If you’ve grown tired of watching grocery prices climb with every store visit, perhaps the prospect of planting a garden and harvesting your own food may have crossed your mind.
If so, you’re in luck because planting a garden full of your favorite vegetables is a lot easier than you might think. Whether you opt for a wild zucchini plant, a fast-growing tomato sprout, or high-quality garlic seeds, planting an at-home veggie garden is sure to yield excellent benefits.
Growing your vegetables is easy
Though you may be under the impression that growing and nurturing a vegetable garden requires hours of dirty work, planting your own veggies is relatively straightforward.
Though you will have to get your hands dirty now and again during the process, most vegetable plants require minimal labor throughout growth. Plus, you’ll reap the benefits of any hard work with a harvest of fresh produce.
You can pick and choose your crops
Take a moment to consider which vegetables you enjoy eating the most to help you conceptualize your perfect garden. Whether you prefer simpler veggies like lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes, or more variety like fragrant herbs and vibrant peppers, you get the final say.
Home-grown vegetables are great for your family’s health
Putting work into nurturing a vegetable garden is rewarding, and not just because it’s nice to see the results of your work come to fruition.
If you’ve taken the time to grow fresh vegetables, you’re much more likely to reach for healthier choices in the kitchen. Somehow, wasting your home-grown veggies feels much worse than letting that store-bought lettuce wilt at the back of the fridge.
Combat food waste
Home-grown vegetables are an excellent way to take action against food waste, which is a significant problem in the United States. It’s estimated that every single person wastes pounds of food per month, so you and your vegetable garden can truly make a difference.
Benefit from extra nutrients
Allowing your vegetables to ripen naturally instead of in a grocery store provides a chance for them to develop more vitamins and nutrients. Farmers and growers sometimes pick store-bought produce early to adhere to a timetable, but it can negatively affect the taste and nutrient levels.
Additionally, home-grown vegetables picked at the right time have the perfect balance of nutrients and flavor that store-bought produce often lacks.
If your kids tend to be picky with veggies, allowing them to compare a store-bought tomato versus one from your very own garden will help them realize the difference. They might even end up requesting veggies at your next meal.
Save your hard-earned money
Depending on where you live, it’s usually pretty easy to find fresh vegetables. However, the price you pay for quality can put a massive dent in your budget, especially if you opt for organic or locally-grown produce.
While starting your vegetable garden might require some initial investment into seeds and supplies, you can’t argue with the final result: delicious vegetables at a mere fraction of the store-bought price.
With a bit of know-how, you can also preserve seeds from your harvest and save them away for next year, which means fresh veggies for free.
Before you go
Though an at-home vegetable garden may take time, gaining access to fresh, chemical-free produce is worth the dirty work. Once you’ve picked the perfect spot, acquired seeds, and purchased a tool or two, get ready to dig in and let the sunshine take a load off your back.
