Reasons to Garden

The garden gate is opening….

March is here, Spring has arrived

and it is time to begin gardening in earnest.

Before we begin, let us consider some reason to grow a garden.

Beauty. There is nothing as beautiful as a well-tended garden. It can lift your mood just seeing the beautiful garden you have created. Flower gardens are a thing of beauty, and vegetable gardens can be too.

Taste. There really is nothing compared to the taste of a just picked tomato, warm from the sun. Just the freshness issue makes homegrown vegetables taste better.
Grow safe healthy food. You will know how the vegetables were grown and how they were handled.
More variety. If you grow some of your own food, you can have more variety than what can be purchased in the grocery store. The different varieties seem endless when looking through the seed catalogs.
Exercise. Gardening gets you outside and moving around. You will work your muscles with bending, squatting, tugging, pulling, lifting, and digging. The exercise will lead to better sleep. You get Vitamin D from being out in the sunshine.
Mental Health. Working in the garden can lift your spirits, relieve stress and can be like a therapy for the soul.
Save money. The price of a package of seeds will yield much more than the actual cost of the packet. Granted, there are expenses in getting started in gardening, but you soon will recoup the cost if you garden year after year and are careful in your expenses.
Make money. If you are able to grow a good amount of produce or flowers, more than you can use, it is fun to see what you can sell with your excess.
Sense of accomplishment. How rewarding it is to see what you can accomplish in the garden. Wether it is beautiful bouquets of cut flowers for the house or great tasting vegetables for the table, or just wandering through the garden you have created is a joy.
Sharing. How nice to be able to share your excess produce with others, those that are not able to garden, or are no longer able to. There are usually food pantries in town that would appreciate any donations. Sharing with neighbors is a great way to make friends.

Prepare for winter food. It is a wonderful feeling to know that your pantry or freezer is stocked with delicious produce from your garden. How nice to enjoy the garden produce in the middle of winter. It will help beat the winter blues.
Training children. Get the children involved in gardening. Make it a fun time. It will give children a sense of accomplishment, teach them things and make memories that they will carry with them.
Creative. Gardening can be a great creative time. Try new things and new methods of growing. Learn something new yourself.
Learning. Gardening can teach us many things-Patience, perseverance, hard work, self reliance, how to deal with successes and failures and it can be very rewarding.

I am always amazed at this wonderful world God has given to us, and it is so beautifully displayed in how generous He is in the bounty of the garden.

Are you planning to grow a garden this year?