AARP offers a daily online game called “Right Again! Trivia.” The description is “Part Trivia. Part Puzzle. All Fun.”

On Jan. 15, one of the trivia questions was this: “Household chores may seem like a drag, but they actually provide some brain health benefits. Which is the best for cognitive health?” The multiple choice answers were sweeping, dishes, gardening and laundry.

I selected “gardening,” which, it turned out, was the correct answer. The game declared I was excellent, and it continued by offering an additional fun fact.

“A European study found that gardening increases feelings of accomplishment and protects the brain by decreasing sadness.”

Wow! I always enjoy seeing plants grow and produce a variety of vegetables, but I had no idea this enjoyment was also protecting my brain. You learn something new every day.

On Christmas Day, my mom told me she had been looking through her seed packets. On the eggplant packet, she had written herself a note to plant these March 1. She also reminded me to save any plastic gallon jugs I obtain, so she can cut them down for planters.

March seed planting season seems so far away, but it will be here before we know it. I am planning on starting some seeds, but I am also holding out hope we will be able to obtain some great seedlings from The Seed Farm.

More than likely, we will have a combination of the two and then also directly sow some seeds for flowers, zucchini and root vegetables.

In my last article, I shared I had ordered myself a Lomi countertop food composter. I received it just after the new year.

After unpacking it and watching the how-to videos on YouTube, I started placing food waste into the machine. Lomi heats and grinds food waste and dries and cools the resulting compost. A cycle takes four or five hours and yields 1-2 cups of an amazing, dry compost that can be mixed 10:1 with soil in the garden or with potting soil for house plants.

Lomi has two filters that use carbon pellets, and there is absolutely no odor. The used carbon pellets can also be mixed into the garden soil. Lomi offers three composting cycles designed around what has been placed into the bucket and how the compost will be used.

I have run all my cycles on “eco express,” which is the shortest of the cycles and uses the least amount of electricity. The machine makes a small amount of noise, which can be heard if you are in the kitchen, but I normally run it overnight.

There are two other cycles including “Lomi approved,” which allows you to compost a small amount of bioplastics when you add a special pod and 3 tablespoons of water.

So far, the only food waste that has not completely broken down were the fronds from the top of a pineapple, but eggshells, coffee grounds, coffee filters, banana peels, cut-up pineapple rind, rotting tomatoes, dry cat food, leftover chicken (no bones), carrot tops and dead plant leaves were just fine.

The odorless compost is presently stored in a 5-gallon bucket in my garage waiting for spring, when it will be added to the pantry garden. My overall evaluation of the Lomi is two thumbs up.

Think spring! Make plans to protect your brain and decrease sadness by joining us at the pantry garden this year. Read my future articles for our official start date. I look forward to seeing you then.

Editor’s note: This column was written by Gwen Herzog, Whitehall-Coplay Hunger Initiative pantry garden chair.