Growing your own organic vegetables can be very rewarding only in terms of the fresh organic vegetables that you will get to eat. Not only do you get all the health benefits of gardening but you will also be able to gain a better understanding of your food and what goes into producing it.
If you are yet on the fence about whether or not you should start growing your own organic vegetables or if you’ve tried to grow your own organic vegetables and failed, here are a couple of reasons why you might want to try (again).
- You can be sure that your vegetables are 100% pesticide-free
When you grow your own organic vegetables at home, you can be 100% sure that your vegetables have not been exposed to chemicals because you are in total control of whether you choose to use any chemicals or not. Since the size of vegetable gardens at home are pretty small, the use of synthetic or naturally-derived chemicals are not needed at all as long as you properly plan and care for your vegetable garden.
Organic vegetables that are commercially available are rarely pesticide-free. Although organic farming doesn’t allow synthetic chemicals to be used, the scale needed to be profitable means that chemicals derived from natural sources need to almost always be used. This means that when its from the store, even organic vegetables must be handled in a way that minimizes our exposure to these chemicals even if the risks posed are minimal.
- It will make it easier for you to eat more vegetables
We all know that we need to add vegetables to our diet to have a balanced diet. Yet, we aren’t always able to find the time, energy, or money to eat enough fresh vegetables.
When you grow your own vegetables, you get to watch your vegetable plants grow from seed, and maybe flower and produce. The anticipation and the excitement will make you want to eat those veggies as soon as they are available.
It’s not only the anticipation but the ease of having fresh vegetables just a hop, skip and a jump away from your kitchen, and not having to go to the store to get them, will make it more likely that you would add vegetables to your diet.
- You will be able to eat uncommon edible parts of vegetable plants
Stores generally only stock and sell commonly edible parts of vegetable plants.
For example, the root of the carrot plant is what is usually referred to as carrots and usually stores only have the root for sale. That does not mean that the root is the only edible part. The entire carrot plant is edible. Carrot leaves are edible and taste like parsley, which is a distant relative of carrot.
When you grow your own vegetables, you will be able to eat all edible parts of the vegetable plants you grow.
- You will improve your overall health and wellness
Apart from supplying you with fresh, pesticide-free vegetables for your diet, vegetable gardening is also beneficial for your overall health.
Most of us are under constant stress because today’s fast-paced life doesn’t provide us with much time to take care of our physical and mental health. Spending just a couple of minutes each day in your vegetable garden will allow you to relax and unwind in a way that not many other activities can.
If you are a professional who spends a lot of time at a desk and in from of the computer, gardening will my help you be more physically active. The thought of doing boring exercises can be agonizing but gardening can be fun and exciting. Knowing that your plants need you to care of them will make it more likely that you get out and about at least once a week.
- You will have a constant supply of food even when commercial supply fails
If there’s one thing that the past two years have taught us, it’s that even in a world of highly organized food supply chains, sudden events can cause temporary food shortages.
Sudden lockdowns imposed worldwide in 2020 to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in panic buying, a lack of manual labor, and interruptions to food supply chains, which led to empty shelves in stores across the world.
Although for most of us thankfully facing food shortages is not likely to be a main reason for us to start growing your own vegetables but knowing that you always have some fresh food right in your garden whenever you need is definitely an advantage of growing your own organic vegetables.
- Organic vegetable gardening can be a very satisfying and productive hobby
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, a lot of people found themselves newly working-from-home. At the same time gardening centers couldn’t keep up with the demand for seeds and other supplies becuase more people were turning to gardening as a way to keep themselves occupied while at home. Gardening made the pandemic lockdowns a lot more bearable.
Gardening is an ideal hobby, especially for those of us who need a hobby that gets us out of the house and physically moving. The mental and physical health benefits along with the chance of getting fresh vegetables right at your doorstep, makes vegetable gardening an ideal hobby.
- You can reduce your food waste
Commercially available vegetables go to waste both on their journey to the store and after you’ve purchased them. Vegetables that don’t meet strict market requirements, including the ideal size, shape, and color, may be regarded as waste, even if they are still edible.
Although you are not solely responsible for the loss that takes place before you get your vegetables into your shopping cart, by buying them, you are inadvertently participating in creating more waste.
When you grow vegetables yourself, you can be certain that it is safe from harmful chemicals and nutritious, even if they are slightly off-shape or smaller. It is also very unlikely that you would waste any vegetables that you have grown yourself because you know how much work and patience went into growing them.
Additionally, by composting any remaining plant matter and then using it to grow more vegetables, you will be able to reduce the vegetable waste you create to zero.
- You will develop a genuine appreciation for the contribution made by farmers
Growing vegetables isn’t difficult, but neither does it happen without any work or practical knowledge. Certain steps, such as mulching, can reduce the amount of work you need to put into your vegetable garden, but pests or extreme weather can easily damage a whole garden almost instantly.
The hard work involved in growing vegetables can make it heart-breaking when your vegetables are damaged and cannot be used, even if you can easily go to the store and buy as much as you need.
Growing your own vegetables will make you appreciate just how much of a physical and mental struggle farmers who grow vegetables and other food for a living must undergo to make sure we all have food, especially because a damaged crop can mean losing their only source of income.
- Provide you with an opportunity to spend quality family time
Vegetable gardening can be a fun, free, and educational activity for the whole family. Growing vegetables together will help you teach your children about where their food comes from, provide them with a safe environment to directly interact with nature, and learn the value of spending time in nature.
When you use completely organic methods in your vegetable garden, you can also be sure that your whole family is safe and not exposed to harmful chemicals while having fun.
- You will get free food and save money!
Organic vegetable gardening will save you money, but only eventually. Although you can enjoy the mental and physical benefits that gardening provides from day one, you will have to invest some money in gardening tools and a few other inputs. For example, even if you decide to only use compost as fertilizer, you may have to buy compost until you have made enough.
Additionally, organic vegetable gardening is usually more of a trial-and-error process. Regardless of how much you learn online or from books, you will have to have firsthand experience to be able to intuitively handle any pest, nutrition, or other issues that your plants may face.
Eventually, as you become more experienced and produce more vegetables, you could reduce the amount of stuff that you purchase, and you will start to save money because the food that you produce can be virtually free!
Growing your own vegetables will not only provide you with an abundance of fresh, pesticide-free vegetables whenever you need but it can also help you improve your overall health and wellbeing, help you reduce food waste, help you appreciate farmers, provide you with quality family time and will eventually, save you money.
The best part is that you don’t need to have a large backyard or garden to reap the benefits. You can easily start growing vegetables in pots or containers on your balcony or even on a window ledge.
The first step in starting an organic vegetable garden is to find the best location for your vegetable garden. That way you’ll be able to meet all of your vegetable plant’s needs as best as possible and grow healthy plants without using any harmful chemicals.
These are such great tips! Definitely need to save this for when we get a garden!
Glad you found it useful. Good luck with all your future gardening pursuits!
Thank you! Can’t wait to get more posts !
Thank you! Lovely to have you on board. I’ve got a whole lot of gardening posts planned for 2021.
We have a garden and there is nothing like growing, cooking, and eating your own food. You know exactly what you are putting into your body.
1000% agree!
These are great reasons for starting your own garden! This last year I was so happy that I had a garden, I didn’t have to rely on a grocery store for all of our food.
That’s awesome that you have already been growing your own food. The sense of self-sufficiency it gives is truly satisfying.
My wife talks about starting a garden with our neighbor every spring (our backyards share a corner that would be the perfect spot for a garden) but they haven’t started it yet. After all the craziness of 2020, I think this coming spring we will pursue growing as much of our on food as possible. Thanks for the list.
You’re welcome! Best of luck with gardening and growing your own food in Spring. Sometimes starting is the hardest part.
My friend brother has his own garden which was cool to see
Definitely nothing better than sharing the joy your garden brings with friends and family.
My mom always grew her vegetables in her yard. There was also a raspberry patch right outside my bedroom window (don’t tell her I’m the reason she thought her plant wasn’t producing!). I can wait for spring to be back to start it with my kids!
I keep missing vegetables from my balcony vegetable garden and keep thinking its squirrels, but maybe not. Best of luck with your garden in Spring!
I grew up planting and harvesting my own bokchoy as part of my elementary class. I love informative post like this to inspire health living for my mom blog. And as a writer for health/ wellness and fitness industry, this post is really helpful. Thanks for the encouragement to start a garden using a pot. Keep up the great job!
You’re welcome! That’s ideal that you were taught how to plant and harvest your own food in your elementary class. Definitely, something that needs to promoted for all elementary school children.
I have an allotment just because I hate the idea of eating pesticides! It does not produce much, and some years the crappy UK weather ruins the little I can get from the plot, but it’s fun to be out with the family and do some digging!
I think we all have had similar experiences. It can be hard to get vegetable plants to produce when the weather isn’t ideal but ultimately if you have fun during the process it really is worth it.