If you haven’t tried growing vegetables in your garden, you don’t know what you are missing. Not only does a neatly tended vegetable garden look great, but you can also enjoy many of the fruits of your labors well into the winter months. Here are seven reasons to start or continue a vegetable garden:
Exercise: Gardening does require some work, but consider the benefit of exercise. Stretch to pull that nasty crabgrass…dig to remove that dandelion root…breathe deeply to fill your lungs with fresh air. All of these gardening activities help to burn up calories and increase your physical well-being.
Food: An obvious benefit to vegetable gardening is that it results in good things to eat. And fresh vegetables always taste better than any store-bought produce. In fact, the exceptional flavor of homegrown foods is one major reason why people grow vegetables.
Health: Fresh vegetables are health foods. Most vegetables have traveled hundreds of miles to be on display at the grocery stores. This journey results in lost vitamins and minerals. The vegetables from your garden are the most nutritious, containing the vitamins and minerals for healthy bodies.
Beauty: A vegetable garden is as pleasing to the eyes as a flower garden. And most vegetables flower before they fruit, so you really do get both in one garden.
Knowledge: Experience is the best teacher. When you garden you see nature at work. You can’t help but learn about nature and nurturing plants. And, you can impress your friends with your knowledge and unique produce.
Self-satisfaction: There is something very satisfying about tending a garden and reaping its rewards. One feels almost virtuous. Plus gardening is an activity that the whole family can do together.
Money Savings: The monetary investment in seeds, plants, fertilizer, etc., is minimal, and compared to buying fresh or canned produce you could save a lot of money, especially if you store some of the bounty for later months.