Why Plant a Vegetable Garden?

You may be wondering why I planted a vegetable garden and why I think it's important enough to write an entire blog about it.  Or, you may be considering planting your own garden to begin growing food.  You are and I are not alone in our desires to begin growing our own food.  There are many others just like us who are already doing it.

A recent article titled Calling All Gardeners published at MayoClinic.com cited a survey by the National Gardening Association about why people choose to plant a vegetable garden.

The survey found the following reasons:

• 58 percent desire better tasting food
• 54 percent want to save money on food bills
• 51 percent want better quality food
• 48 percent want to grow food they know is safe

The main reason I started doing it was to save money, but after a while I realized there are many other reasons to continue doing it.  It's an afforable hobby and gardening is good exercise.  It's fulfilling to walk out your back door and return with lunch a few minutes later.  The food I grow myself is fresher than most store bought food I buy and it tastes good too.  Perhaps even more important to me though now after I've been gardening for a few years -- I know the types of fertilizers that have (or have not) been applied to my vegetables and in what amounts.  I also know where the seeds came from.  Conduct a Google search for "GMO seeds" sometime and read some of the articles about why this may or may not interest you as well.

I am not yet growing enough food to stop buying some vegetables from the grocery store, but I am growing more and more each year.  I can't predict exactly how much more I will be growing in two or three more years, but I suspect it will be lots more than I am growing today.