Did you know that it is World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD) on Saturday, May 3? I didn’t know, either, until a reader here (thank you!) told me and asked me to write about it.
I applaud this movement — it’s a brilliant idea, even if it will be too cold and yucky here for any serious gardening. But as a nudist/naturist, I often urge people to liberate themselves from the textile world, to be one with nature and to promote body acceptance. So, if you have been shy about nudism/naturism, WNGD might be the perfect time to give it a try. It is a very special feeling to be au naturel outdoors . . .
As you might expect, Wikipedia has a good entry on the event, which was founded in 2005 and is intended to be “lighthearted and void of politics.”
The World Naked Gardening Day organization (WNGD) also has a good website. Here is an excerpt:
Gardening has a timeless quality, and anyone can do it: young and old, singles or groups, the fit and infirm, urban and rural. An elderly lady in a Manhattan apartment can plant new annuals in her window box. Families can rake leaves in their back yard. Freehikers can pull invasive weeds along their favorite stretch of trail. More daring groups can make rapid clothes-free sorties into public parks to do community-friendly stealth cleanups.
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.
Check out the WNGD site for more information.
Have your participated in WNGD in the past? Will you be doing so this year?
Cheers
— Jillian
Jillian Page 
I couldn’t possibly do it here. Windows and curious eyes all around. However, this sound like it would be a treat tho. Most things are more fun done naked.
Jillian, do you think it will ever be warm again?
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I dunno. It is pretty discouraging.
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You’re welcome.
BTW, did you know that just going barefoot in a city exposes you to prejudice not unsimilar to the ones nudists are subjects to? It’s fascinating to hear someone tell you that feet are gross.
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I never thought about it, but people tell me I have sexy feet.
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Ever tried entering a museum, shop, restaurant barefeet ? I mean, without shoes, not with flipflops or sandals but no shoes at all ? Acuah’s blog is full of such stories…
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I wonder if there are regulations about being barefoot in public?
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To answer your question below about laws : none.
There are a lot of MYTHS about law. Lots of people believe, for example, that it is illegal to drive barefoot. Nope. No law. Not in the US nor in Canada, last time I checked.
Shopkeepers will sometimes that they’ve got a company policy against it. In reality, most of the time, it’s an _employee_ policy, not client.
People are sometimes so shocked about people going barefoot that they eagerly believe “something in the law must be against it”. It is not dissimilar to reactions against naturism (like, in naturism, you discover most countries do not forbid being naked but forbid _sexual exhibition_ which is *not* the same thing when you *really* think about it).
It’s a very recent mythology* anti-barefoot, in the USA. 1960-1970s. I’d link that to a reaction against hippies but got no proof. In the 1950s and before, it was not unusual for people to go barefoot because shoes were (still are) expensive.
* : I use mythology cause there are lots of myth e.g. :
– your feet smell (given that it needs to be enclosed for sweat to be decomposed and smell, it is untrue)
– your feet soles will be dirty (true, but I wash my feet at least once a day. How many people wash their shoes once a day ?)
– etc.
It is utterly fascinating that no argument stand against logic but still, you’re barefoot so you’re are WRONG. Recently I went to a bookshop. The guys asks me to put shoes “for my own safety”. Well, is that carpet really more dangerous than the stree I came from ? Or is it about falling books and all chicks in flip flop should also put on shoes ?
I don’t have the time to argue with stupid people, so I just leave the shop. They don’t want me, they don’t want my money.
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They must come from a warmer climate as where I am it is going to be around 8 c that day. I will not be in my garden naked that day for sure.
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ALOHA… .since much of the time i am naked on my land, it is most often that i do gardening or any landscaping or anything on my property or in my house nude…. there should be a day when one has to wear clothes; and on all other dayz everyone is naked… same with beaches; limit one beach for clothing-optional; all the other beaches are totally nude…… nevertheless, in the winter, when the temperature rarely goes above the low 80’s, it can get a bit nippy to be naked… now that spring has arrived, it is finally warming up…..
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! Temperatures plummeting to scare the new fresh shoots! Long ago much of my gardening was done naturally but homes with high windows now surround and my shelter trees have all come down…
Textile fundamentalism is a really bad thing for body and mind…
Some days each year we manage to briefly touch 80 before the cold sea breeze chills everything down again!
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If May 3 is too early in the season, you could celebrate the Third Annual Naked Canadian Gardening Day on June 7. This event was established by the Federation of Canadian Naturists to give Canadians a more seasonable alternative to the date in early May.
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That’s good news, cause it’s frickken cold out there.
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Yes I have taken part in WNGD in the past – even though it has not always been as warm as you might wish. The trick is to take on a more strenuous task, then you will be the right temperature thanks to your body being better able to regulate its temperature without clothes messing it up.
Many of our members indulge in naked gardening at other times too. Some are fortunate in having understanding neighbours, but one or two have had the misfortune to end up on the receiving end of some dreadful prejudice from neighbours who have become known (on our forum at least) as “Bigot & Prude”. Most simply screen their garden well and hope not to be seen.
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Ha. I’d get arrested if I was caught naked outside!
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It was a beautiful day here and we fully participated !!
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Jillian
I’ve attached a few pics Kim took of me for WNGD. The flowers and roses here in Oklahoma are gorgeous right now. You have my permission to use the pics as you wish.
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Hiya.
Thanks . . . but I didn’t see any pictures.
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Interesting, they were attached in a reply to this original email. Maybe a spam filter got them !!
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