Got it. I agree with your point that after months of gardening I will probably be dreaming of the beauties of YAML files, or even XML if the gardening period was too long. But still, does it solve the motivation/productivity problem? Also, during long breaks you lose the context, so both types of activities will be less productive.
I don't think this way of organizing work is about maximizing individual productivity. It's more about the (forgotten?) idea that there's more into humans than being productive in some narrow scope.