People are always looking for ways to enhance their health and well-being, to enrich their experiences, and to increase personal prosperity. One way to accomplish all of those objectives is to grow food.
Vegetable Gardens Grow Excellent Nutrition
Cutting-edge nutritional research reveals clues into the true nature of food. It turns out that sustenance is more than just energy, or even nutrition; it's also information. Two people can carry a genetic susceptibility to a particular disease, such as cancer, but one may come down with the malady, while the other does not. Why not? Because the "bad" gene wasn't expressed. And why wasn't it expressed? More and more evidence points to diet as a factor in that equation. A diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables appears to greatly reduce an individual's chances of suffering from certain diseases.
Other research suggests strongly that supplements cannot replace the vitamins and antioxidants present in fresh produce. Food at the peak of quality, with no nutritional degradation, has to come from a local source and be eaten as soon as possible after harvest. A backyard vegetable garden is the best solution.
Grow Food for Food Security
Experts advise that every household keep at least a few days' supply of food on hand in the event of unforeseen circumstances that close nearby grocery stores. A backyard with a vegetable garden is like an extra pantry when self-sufficiency is needed.
Vegetable Garden are Good Exercise
Double-digging, turning compost, and pulling weeds put muscles to constructive work. Growing food is the perfect activity for those who say they have no time to exercise. Almost everyone at any level of fitness can benefit at his or her own, aerobic pace while cultivating healthy food.
Grow Food to Save Money
Ironically, though the food quality from a backyard vegetable garden is unparalleled for any amount of money, growing fresh fruits and vegetables actually adds to the bottom line. Burpee's Seed Company estimates that for every dollar investment buying seeds for a garden, the yield can worth be up to 50 times that in monetary value. Even a ten-fold return on investment is like walking into a grocery store and buying fresh, organic produce for about a dime a pound. A modest garden bed, carefully cultivated over the growing season, can yield several hundreds of dollars of food bill savings.
Vegetable Gardens are Stress Relief
There is no greater sense of accomplishment than to see rows of healthy plants thriving in the sun and producing large, bright fruits. What other activity produces such tangible results? The fruits of a person's labor literally grow right in front of his eyes. Harried office denizens who work long hours and even travel often, can still maintain a garden and enjoy the benefits of seeing little effort rewarded so well. Except for watering, which can be automated, working in a typical backyard garden requires no more time than an hour a week on average.
Plant a few seeds and watch your quality of life grow!
Elise Cooke - Elise Cooke writes, teaches and speaks on ways to Live Large on Less. Her first book, Strategic Eating, The Econovore's Essential Guide is ...
Join the Conversation