Why You Should Start Gardening This Spring

Its that time of year that the winter has been long, and I crave being bare foot and out in the garden. Gardening has been a part of my life since i was a young girl. I was blessed to have gone to an elementary school that advocated for learning to grow your own vegetables and flowers. I remember coming home with a little paper “4-pack” – 2 pepper plants, 2 tomato plants and a dozen packs of seeds. That first year my dad helped me dig up a small patch in the yard for a garden. And he carefully helped me with all of the how to details. Seeing those first vegetables ready to pick hooked me. That first tomato freshly picked never made it to the house… i washed it off with the garden hose, and ate it like an apple. Through junior high and high school the summer garden became something that I got a grade on. The garden grew in size, and by the time i graduated high school the garden took over half of my parents back yard and fed us well.

When we moved into our home in the 1980s we turned a large patch of the yard behind the garage into our garden and loved the fresh produce and the fresh air, sunshine, and the peacefulness of being out in nature. I took a few years off from gardening when life got so busy, but in 2020 I returned to my passion

So Why do I garden?

• Fresh produce. I love the fact that I know what I am growing, and how it is being grown. Chemical free, and nothing better than those fresh tomatoes and peppers.
• Exercise – gardening takes a bit of muscle especially preparing the garden for planting. While I always feel it after the semi sedentary winter I love to get back to more activity.
• The sunshine – getting more fresh sunshine especially in the morning feels so good.
• There is actually physical and emotional benefit of having your hands in the soil. (grounding)
• Continuing learning – there is always something to learn with gardening.

(I thought that we needed to see something green, with reminder that spring and summer are coming. If I can encourage you with one thing – grow some of your own food. )