10 Great Reasons To Plant A Garden
There are many benefits that spring brings but one of the biggest is the option to grow your food. Many people feel that growing fruits and vegetables seem overwhelming, but it is simple. You also do not need to live in a rural area to make this happen. There are two main things you need, time and a small space to grow your produce. In a few short months, you will reward yourself with a plentiful harvest of your own.
Some of the significant benefits of growing your food are:
- Saving Money: Everyone loves to save money! Food is essential to our everyday lives. If we can save money by growing our own, then gardening is well worth our time and efforts. Supermarkets are getting very expensive. If you can plant the same product on your own, you will cut all the in-between costs. People worry about the money spent on seeds and preparing a garden, but the startup cost is minimal. Most packets of seeds cost less than a dollar and some seeds you can even save, dry them out and use them again the next year.
- Healthier: The foods grown in your garden are healthier for you and your family. When you buy produce from the grocery store, you do not know how long it was sitting in storage before they placed it on the shelf, or how long it has been sitting on the store shelf. Another factor is the food transportation to your local store. How long did it sit on a truck and did the temperatures change during shipping? How long was the journey for the food to arrive at your store? The vitamins and nutrients may not be as abundant in store-bought produce, and this will also affect the flavor of your food.
- Food Safety: We have all heard about different food recalls and the concern for our food safety. When you grow your food at home, you will not have to worry about contamination during the process of you receiving your food. Also, there will not be any chemicals in the food you have grown vs. the food purchased in a store.
- Environmental Impact: If we don’t spray our foods with chemicals, then those chemicals will not get into the water or the soil unlike the farmers raising big crops for the mass population. Growing your garden will also help with the waste of fossil fuels. Modes of transportation to deliver the produce uses the fossil fuels.
- Preventing Waste: Every year people throw away too much food. We either overbuy or plain forget about the amount of food we have. If you grow the produce, then you will pick what you need and know how much you are using.
- Exercise: Planting a garden is a great way to get exercise. You will tend to your garden by planting seeds, watering them, pulling the weeds and harvesting the produce. It is like you are exercising with a purpose.
- Learn New Things: You can learn what types of plants are easy to grow, which ones need more care and the best time to plant each type. You also will learn about the soil and a variety of gardening tools you can use to make it easier to care for your garden.
- Involve the Children: Kids will love to help with this activity. They will learn a lot and also feel a sense of pride in what they helped you to make. Most children would be more likely to try a new vegetable or fruit if they helped to make it.
- Vitamin D: When you are outside in the sun, it will help to produce Vitamin D in your body. Getting enough of this vitamin is crucial to your health. When you have enough Vitamin D, it will help you sleep better and feel better.
- Nature: Being outside, in nature, takes you away from your hectic everyday life. You will be able to de-stress and enjoy the peacefulness that nature brings. It can serve as your meditation time.
No matter where you live or how you intend to garden you will reap only good benefits from growing a garden. If you are unsure of where to start, what to plant, where to shop or how to maintain your garden there are several resources to help you. There are several articles online about gardening, books at the library, and my personal favorite are Pinterest. On Pinterest, there are so many interesting, and helpful ideas I have used. It is a useful resource because you can pin the ideas you like and check them out later when you have the time. You can even take your phone to the store with you and see what you need to buy to get started. Having a garden is an excellent resource for many reasons.
Good luck with your very own garden and enjoy your delicious produce!