It is true that growing a garden is a lot of hard work and sometimes you do have a disappointing yield for the season, but did you know that there are many great reasons to grow a garden?  Here we will discuss a few of those reasons and hopefully encourage you to start your own garden if you haven’t done that yet.

  1. You can save money—Once your garden is well established and you have the tools you need to tend your garden, you can save tons by picking your own produce. Fruit trees can save you even more once they are growing and producing.
  2. You will have more nutritious food—Food picked fresh has not had time to lose nutrients that the food in the store have lost. Grocery stores have food that has been stored for a long period of time and shipped, sometimes from overseas.
  3. You get to choose what you use—Organic is best because it eliminates the harmful chemicals that we sometimes get when we buy food from the store.
  4. You get much tastier food—Food grown in your backyard is picked at the pinnacle of ripeness and deliciousness. That is much better tasting than food that was grown who knows when and has been sitting around in storage for who knows how long.
  5. You can get a great workout—Gardening gives you a great workout all summer long and allows you to get some fresh air and sunshine. Exercising regularly can help relieve depression, anxiety, and stress, while at the same time it will help boost your energy and help you build strength.
  6. You get bragging rights—Is there a better feeling than planting a garden from simple seeds, watching it grow, tending to it, and then harvesting it to feed your family? There may be, but it is still a great feeling to be able to grow a garden all by yourself. Knowing you did everything to grow your own food gives you a new appreciation for and connection to food.
  7. You have a beautiful garden to show off—Not only will you have fresh food, but it will be a beautiful addition to any yard.
  8. You help reduce reliance on fossil fuels—You don’t have to have your food transported halfway around the country or even halfway around the world, which will dramatically reduce your reliance on fossil fuels.
  9. You get to teach others—A garden is a wonderful, hands-on way to teach others about the process of growing food. Helping grow food can give people a connection not only to the earth, but also to the food on their plates.  And a garden can be a wonderful outdoor classroom for use in teaching children about nutrition and healthy eating.

So, now that we have been through the list, aren’t these wonderful reasons to start a lovely garden in your own backyard?  Even if you can’t do it this year, it is never too early to start planning for next year.  Maybe you can even find a Grow Appalachia program in your neck of the woods to help you and support you as you grow.  I hope these ideas have inspired you to go forth and grow; gardening is a wonderful hobby to have and one thing is for sure—if you learn how to garden, you never need to go hungry!