8 Reasons to Grow your own vegetables
0Summer is here and we are blessed to be living in a country that has a healthy summer growing season. So get out there! be an example, share and reap what you sow Grow your own backyard vegetable garden!! Here are 8 reasons why:
1.Reduce your Carbon footprint
there is an astronomical amount of oil and green house gasses used in the production, processing, transportation and harvest of foods to feed each person in North America. this includes the transport, use and production of fertiliser, and pesticides. an organic backyard garden has ZERO carbon footprint
2. Good for your body and soul
Gardening is outdoor exercise. It is lifting, stretching, digging, pulling and moving. It is all part of de-stressing though physical activity. The act of gardening is therapeutic in that it stimulates serotonin -releasing neurons in the brain making you feel great!
3. Nutrition is higher in organic produce
Studies show that organic good has 255 more essential nutrients, that conventional grown vegetables
4. Flavour
Did you know that annually, one billion pounds of tomatoes are grown and almost none are ripened in the sun. They are ripened in warehouses with ethylene gas. this gas makes the fruit look ripe, but the fruit is flavourless. the sun activates ripening enzymes like pectin, kinase and amylase in the fruit. these enzymes release into the fruit… starches turn to sugar and the fruit naturally sweetens. Oils release increasing flavour and essence.
5. Reduce food waste
On average we throw out approx $500 -$700 worth of food a year. It is harder to throw a fruit or veg you nurtured and watched ripen over a season, than one you bought and has been sitting in a bag in your fridge
6. Connection and Community
Growing your own food connects people from the garden to the table. We can take time to slow down our daily routine to harvest and take care of your plants. This type of lifestyle and routine encourages more home cooked foods and eating in at the table with friends and family.
7. Eat more vegetables and fruits
Families that grow their own vegetables will eat more vegetables than the average person. It has been proven that children that come from homes that grow their own produce, eat double the amount of fruits and vegetables than children that have never grown or picked fruits and vegetables
8. $$$ Spend less on Groceries
By growing your own small sustainable vegetable garden you will spend approx $60 on your garden. In a season you will reap and grow up to $500 worth of produce.
by Denise Pala
