our front steps.
06/16/2026

Oh, just some Moss Rose growing in a crack on our front steps.

06/16/2026

When you put your hands in soil, your brain may receive a chemical signal it's been waiting for since long before gardens existed. Not a metaphor. A bacterium. 🌱

Mycobacterium vaccae is a soil microorganism found in garden soil, forest floors, and natural landscapes worldwide. It came to researchers' attention in the early 2000s when scientists at the University of Bristol were studying its effects on lung cancer patients — specifically whether it might support immune response. It didn't extend lives. But patients reported notably improved mood. Researchers went looking for why.

What they found: in animal studies, M. vaccae activated specific neurons in the brainstem — the same serotonergic neurons that modern antidepressants work to support. The bacteria appeared to enter the body through skin contact and inhalation, and to communicate with the brain through immune pathways and the vagus nerve. The mechanism is real and documented in the research literature, though how directly it translates to human mood effects is still being studied.

A separate Dutch study (de Bloom et al., University of Utrecht, 2010) measured salivary cortisol in people who gardened versus people who read after a stressful task. The gardening group showed a significantly larger cortisol reduction. Thirty minutes with hands in soil produced a neurochemical effect that reading — itself well documented as beneficial — didn't replicate in the same way.

The full cycle, as current research suggests it:

Soil contact may stimulate M. vaccae, which appears to activate serotonin-related pathways. Harvesting, even a small amount, activates dopamine — the reward neurotransmitter tied to completing a goal. Natural light exposure amplifies production of both.

Gardening isn't a hobby dressed up as science. The research suggests it engages neurochemical systems that predate agriculture by hundreds of thousands of years. How robustly and consistently this holds across different people and contexts is still being established — but the mechanism has enough evidence behind it to take seriously.

Our ancestors spent hours a day with their hands in the ground. The biology for that contact is still part of the system running underneath everything else. 🌿

Baby Purple Delights are ready for pick up! 2 have been claimed. 1-2” pot available. The roots look great!
06/16/2026

Baby Purple Delights are ready for pick up! 2 have been claimed. 1-2” pot available. The roots look great!

You already know, I love my spidey friends. Found this guy on my Baby Sun Rose yesterday evening 🌅🕷️🪴 His name is Walter...
06/16/2026

You already know, I love my spidey friends. Found this guy on my Baby Sun Rose yesterday evening 🌅🕷️🪴 His name is Walter.

Address

19 East Main Street
Thurmont, MD
21788

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Gigi’s Garden Nook posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Gigi’s Garden Nook:

Shortcuts

Share

Category