1. You eat what you grow
This is the most obvious reason why gardening is a brilliant idea. When you plant those tiny seeds, fertilize them and watch them grow into miraculous fruits and vegetables, there’s no way you’ll want to let them go to waste! Therefore, you’ll be eating a lot more vitamin packed produce and you can rest assured no icky pesticides or other weird things will be coating your treasures when grown organically. If you go all out, chances are you will have a surplus to share with family and friends, generously providing them with some “medicine” from your new “farmacy,” too.
2. Your wallet could stand to gain some weight
The thought process is fairly simple here: grow more of your own food, spend less money buying it at the grocery store. It’s truly like free grocery shopping when you have a garden of your own. I love the feeling of knowing when I run out of some kale, I don’t have to drive to the nearest grocery store I can simply walk outside and pick some fresh stuff! Not to mention, my wallet maintains a healthier weight!
3. Composting > Wasting
All the remnants of your eaten produce and whole foods should be chucked into a compost pile outside instead of into the trash, which then settles and breaks down into amazing fertilizer for your delicious garden! Composting is the key to organic farming. It just makes sense!
4. Your tastebuds will thank you
I’m not being dramatic when I say this: organically, homegrown produce is 100x better tasting than store-bought. I kid you not, a carrot out of my own garden is like a piece of candy compared to the pitifully pale and dry carrots from the local grocer. If you buy your organic produce from farmer’s markets, that’s great too, but we’re not talking about farmer’s markets, we’re talking about plucking a carrot out of the ground, wiping the dirt off and eating it. There’s nothing like it.
5. It’s cheaper than a psychologist
Talk about some good therapy. I think I have heard this from every gardener I know. There is something about playing in the dirt combined with sunshine and fresh air, that rejuvenates the soul. No wonder kids do just that so much more than adults! We should follow their example more often. Taking the time to care for your plants is in many ways actually taking the time to care for yourself.
6. Weight lifting can wait, we’re weeding here!
Don’t expect not to be sore. Gardening takes work! But as a hater of exercise, one of my favorite things about gardening is that you honestly don’t realize you’re even working out those muscles you didn’t even know you had. A little pulling, packing and picking here and some squatting, sweating and shoveling there will have you worked out in no time.
7. Add some beauty and color to the joint!
I think we would all agree that a decent garden can be very pleasing to the eye. Think about how so many of us decorate the interior of our houses with plants, greenery and even fake fruit sometimes! Well the same goes for decorating the exterior of your humble abode, but stick with real fruit out there. Impress yourself and everybody else with your beautiful (not to mention edible) plants. You won’t only be adding color to the yard, but to your plate as well, which is even more important!
8. Heal with herbs
Herbs and spices have amazing healing properties, that you might not even be aware of. I, for one, would much rather reach for some fresh ginger than some pepto bismol when my stomach’s not feeling right. They add so much flavor and vibrance to our foods while simultaneously benefitting our bodies in so many different ways. It takes no time at all to look up the properties of all different kinds of herbs, for starters check out one of our Pinterest boards dedicated to the power of plants.
9. Less TV and tablets, more broccoli and brussels sprouts
Easier said than done, I know, but encouraging kids, especially, to play in the dirt, learn how food is grown and the importance of what goes in your body will be one million times more valuable than anything they will learn from the Kardashians. Cultivate children’s creativity and help them be a part of something fun that will provide a sense of achievement and pride, later on your children and grandchildren will thank you for those special moments.
10. Sunny with a chance of memory making
My mother jumps at every chance to show off her garden to anyone and everyone. She does this because she is proud and feels accomplishment from the things she has sown, but she also does this because the garden is her happy place and she welcomes anyone who wants to join her there. She would spend all day, every day out there playing in the dirt if we’d let her and weather permitting. She refers to her hands as her tools. I recently started appreciating gardening more than ever before because of all the reasons listed above, but even more so because I realized this was a small piece of land that was perfect for memory making. It’s perfect for listening and letting her explain what everything is, how to keep it alive, how to cook it and when to plant it. It’s perfect for going back to being a dirt-under-the-fingernails kid again and letting her teach me the ways of life. It’s perfect for giving something and someone else my undivided attention and time, and her smiling satisfaction from this will always be one of my best memories.
Any one of these reasons is a good enough reason by itself to start a garden for yourself, but I’ve given you ten! One for each finger of your “tools.” Now get out there and dig up some happiness!
-Brannon Roberts,
Eating You Alive Team Member