No matter if you have a sprawling yard or just a few pots on the balcony, anyone can start a vegie patch or herb garden – and enjoy the numerous advantages of doing so. Here are just a few of the best reasons to jump on board with this trend and start to grow your own food.
Fresh is best
When you grow your own food, you know exactly what you’re getting. You know what pesticides you’ve used (if any) and you know that the produce is coming straight out of the ground and onto your plate – not sitting around in storage for months. You can be confident of your homegrown food’s nutritional value, and its amazing fresh flavour is sure to shine in any dish you create.
Boost your health
Gardening is a great, low-impact way to get physical activity. It can improve cardiac health and immune system response, increase fine and gross motor skills, and boost flexibility and body strength. It’s also good for your mental health. As an exercise in mindfulness, offering repetitive tasks that require us to focus on the present moment, gardening can help relieve stress, anxiety and depression.
Get the kids involved
Starting a vegie patch with your children is a great way to encourage them to eat their greens, as they’ve been involved and invested in the process from the start. This often means they’ll be more likely to want to sample the literal fruits of their labour.
Save money
Let’s face it: groceries can be expensive, especially if they’re organic. But by spending relatively few dollars on seeds, seedlings and supplies, your garden can yield loads of produce and save you cash. This is especially true of plants like tomatoes, pumpkins, capsicums and herbs – where you can enjoy multiple harvests from the same plant.
Help the environment
When food has to travel across states and even countries to get to you, that long-distance transportation and long-term refrigeration creates a lot of greenhouse gases – increasing the carbon footprint and harming the environment. Growing your own food would help reduce the reliance on this transportation.
