|
|
The Gardener's Spot
Why Grow Your Own Garden?
There are many reasons why people grow their own food and a few reasons why they
might not. Whatever your reason for or against I hope this article will show you the
benefits of growing a garden far outweigh the costs. Here are just a few benefits of home
grown food and why I think you should plant a garden this year.
Taste
Once you have harvested and tasted food from your own garden, this question will be obsolete. Every vegetable and fruit that I have grown tastes so much better than any food from the grocery store. The produce grown in the store is bred to harvest when green and ripened while in transport to the grocery store. As your produce ripens on the plant or in the ground it takes in vitamins and sugars from the plan which enhances the taste and texture that you can get in store produce. Proof in point, most everyone has tasted a home grown tomato, and a store bought tomato, so there is no need to describe the incredible difference.
Chemical free
There has been a lot of controversy and focus in the past few years on pesticides that are used on our food by commercial growers. They use it for good reason, they don't want to send disease and bug ridden vegetables and fruit to the shelves. So they spray them with chemicals that prevent the bugs from ruining their harvest. Washing your food before eating is an important step for even a home grown garden, but washing only takes off what is on the outside, and many of those chemicals get inside the fruit or vegetable and cannot be taken out. One option would be to buy only organically grown food, and that is a great option, but growing your own food allows you to control chemical use and is a lot less expensive.
Good for your health
It is obvious that vegetables and fruit are good for your health, but we are talking about the act of gardening being good for you. First off, gardening gets you outside and under the sun. The sun helps you create and break down certain vitamins giving you vitality and it also helps elevate your mood. Gardening is hard work, using a shovel and garden fork can be some good exercise.
Getting up in the morning before the heat of the day and doing 20 minutes of weeding and or watering in your garden will get your day started right. For many, the fresh air, and the smell of the dirt and your garden plants is a great stress reliever. I am sure getting your blood pumping helps with stress too. When you make the decision to have a garden you are making the decision to live a healthy life.
Beautifying your yard
Vegetable gardens, when designed well, beautify and soften your yard. Some people have the notion that vegetables are only good for one thing, and that is eating; but vegetable plants can also be inter-planted in your flower beds and pots as annuals. Most of them produce beautiful flowers and the fruits they produce add a multitude of color.
To me, my garden is the most beautiful, peaceful place in my yard. For a good portion of the year, much of my day is spent in our garden enjoying the atmosphere. The sound of the wind gently blowing the corn stalks, the smell of the tomato plants, and the beans growing up their poles adds to the beauty of the seen.
Reduces energy use and conserves resources
As energy costs have risen over the last few years we all have wondered what we can do to reduce our use of it. Think about the plastic that we use to put the vegetables in to carry home, and that some of them are wrapped in. think about the fuel that was used to transport those vegetables to the store for you to buy, especially the ones that cannot or are not grown locally. Think of the tractors and equipment that are used to produce and harvest those vegetables. All of those things use fuel and oil. We don't need any of that when we grow our own food. Of course we cannot all have a big enough garden, nor would we want the job of producing ALL of our food, but growing some of it will help to reduce the consumption of fuel.
Saves money
It is true that there are some costs to starting up your home garden, like shovels, soil amendments if needed, seeds or plants, and if you are building grow boxes- the materials needed for them. According to a study done by the National Gardening Association in 2009, on average the amount spent on growing a home garden in the U.S. was $70 per year but the return from a 600 sq. ft. food garden was $600 worth of food. That is taking into account that an average 600 sq. ft. garden produces an estimated of 300 lbs. of fresh produce. That could be more or less depending on how well the garden did and how well it was taken care of. That is a very good investment of money and time not even taking into consideration the other benefits you receive from home food production.
Helping kids learn to grow a garden
It is easy to see that children love gardens. Some of my own cherished memories as a child is walking through my grandfather's garden and picking fresh peas, carrots and raspberries and eating them right in the garden. He would also grow watermelon and we would sit on the back porch and eat it altogether and spit the seeds into the garden to see if any new watermelon plants would grow back. I see the same love of gardens in the children in my neighborhood. My own children love to help and run around in my garden. They have fun rummaging through the strawberries and peas, and also picking ripe tomatoes warmed by the sun. All my children's friends big and small love to come into our yard and harvest what they can from the garden as they tell me how much they would love to have a garden at their home. It is a most amazing thing, to watch something you planted and cared for grow and produce something you can eat yourself. It's even better to see it through the eyes of a child.
I hope you see, the benefits of a garden are many, but the only way for you to know for yourself, is to take the plunge and start your own garden this year.
By: Julie Brown
Taste
Once you have harvested and tasted food from your own garden, this question will be obsolete. Every vegetable and fruit that I have grown tastes so much better than any food from the grocery store. The produce grown in the store is bred to harvest when green and ripened while in transport to the grocery store. As your produce ripens on the plant or in the ground it takes in vitamins and sugars from the plan which enhances the taste and texture that you can get in store produce. Proof in point, most everyone has tasted a home grown tomato, and a store bought tomato, so there is no need to describe the incredible difference.
Chemical free
There has been a lot of controversy and focus in the past few years on pesticides that are used on our food by commercial growers. They use it for good reason, they don't want to send disease and bug ridden vegetables and fruit to the shelves. So they spray them with chemicals that prevent the bugs from ruining their harvest. Washing your food before eating is an important step for even a home grown garden, but washing only takes off what is on the outside, and many of those chemicals get inside the fruit or vegetable and cannot be taken out. One option would be to buy only organically grown food, and that is a great option, but growing your own food allows you to control chemical use and is a lot less expensive.
Good for your health
It is obvious that vegetables and fruit are good for your health, but we are talking about the act of gardening being good for you. First off, gardening gets you outside and under the sun. The sun helps you create and break down certain vitamins giving you vitality and it also helps elevate your mood. Gardening is hard work, using a shovel and garden fork can be some good exercise.
Getting up in the morning before the heat of the day and doing 20 minutes of weeding and or watering in your garden will get your day started right. For many, the fresh air, and the smell of the dirt and your garden plants is a great stress reliever. I am sure getting your blood pumping helps with stress too. When you make the decision to have a garden you are making the decision to live a healthy life.
Beautifying your yard
Vegetable gardens, when designed well, beautify and soften your yard. Some people have the notion that vegetables are only good for one thing, and that is eating; but vegetable plants can also be inter-planted in your flower beds and pots as annuals. Most of them produce beautiful flowers and the fruits they produce add a multitude of color.
To me, my garden is the most beautiful, peaceful place in my yard. For a good portion of the year, much of my day is spent in our garden enjoying the atmosphere. The sound of the wind gently blowing the corn stalks, the smell of the tomato plants, and the beans growing up their poles adds to the beauty of the seen.
Reduces energy use and conserves resources
As energy costs have risen over the last few years we all have wondered what we can do to reduce our use of it. Think about the plastic that we use to put the vegetables in to carry home, and that some of them are wrapped in. think about the fuel that was used to transport those vegetables to the store for you to buy, especially the ones that cannot or are not grown locally. Think of the tractors and equipment that are used to produce and harvest those vegetables. All of those things use fuel and oil. We don't need any of that when we grow our own food. Of course we cannot all have a big enough garden, nor would we want the job of producing ALL of our food, but growing some of it will help to reduce the consumption of fuel.
Saves money
It is true that there are some costs to starting up your home garden, like shovels, soil amendments if needed, seeds or plants, and if you are building grow boxes- the materials needed for them. According to a study done by the National Gardening Association in 2009, on average the amount spent on growing a home garden in the U.S. was $70 per year but the return from a 600 sq. ft. food garden was $600 worth of food. That is taking into account that an average 600 sq. ft. garden produces an estimated of 300 lbs. of fresh produce. That could be more or less depending on how well the garden did and how well it was taken care of. That is a very good investment of money and time not even taking into consideration the other benefits you receive from home food production.
Helping kids learn to grow a garden
It is easy to see that children love gardens. Some of my own cherished memories as a child is walking through my grandfather's garden and picking fresh peas, carrots and raspberries and eating them right in the garden. He would also grow watermelon and we would sit on the back porch and eat it altogether and spit the seeds into the garden to see if any new watermelon plants would grow back. I see the same love of gardens in the children in my neighborhood. My own children love to help and run around in my garden. They have fun rummaging through the strawberries and peas, and also picking ripe tomatoes warmed by the sun. All my children's friends big and small love to come into our yard and harvest what they can from the garden as they tell me how much they would love to have a garden at their home. It is a most amazing thing, to watch something you planted and cared for grow and produce something you can eat yourself. It's even better to see it through the eyes of a child.
I hope you see, the benefits of a garden are many, but the only way for you to know for yourself, is to take the plunge and start your own garden this year.
By: Julie Brown