The economic down-turn has most people considering alternative ways of living their lives. Everyone is doing less, spending less, and certainly owning less. However, during times of famine the timing is perfect to discover some of the simpler things in life that many of us may have overlooked during times of feast.
One of those simple things is food. Food without pesticides, enhancers or artificial additives. Food that wasn’t harvested too early for the convenience of transportation or to pay a middle man. Food that is pure, flavorful and healthy. People have lost touch with just how capable we are of providing healthy, fresh and affordable fruits and vegetables.
Great Reasons to Grow Fresh Garden Vegetables
- Vegetables grown in the home garden guarantees its organic origins. The gardener is certain that the food is free of pesticides and other additives. He knows exactly which practices were used before harvesting and that the produce is fresh and healthy.
- The nutritional value of fruits and vegetables begins to decline once it is picked or harvested. Produce grown in a home garden will contain more vitamins and minerals than the produce available in grocery stores.
- Growing fruits and vegetables at home saves money on grocery bills. One example is with heirloom tomatoes. Just one of these organically grown tomatoes can cost about $4.00 at the grocery store. Whereas, an heirloom tomato plant that yields many pounds of tomatoes during the growing season will cost $2.50. This number is dwarfed if the tomato plants are started from seed. Even if less expensive vegetables are grown at home, it'll bring substantial savings due to the amount of that vegetables needed to feed a family for one meal. Also, if the gardener is growing vegetables organically, the savings need to be compared to organic prices at the grocery store - which are substantially higher.
- Growing vegetables at home is extremely eco-friendly. Harvesting produce fresh from the garden saves on gas, oil and reduces air pollution from the trucks that haul the produce from other areas or states.
- Planting and maintaining a home vegetable garden brings families together and builds self-esteem due to practicing self-sufficiency. Families have the opportunity to work together as a productive unit to bring food to the table. Kids naturally gravitate to gardening.
- Growing vegetables at home allows the gardener to grow varieties of vegetables and fruits unheard of at the grocery store. People discover what produce is supposed to taste like when they harvest their own food. There are delightful flavors, textures, and colors to be experienced and numerous seed catalogs that introduce hundreds of varieties.
- Finally, growing food at home allows people to share the bounty with others. Fresh food can be brought to extended family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. One of the greatest experiences for the whole family is to share excess produce with a local food bank. There are gardeners that even plant an extra row of everything in their garden especially for this purpose.
Self-sufficiency is the current lifestyle trend and providing fresh food for our families is the perfect place to begin. Supplementing store-bought groceries with a home vegetable garden is key in modern urban homesteading practices.
It's true that a hundred years ago, growing your own vegetables and fruit was essential. It’s equally true that there are valid reasons for doing so in a day and age where it isn’t absolutely "necessary". Of course, this all depends on a person's definition of necessity.
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