12 Reasons to Grow Your Own Food
If you are wondering if growing your own vegetables is really worth the time and effort, here are 12 very good reasons to do so.
1. Save Money
Growing your own food saves money.
Not only do you save on the vegetables and herbs, you save petrol and time too.
Yes, of course, unless you have a water tank, you pay for water BUT it will still be cheaper than buying at the shops
2. They Taste Better
If you have ever tasted a strawberry fresh from the plant, or podded and eaten peas that whilst you are standing by the vine, or popped a garden-fresh tomato into your mouth, you know there is no comparison between home-grown and shop bought.
Commercially produced fruit and vegetables are picked before they ripen to give them a longer shelf life. And properly ripened food tastes so much better.
3. You Know They Are Organic
When you grow your own vegetables you know exactly what has gone into them. Pesticides, fertilizers and preservative chemicals are no longer a concern.
4. You Can Grow More Varieties
Do you know how many types of tomatoes, beans, peppers and squash there are? Literally hundreds.
Farmers grow what is easiest and most popular. When you grow your own you can have a wonderful selection of all types of foods that you won’t find in a shop.
5. Guaranteed to be Fresh.
When you buy fruit and vegetables from a shop, they are several days, if not weeks, old. They have travelled from the farm to the market, to the packaging plant and then to the shop, before being driven to your kitchen. Some have also been preserved with chemicals to make them last even longer.
When you grow your own, your food stays fresh until you’re ready to put it on your plate.
6. Improve Your Health
We all know how important it is to eat veggies every day.
When you grow your own it is easier to get your 5 a day, and in a rainbow of colours too. Plus, nutrients start to break down as soon as vegetables are picked. Harvesting and eating with no transport time means you get the vitamins and minerals before they disappear.
7. Eat In Season
Mother Nature provides us with the right foods for the right season.
Melons in summer for their high water content, starchy root vegetables in winter for warmth, fresh greens in Spring to give us a natural detox, and citrus in Autumn to fight off coming colds and flu.
Growing your own means you eat what your body needs at the right time of the year.
8. Reduce Waste
How many times have you bought 5 different packets of vegetables so you can get your 5 a day, only to throw some away because you didn’t eat them quickly enough? Or bought one packet of carrots so you don’t waste, but had to eat them every day for a week!
Growing your own means you can choose how much to grow. Plant what you need and plant a variety. If you live alone, plant one or two of fifteen different veggies, and eat something different every day.
12. Sense of Pride
There is something so rewarding about serving a meal that has come from your garden. You have planted the seeds, tended the plants, harvested the produce and prepared them from eating.
It’s quite an achievement and you have every right to be proud!
9. Get Some Exercise and Vitamin DDid you know that 45 minutes of gardening burns the same amount of calories as running 2km in 15 minutes? Regular physical activity can help you feel better and improve your well-being because it relieves stress, boosts energy and releases tension.
10. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Not only do you reduce petrol consumption, you cut out the packaging too. Do your bit for the planet and keep those plastic bags out of landfills and our oceans.
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