Fruit and vegetable gardens are ever-growing in popularity as a useful tool for promoting and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. This is particularly due to the perspectival change regarding nutrition and healthy eating that these gardens can inspire.
Through consistent management, along with a bit of online research, a steadily producing vegetable garden can be achieved, bringing along with it an array of physical, mental and economical benefits.
Increase your daily fruit and vegetable intake
Growing food is a process that requires patience and active maintenance. Through the planting and watering of seeds, nourishment of soil and removing of weeds, along with the time it takes for a plant to steadily produce edibles, it may be a few months before results are seen. Although when the vegetables are finally harvested, the whole process can feel quite gratifying, overall encouraging children and adults to consume the foods they have taken the time to grow. This increased vegetable intake can overall nourish the body and improve quality of life.
Get physically active
Maintaining the garden through tasks such as weeding, shovelling, watering, levelling soil and sowing seeds can assist in achieving physical activity requirements. These tasks can also increase short time sun exposure, overall increasing vitamin D levels in the body.
Although completing these tasks won’t meet exercise benchmarks, a vegetable garden can bring these targets a step closer.
Save Money
Growing food at home can save money on fruits, vegetables and fuel, as well as decrease time at the grocery store. As the garden expands, the plant ranges can diversify, and eventually provide the family with a steady production of edibles. This process can consequently reduce the carbon footprint of the family.
Broaden your skillset
Maintaining a garden can require small amounts of research and study to understand the needs of different plants. These needs include sunlight requirements, soil nourishment and seasonal growth. This research can make the whole process much more engaging and improve knowledge on topics such as agriculture and science.
Consume quality produce
Buying produce elsewhere can allow feelings of uncertainty to linger. Consumers are often left to wonder – ‘where pesticides were used on this’ or ‘how long have these fruits been in storage’. Growing vegetables at home can allow the conditions of growth, maintenance and storage to be controlled under preferred terms, overall eliminating this lasting feeling of doubt.
by with Nicholas Hastie