Everyone should have a Garden

After moving to the country, my husband was adamant that we start a garden. I agreed, thinking to myself that fresh tomatoes and a handful of basil would make a great addition to our kitchen repertoire.

I had no idea what I was signing up for.

Our first season gardening was…a test. I think, in many ways, that "little" garden was more challenging than building our entire house. I had never really tended a garden (especially one this size!) before, and I struggled with feeling inexperienced and overwhelmed. It was hard to get excited about something when I felt so disconnected.

So this year, as the seasons changed, I was determined to plug-in a bit more and get more engaged in the entire process.

Well, we’ve made it through the season – the garden is leveled and the ground is tilled. So now, I’m here to tell you why you should have a garden of your own. Big or small, a garden – something that you sow and grow and reap yourself – can bring magic to your home, your relationship and your life.

Unplug + Connect

Working in the garden is a perfect time to unplug from everyday life and interruptions and take some time to (gasp!) talk to each other. We both work full time jobs and have our own hobbies and to-do lists to worry about each evening. Many nights, it feels like the first time we get to talk to each other is when we are brushing our teeth – and let me tell you, that is scintillating conversation right there.

Outside, with the gardening tasks at hand, you can escape the cell phones, computers and televisions that distract us in everyday life. We normally get up early on the weekends, when the sun is still rising, and spend the morning weeding. Not only did we get to see the world wake up, but we got a chance to spend some quality time together before the chaos of the weekend really set in.

Eat Healthier

Having your own garden promotes healthier eating habits. I’m not talking about the chemicals in pesticides or how vegetables lose their nutritional value when shipped across the country (although, if you’re interested, you can find plenty on those topics if you Google them!).

Think about it more simply: if you have a garden that is producing fresh vegetables, that means, eventually, you will have fresh vegetables. You probably don't want them to go to waste. So, how do you stop wasting vegetables?

You eat them.

Eating vegetables = healthy choice. I think your intake of vegetables would increase drastically just because they are convenient and free!

Get Creative + Try New Things

Additionally, I’ve found that, because I do not want to throw away perfectly good food, I found all sorts of creative ways to cook, bake and preserve all of the vegetables in our garden. It also seemed to make me more likely to try a food I’d never had before (have you ever had salted kohlrabi?)

We pickled peppers (yes, that's actually a thing!). We made root relish. We made chow chow. I baked breads and cookies and muffins. We froze and canned and dehydrated and vacuum sealed.

Our basement looks like we are preparing for the zombie apocalypse, but we will have no shortage of homegrown, homemade foods that we can feel good about eating.

Live Better

Gardening also relieves stress – don’t believe me? Try hacking at a massive knot of tangled weeds for 5 minutes with a hoe and then tell me you need a different way to take out your frustration. Plus, you burn hundreds of calories each hour you spend gardening.

Sharing is Caring

The power of free food is unbelievable. Anytime we had an abundance of veggies from our garden, we would share them with family and friends. It’s amazing how appreciative people are of these small acts of kindness. It’s also amazing how great it feels to share something you worked for with the people you care about.

If you don’t have people you can share with, or if you are wanting to make a little extra spending money, you could investigate selling some of your vegetables or cut flowers. This opens the door to a whole new community of people that are excited about and involved with local vendors and products.

Planting and caring for a garden requires work, but I’ve come to realize that the benefits you reap from those efforts are most certainly worth it. You get time to unwind and connect, you make healthy living more accessible and you can take pride in the things you’ve grown with your own two hands.

Plus, there’s just something so fulfilling about looking at a plate full of food and saying to yourself “I grew that!”