Birds are chirping and the air is warming, time to get outside! Are you thinking of starting a garden this year but need a little nudge?
#1 – You like food that tastes good
Have you ever tasted a tomato plucked fresh from the garden still warm from the sun? There is nothing like it.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, I mostly despised tomatoes. Probably because they were typically represented by mealy, translucent, and flavorless impostors. But every summer, the real tomato plants would magic up their glorious fruit, and even I – the tomato-hater – would partake.
My grandpa (a man of a generation where every self-respecting family had a big backyard garden) would help my mom till and mulch a small plot next to our driveway. They simply grew rows of tomatoes and a patch of mint that we used to make sun tea.
I can still remember the intoxicating grassy smell as I would walk through my mom's fuzzy tomato plants in search of green globes of promise and plump red tomatoes ready for harvest.
Even the lovely heirloom tomatoes at your health food store or farmer's market can't stand up to the intoxicating delight of a tomato right off the sun drenched vine.
#2 – You want to save money
This is a no-brainer. Food that you grow yourself (especially when you grow it from seed) is far more thrifty than food you buy from a store or even your farmer. Basically you eliminate all the middle men.
#3 – You want to ‘eat local'
A trendy term thrown around with good reason, you can't get more local than food grown in your backyard.
The carbon footprint of food transport alone is enough reason to grow a tomato at home rather buy one that's been shipped in a truck from Texas or California.
#4 – Your brain is rotting from too much screen time
I'm glad you're reading my blog – really, I am. But how much time do you spend staring at your laptop, tv screen, or smart phone?
Think of the sigh or relief your body will feel to be digging in dirt and breathing the rich smells of the earth.
#5 – You have enough time each week to watch a movie or tv show
Gardening can take as little or as much time as you would like, so carve out at least an hour or two each week to devote to growing your own food.
#6 – You have only enough outdoor space for your boots
Don't have a plot of land? No problem!
There are volumes of information out there on how to grow a bunch food in a tiny bit of dirt. Whether it's some buckets on a patio or a raised bed on a rooftop, a small space is really no excuse not to grow a garden.
#7 – You don't need a green thumb
Worried you can't keep a house plant alive? Well all the more reason to start practicing, and lucky for you, you don't need to start your veggies from seed. Most plants can be purchased as seedlings (baby plants) that you merely need to plop into some good organic soil that gets a bunch of sunlight and remember to water.
#8 – You don't want the government to control what you can and cannot eat
Food freedom is a HUGE issue these days. If you're not sure if this is true, just Google ‘Monsanto' and get reading.
If you like the idea of men in suits with hidden guns coming to take away your real food and replace it with mealy tomatoes and Twinkies, by all means, ignore the issue.
Otherwise, start voting with your fork, your dollar, and any tiny patch of dirt where you can grow real food. The revolution starts in your garden. Get digging.
Still got an excuse? Let's hear it below.
Love your #8. These are all great reasons but #8 is the best… okay, myabe tied with #1 and #2. We have a couple of gardens in our small yard and were able, last year, to grow enough for a family of 4 for…so far 7-8 months and going. We’ve saved well over $800 in food. We even have a front garden. We’ve heard stories of government coming in and destroying/stealing plants from front gardens because “people aren’t supposed to grow food in their front yards”. I think my husband and I decided to grow front gardens just to spite the government. We lived in Germany for 3 years and mixing flowers and food plants can be really attractive…we saw it all the time there. This year we’re going to add another front garden…can’t wait to taste all the fresh veggies/fruits!
That’s awesome, Sauriu! I am a gardening newbie, but i aspire to have a garden(s) like yours. 🙂
Hey, that’s you when you were a little girl! How cute!
I have totally thinking about this, almost DAILY, in the last few months. Still scheming what to grow, and how to fit it on my small bit of cement slab outside my back door…
I need more dirt.
I don’t think I ever gardened when I was little. But I remember eating peas out of grandmas garden.
I grew tomatoes cause Grandpa always prepped my garden. I quit when the slugs got more of the tomatoes than we did. I tried a garden at my new home but the rabbits ate all my plants. I gave up and went to the farmer’s markets.
i’d like to have a garden but my husband and i cannot agree where it should be! he wants the back yard and i want the front yard. why can’t the garden be in the front of the house?
Last yeAr I switched to container gardens right on my back deck. I was amazed how much I got out of them and how much easier they were for me because they were right in my line of sight all the time. I took much better care of them than I did the big garden down our steep lot. I will definitely be doing them again! I can’t wait for fresh tomatoes!
What if all I have is a bedroom I’m renting in a house? I want to start a vegetable and herb garden because I love to cook with fresh stuff, but when I say “I have no space” and the idea of being more self-sufficient, I literally have no space. My roommate, who owns the house, wants to start a garden too but it’s difficult to convince her of numbers 4 and 5. When she’s not at work, she and her boyfriend are glued to their computers. *Sigh*, one day I’ll be done with school, have a career, and be able to afford a place of my own, and then, I will grow all my own vegetables, fruits, herbs, and even have a chicken or two! Okay…maybe no chickens, but the rest will happen.