You may have wondered in the past if you should grow your own food. If it’s worth the effort. The short answer is yes. In fact, growing your own food can provide a simple solution to many of the health and economic problems you may face.
Walking through the aisles of the grocery store, anyone can see the vast amount of products that proclaim to be “organic” and “all-natural”.
Unfortunately, those labels usually come with a higher price tag and can sometimes be misleading.
Should You Grow Your Own Food?
While grocery store organics can be a healthier alternative, they are not the healthiest way to bring wholesome, healthy, organic foods to your dinner table.
So how about having a crack at growing your own vegetables, fruits, and herbs?
But I Have No Garden Or Gardening Experience!
Gardening can be enjoyable, fulfilling, and may not be as difficult as you might think. Almost anyone can build a garden, whether you live in an apartment or on a farm. Many different styles of gardening are available for anyone who is willing to try.
Vertical gardening, a process where you grow a “wall of plants”, is inexpensive to build and can be just as successful as a carefully staked out plot of land.
LED lighting has a low energy consumption and specially designed LED’s can easily be installed to provide the necessary light. While a complete vertical gardening platform can be purchased, there are also many designs that can be made easily and inexpensively from recycled materials. A garden plot may be more convenient, and preferable to some, depending on the space you have available.
Some people choose to build “raised beds” that allow outdoor gardening to give easier access to your plants, provide more soil and weed control, and organization. It’s worth it to do a little research to decide what type of garden is best for your environment.
What to Plant
‘’The garden is a metaphor for life, and gardening is a symbol of the spiritual path.’’
Larry Dossey
After you have your garden all set up, it’s time to add your plants. A vertical garden is an ideal place to grow fresh herbs and spices or a salad garden. Many herbs and leafy green vegetables need a lower level of light and protection from wilting that can occur in the hot sun.
Power greens such as spinach, kale, and many varieties of loose-leaf lettuce can thrive in a vertical garden along with smaller root vegetables like radishes. Sweet Pea vines can be planted on the bottom and trained to climb your “wall” as well, to give you a sweet juicy addition to your salad.
An outdoor plot is ideal for crops like green beans or pinto beans, which continue to produce all summer long. Adding a few support frames allows you to plant pea vines and tomato plants that can be harvested several times.
The Benefits of Growing Your Own Food
Whether you are imagining a single plant to grow tomatoes or a full garden in your backyard, you will receive a number of positive benefits from growing your own food.
Improve Nutrition
‘’If you have a garden and a library, you have
everything you need.’’
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Freshly picked fruits and vegetables not only taste better but will also provide you and your family with more nutrition. Grocery store produce often undergoes the process of harvesting, being shipped to a distribution center, and then distribution to stores. The produce then remains on the shelves until purchased.
Much of the original nutrition of the food is lost during this process. Growing your own food will assure you get maximum nutrition and health benefits from the food you eat.
Outdoor Exercise
‘’Everything that slows us down and forces patience,
everything that sets us back into the slow circles of
nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.’’
May Sarton
The food you plant in your garden will need to be watered, weeded, and harvested. This is a great way to satisfy your exercise needs. You will also provide yourself with the vitamin D your body needs from the sun. The outdoor exercise you will gain from planting and maintaining your garden is also an activity the entire family can enjoy.
Eliminate Food Safety Worries
‘’We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and
in between we garden.’’
Alfred Austin
It is difficult not to worry about food safety when foods like spinach, peanut butter, and tomatoes are regularly recalled for safety reasons. Growing your own food will eliminate worries about pesticides used in the growing process or contamination that can occur anytime from the planting to the distribution process.
Grow Your Own Food To Save Money
‘’Gardening is the purest of human pleasures.’’
Francis Bacon
The ability to lower the cost of your monthly grocery bill is another big advantage to growing your own food. A single pack of seeds can sometimes cost less than a single serving of the food product you wish to grow.
The savings are even greater when you consider the cost of organically grown foods in grocery stores. Savings will also be extended by learning to properly store your produce after it is harvested.
Growing Your Own Food Reduces Impact on the Environment
‘’To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is
to forget ourselves.’’
Mahatma Gandhi
You can benefit the environment in several ways when you grow your own food. Organically grown foods spare the planet the pollution that results from the use of herbicides and pesticides. The pollution from fossil fuels will also be reduced when fewer food products need to be shipped to stores.
Learn How To Grow Your Own Food And Find Personal Satisfaction
‘’We are stardust, we are golden, and we’ve got to get
ourselves back to the garden.’’
Joni Mitchell
You will gain a great deal of gratification from watching a seed you plant in a garden become food that provides nourishment to your family. Growing your own food will provide you and your family with healthy food, save you money, and help to preserve the environment. These are all things that will build your sense of pride.
It is likely you have thought about growing your own food in the past only to talk yourself out of the idea. But as you can see, the effort is well worth it.
Although I now live a big city life, my childhood was spent on the farm where my family grew everything that was possible to grow in that climate. And more and more, I miss that way of life.
Well, who knows what’s on the cards? In the meantime, investing in a few potted herbs might just be a nice and easy way to start!
‘’If you’ve never experienced the joy of accomplishing
more than you can imagine, plant a garden.’’
Robert Brault
Feature Image Courtesy of Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Disclaimer:
This article was written by Zuzana Halliwell. I am not a doctor or health professional and cannot be held liable for the information written here. This article is meant to provide information about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. The content is based on my own personal experience and on information provided by medical professionals that is available to the public. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Do not use it as an alternative to seeking help from a medical professional.
