Yes, it’s a thing. The first Saturday of May brings along a rather bizarre awareness day. And just how do you celebrate World Naked Gardening Day? Plant peppers and tomatoes in your birthday suit. Hoe dirt in the nude. Trim trees au naturel. Ouch! Avoid poison ivy. Itch!
It’s the Sixteenth Annual World Naked Gardening Day in 2020. Over a decade of bonding in the buff with bare buns. World Naked Gardening Day was founded in 2005 by Mark Story of Seattle.
World Naked Gardening Day is even featured in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I guess that makes it official. WNGD is endorsed by The Naturist Society, Clothes Free International and American Association for Nude Recreation.
Yes, the creative hanging loose group has a website. Warning—photos of veggie picking nude people at www.wngd.org. And the burning question we all want to know is answered, “Why garden naked? First of all, it’s fun! Second only to swimming, gardening is at the top of the list of family-friendly activities people are most ready to consider doing nude. Moreover, our culture needs to move toward a healthy sense of both body acceptance and our relation to the natural environment. Gardening naked is not only a simple joy, it reminds us—even if only for those few sunkissed minutes—that we can be honest with who we are as humans and as part of this planet.”
Now, I do accept my body—with bumps and bulges—wrinkles and crinkles, but I’ll have to pass on digging and planting while naked. Too many sagging parts to manage—disrupts my concentration while raking. And bug bites on sensitive areas would not be pleasant. And watch where you put those pruning shears.
Yes, the human body is a magnificent work of art. But sweaty armpits are not.
According to the WNGD website, the group wants you to share the exposure event. “Secondly, tell someone about your experience. No one owns this event, so it does not really matter whom you tell, but tell someone. Tell your friends about your day of naked gardening; write down what you thought of it and email it to your local newspaper; post your thoughts and images onto an Internet site; submit stories and photos to your club newsletter.”
If you decide to do some naked gardening to celebrate, I doubt that your local newspaper wants to know about it. And don’t send pictures—really. But you can share at #WNGD on twitter.
Alert. Please respect your neighbors when bending over and pulling weeds. Your posterior may not be what they want to view along with the sunrise and their morning coffee. However, at the end of summer when the harvest is abundant, overlook your prudish neighbors and gift them with melons and cucumbers.
Please be aware of the public nudity laws—even when gardening naked on your own property. The hills have eyes.
I’m getting my garden ready for May planting, but I’m wearing clothes. I’m not an outdoors buff babe. I’m the old gal in the shabby pants, ragged tee-shirt, hat and gloves.
But seriously folks, I think we all can use a good laugh about now. q
Melissa Martin, Ph.D., is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in U.S.
