Gardening has many benefits. It is a simple way to get back in touch with nature and it's also a fulfilling activity for people of all ages. Kids all the way up to seniors love gardening, and for good reason! Gardening can be therapeutic, educational, and healthy.
There are many different types of gardens you can plant such as herb or vegetable gardens, flower gardens, and even fruit trees. You can start your garden in containers, or in raised beds. Whatever works best for your situation is what will keep your garden happy!
If you don’t have much space, you should definitely look into container gardening or even square foot gardening. Both options teach you the best way to maximize the limited amount of space you have. You can grow almost anything in containers, and the whole family can help you create your successful garden.
The reasons to start a garden are plentiful, and the benefits are clear. What are you waiting for? :)
Eat better
When you’re gardening, you know what you’re putting into your garden. There can be many health concerns with buying vegetables at the store that include various chemicals being used. Aside from the possible chemical use, fresh vegetables are 50% higher in nutrients than when they are shipped long distance.
When you grow your own vegetables, you know how they are cleaned. Not only are they healthier, they taste better, too! There are no chemicals being used in your own garden and you know exactly what is going into your food.
You have more control over your food source. When eating vegetables from a grocery store, it’s hard to tell how long that vegetable has been sitting there. When one thing dies off in the garden, you recognize it because you see it every day while the grocery store vegetables are in large groups making it hard to tell which vegetables were bad and should be thrown away.
I absolutely love being able to go out to my garden and pick a salad for lunch. Various types of lettuce are easy to grow, as are tomatoes. What else do you want in your salad? Cucumbers, radishes, carrots? Your garden’s got you covered! The only thing that is missing is the salad dressing, and you can grow herbs and make your own salad dressing as well. Having a garden is almost like having a personal chef! I mean, the garden doesn’t cook it for you, but it’s the next best thing. :)
Save money
The cost of vegetables, especially organic vegetables, continues to go up. Gardening can reduce your grocery bill for the long term. You can buy a whole pack of seeds that can produce a year's supply of every vegetable for the same price it would cost for one week's worth.
Just like most tasks, you need supplies to get started. The money you spend on your garden is an investment. The outcome costs you less than buying vegetables at the store, and they taste better.
There are many vegetables that you can grow in your garden, and gardening gives you a healthier alternative to store-bought or processed foods.
Self-therapy
Starting a garden is a perfect way to get time to yourself. Gardening has been proven to be therapeutic, it can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and even help improve attention span.
Not only does gardening include physical therapy, it is great for your mental health. A garden offers peace, beauty, and tranquility. The results of gardening can also be a greater sense of mental wellbeing and peacefulness. You will be proud of what you grew from seed!
Goal setting
Gardening makes it easy to set small milestones that are simple to hit. Setting goals helps trigger new behaviors and helps guide your focus. Setting goals is a great form of motivation that is also beneficial to mental health.
Goals provide direction and can give a sense of personal satisfaction. The act of setting goals adds a sense of purpose to your life. Your mind will naturally rise to the occasion to meet each goal you set.
By striving toward a specific end point, you have an intense focus that can greatly improve your productivity and mental clarity. This may be especially useful for those with ADHD or ADD who lack focus in their lives.
Many people set goals in order to build upon their self-esteem and self-confidence level. Growing your confidence is a great way to improve your emotional well being, and setting small milestones that you can check off as you accomplish them will increase your confidence.
In case of emergency
There’s multiple cases of emergencies in which gardening can come in handy. If you lose your job, you know how to grow your own food. If there’s a drought and not enough vegetables are being produced, you know how to grow your own food.
If there’s an economic crash that ruins our entire financial structure, you know how to grow your own food.
In a survival situation, growing your own food is critical. You can build a greenhouse for very little money or work with just sunlight. A few fruit plants or vegetables in pots is more than enough to keep you alive and maintain some semblance of normalcy.
Helps the bees
Bees are one of the most important animal pollinators in nature. Bees visit gardens to collect nectar and pollen as food for themselves. Not only will the garden benefit the bees, but the bees will benefit your garden. Pollination is critical for plants to reproduce and produce seeds.
Pollen is necessary for the growth of fruits, vegetables, and seeds because it contains the plant's reproductive cells that allow fertilization to occur. If you are a gardener who wants healthy crops, having bees around is a good idea because they will increase fruit and vegetable production by cross-pollinating different varieties. When bees get the nutrients they need, your garden will have more flowers and plants.
The reasons to start a garden are plentiful. Gardening can be therapeutic, and it gives you your own food source in the event of an emergency or disaster.
