Ten Reasons to Start a Garden This Year
Even though we are still very much in winter, the gardener in me has started to plan. The snow and ice doesn’t deter me because I know this is the time of year that I start planting seeds, literally and figuratively. I will be planning out my garden, deciding which new plants I want to grow and which ones need to be removed from the roster. Flipping through seed catalogs with a warm tea and crackling fire is a wonderful pastime. Have I convinced you yet? If not, here are the top ten reasons I think you should start a vegetable garden this spring.
Grow Your Own Food: Beginner’s Gardening Workshop with Dr. Hunt, is an online workshop, March 7th,2024 at 7pm. Tickets available on Eventbrite. “I’ve made a virtual workshop combining 10 years of naturopathic experience with my love for gardening. It’s perfect for beginners and covers the basics of starting and planning what to grow. It works for rural and city areas, so even apartment dwellers can grow food!”
1. Food is expensive but gardening doesn’t have to be.
There may be some start-up costs when building a garden bed but, once a garden is established, it is fairly low cost to grow your own food. This is especially true when a gardener saves their seeds from the previous years’ crop.
2. Homegrown veggies have a higher nutritional value.
When produce is allowed to fully ripen in the garden, it has a higher nutritional value. Not to mention when soil health is superior (which most home gardens are) the produce will be richer in minerals and vitamins.
3. Gardening is a form of exercise.
Being active in the garden is great exercise. It requires flexibility, core and upper body strength, and at times some cardio. The best thing is that it doesn’t feel like exercise – it is just organic movement that keeps us healthy and nimble. Gardening has been shown to be more effective at supporting people with dementia than walking.1
4. Gardening is linked to better mental health.
Research has shown that soil microbes can have antidepressant-like effects.2 We have also seen that spending time in nature and just looking at plants relieves stress and anxiety.3
5. You can discover new and hard to find varieties.
I grow 10 different varieties of tomatoes each year. The majority I have never seen in the grocery store. Once you start exploring all the different varieties of vegetables you can grow, the possibilities feel endless. Look up the Spoon tomato, you will thank me later.
6. There is satisfaction in growing your own food.
Now everyone may not resonate with this one but this is one of the main reasons I love growing my own food. There is a deep sense of satisfaction when I can go to my garden and get all the ingredients I need for a recipe. I love looking down at my plate full of food and thinking, “I grew this”.
7. Helps you help practice acceptance.
When working with a living ecosystem full of microbes, insects, and animals there are many unexpected outcomes. Every year my garden has successes and failures and it has taught me to accept the good and the bad and move on. Even failures make great compost.
8. Gardens have a low carbon footprint.
Food less travelled has a smaller carbon footprint and it doesn’t get much closer than your own backyard. The impact that growing our own food could have on transportation pollution should not be underestimated.
9. Gives you control over how your food is grown.
If you are concerned about pesticides and chemicals being sprayed on your food, then this is another great reason to grow your own produce. You will know exactly what is in the soil and what has been used on the vegetables.
10. Homegrown food is delicious.
Once you have eaten a perfectly ripened tomato just off the vine, you will be hooked. The first time I tasted garlic from my garden, it was like I had never had garlic before. The taste and freshness of homegrown food is really unmatched.
References:
- Murroni V, Cavalli R, Basso A, Borella E, Meneghetti C, Melendugno A, Pazzaglia F. Effectiveness of Therapeutic Gardens for People with Dementia: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Sep 12;18(18):9595.
- Lowry CA, Hollis JH, de Vries A, Pan B, Brunet LR, Hunt JR, Paton JF, van Kampen E, Knight DM, Evans AK, Rook GA, Lightman SL. Identification of an immune-responsive mesolimbocortical serotonergic system: potential role in regulation of emotional behavior. Neuroscience. 2007 May 11;146(2):756-72.
- Hansen MM, Jones R, Tocchini K. Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature Therapy: A State-of-the-Art Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Jul 28;14(8):851.
