Hey all, Despite the fact that I am relatively new on the forum, I wanted to share something. While I am rather lazy at heart, I have decided to start growing my own vegetables. Not because I am utterly in love with the concept of doing more work (please, I keep busy enough at the office) but because it helped me in a number of different reasons. I wanted to share this with you and get your own thoughts about what made you start. It helped my health One of the primary reasons I started growing my own vegetables was because I would actually eat the vegetables that I am growing. Most of us understand that you need to eat more veggies throughout the day, but if I do not have any vegetables in my home I have to admit that (shamefully) I am not going to go out looking for them at the supermarket every day. I have found that ever since I increased my intake of vegetables dramatically, I feel much better and I have more energy. It reduces my environmental impact Do not get me wrong, I still have a car and I cannot say that I have ever looked at what my carbon footprint really is. Nevertheless, growing food in my (modest) garden without pesticides and herbicides does make me feel like I am taking small steps. I am not adding to the unnecessary air or water pollution. Even though I realize I am only one person, it still makes me feel good. The food tastes better This is the part that really struck me the first time I noticed it – the food actually tastes better when I grow it. Maybe it is partly a placebo effect, but I have noticed that I am enjoying vegetables that I would previously only eat because ‘they were healthy’. Those were my reasons for actually growing my own vegetables. Do you have any reasons that you could share that inspired you to get started?
Taste, texture, and nutritional content have been the reason that I 'grow my own' for quite a few years.. Hank
The reasons you state are probably the reasons I garden now. Although being a part of nature is probably my biggest motivator. The reason I started probably had more to do with a small feeling of being self-sufficient. Reality is I will never rely on my gardening abilities. I just liked that reason to get outside and enjoy a connection with something that is bigger than us.
Your reasons are perfect! I never "got into" growing vegetables. When I was a child our vegetable garden provided fresh or canned vegetables year-round, and I was just used to having and messing about in a garden. In addition to your reasons for growing your own, I'd like to add another--sharing. I always plant too much of something (everything ) and giving away small bag of cherry tomatoes, sharing a bunch of fresh carrots with the garden soil still clinging to them, a few squash--that is soul food!
After I retired I just went back to basics, living off my yard ... it feels and taste good!!! Back to nature
Taking care of,, and providing for yourself is how most are people are raised here. Its something you grow up with. Not just from what is cultivated but what grows naturally too. When I was young, store bought items were minimal. And now days you never know if what you buy at the store is safe to eat. Seems like too often fresh items are being recalled because of contamination from something. If I grow it I don`t have to worry. Walking in my garden and picking what I want to eat is like having a supermarket at my fingertips.
Like Marlingardener, I never "got into gardening", it was something I was born into. My mother always had a garden and I quickly learned that home grown tastes best. When I first moved out of the house into an apartment I always had pots of veggies growing ... tomatoes, lettuce, beans, herbs. I soon discovered that living in an appartment wasn't for me ... I needed a yard to garden in. My garden continued to grow each year as I had children, one of which is a vegetarian. Tastes best, costs less, better for the environment as I'm an organic gardener, and its a good hobby
