July 31, 2017
Benefits of Growing your own Garden
Summer is finally here! Wow, is it just me or do our winters seem to be lasting longer and longer?
The things that I look forward to most once the nice weather finally comes includes: getting out on the open roads with my husband on our motorcycle, going for hikes with our dog down to the river to wet our feet, and being able to grow our own vegetables.
I live in the country, but I also live where there is more rock than soil. Therefore, I always thought I wouldn’t be able to grow my own garden. But, being the inventive person that my husband is, I asked if he could build me a garden. So he began by building boxes on top of the ground first, he then filled them about 3-4 inches full with peat moss. This will help them to retain the moisture so the soil doesn’t dry out too fast. (As I mentioned earlier my ground is mainly gravel, so therefore, lots of drainage). Then he got an organic composted soil mix to fill them up.
Here is one of my boxes with radishes, beans, kale, peppers and tomatoes:
This was an easy and economical way to start our garden. For those of you lucky enough to have yards with soil, you do not need to build the boxes; you can start your garden right in the ground. Or if you have small yards, or even no yard, you can simply do a few containers on your deck with tomato plants, pepper plants, or herbs. Start off simple so that you don’t overwhelm yourself and then start adding new items if you’d like.
Here are a few pots on my deck with basil, oregano and tomatoes:
Being able to grow your own food is wonderful and comes with many benefits which include:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables from your own garden are higher in nutrients than the ones that have traveled several thousand miles to get to your grocery store.
- Growing your own fruits and vegetables can offer you the opportunity to reduce the amount of pesticides that you use in your garden, making them healthier.
- Growing your own fruits and vegetables will save you money, as a pack of seeds or seedlings is very cheap compared to buying vegetables full grown.
- Gardening is a great way to engage the whole family to increase physical activity and lets them help to take responsibility for the garden.
- The fruits and vegetables grown in your garden will promote health because they are rich in nutrients, especially in phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamin C, vitamin A and folate as well as fiber.
- Growing a garden gives you a new appreciation for nature, when you can have the opportunity to see how things grow.
- Having your children assist you in the garden can increase the chance that they will eat more of the fruits and vegetables they have helped to grow.
Start exploring the possibilities of gardening and I’m sure you’ll be hooked just like I am. I have already been planning to build more beds, much to my husband’s groans. Not really, he loves the fresh vegetables as much as I do!
Happy gardening,
Lorraine
