Feeling a little blah and in need of a pick-me-up to tide you through? According to research published in the journal Neuroscience, Chris Lowry at Bristol U says you can flush your prozac because what you really need is just a good old-fashioned solid dose of gardening to get you back on your form!

I'm sure the Gardening Club knew it all along: Get dirty and get happy. Seems there's a microbial bug in that soil, by the name of Mycobaterium vaccae, found in dirt everywhere, and when we play in it, our neurochemistry starts bathing us in the happy-juice serotonin ...

"These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health. They also leave us wondering if we shouldn't all be spending more time playing in the dirt."
[ Bristol University: Getting dirty ]

Doctor Chris became interested when human cancer patients being treated with the bacteria unexpectedly reported increases in their quality of life. So he dug a little deeper and ...

Which t'aint nuthin' we didn't already know ...

there was a time I only thought of money
there was a time I only thought of wealth
and then I saw a bee making honey
and that bee was the picture of health.
so if a flower can do so much for a bee
I wonder'd what that flower could do for me ...

(I'm a Vulture for Horticulture)

knew it all along -- tho' it's always mighty nice to have good scientific sense behind your obsessions :)