In a previous blog we discussed a little bit about vegetable gardening,
Greens from our Garden
and now we will go a little more in depth-giving you reasons why you should being to harvest your own produce.
Has the cost of produce and groceries suddenly have you couponing and discovering new ways to save? Is your spouse worried you could become an extreme couponer? Well its time to throw away your coupon binder, put on some gardening gloves and grab some seed packets and a hoe. The new “trendy” way to provide a fun and rewarding dinner is to grow your own produce.
Besides edible gardening being the trendy thing today, there are many other reasons why you should grow your own food…
Control over what you eat:
• You decide to use an insecticide or biological control of insects (i.e., ladybugs will eat your aphids and spider mites, order ladybugs online).
• You decide what kind of fertilizer to use, and what kind of soil they are planted in, etc.
Cost:
• Even though fruit and vegetable gardening comes with an initial cost, it pays for itself. A few dollars on a packet of seeds can yield 5-20 edibles per seed.
• Our season may be short, but we can grow enough fruits and vegetables for fresh summer meals and still have extras to can or freeze.
Environmental reasons:
• When you think local do you picture farms near us? It doesn’t get much more local than straight out of you very own land (or patio, yes, even you in the apartment can grow your own food).
• Not buying a tomato that has traveled from Florida reduces fuel consumption, and chemicals in our environment one tomato at a time; it adds up, I promise.
Health:
• Everyone knows we should add fruits and vegetables to our diets. Having them in your backyard, easy to harvest, you are more apt to eat them daily.
• Gardening is exercise! You burn as many calories per hour as you would in 45 minutes of aerobics.
• Gardening has also proven to be therapeutic so you can rid yourself of some stress as well.
It can bring your family together:
• Use it as a fun teaching moment if you have children…let them help pick what to grow, get their hands dirty planting, and help find the produce ready for harvest.
• Planning a particular garden to your likes (i.e. Salsa garden) is a good way to include your spouse and add “couple time” to your busy schedules.
Taste:
• Mass produced produce are grown for their harvest time & durability. You can choose produce according to tenderness, sweetness, and all around flavor.
• Store bought never tastes as good as the garden, the fresher the produce the less time for its sugars to turn to starch so all the transportation time and early harvesting adds to poor quality flavor.
Remember that you are not just limited to one-season vegetable and fruit plants, but keep your options open for woody fruit-producing shrubs and trees. Many fruit producing trees do very well in Nebraska, like apples, peaches, pears, cherries, and many more. Trees offer produce to eat fresh, can, or make jam and preserve for the winter season.
Even if you don’t have room to plant a mini-orchard and expansive vegetable garden, don’t worry. Container gardening can be easy as long as you pay attention to the plant needs. Perhaps better still would be getting together with a few neighbors for a community garden; many hands makes work light. (For more info on small gardens look for our blog on small space gardening)
Now you know why to garden produce. Get ready to grow your edible garden this season!
