Why Garden? Part 3

Today I am going to tell you MY favorite reasons for growing vegetables! If any of these reasons or the reasons listed in Part 1 or Part 2 of, "Why would I want to garden?" sound appealing to you, I hope you will consider growing a garden this year! Remember, if you've never gardened before, don't worry, I will walk you through the start-up process step-by-step.

So, in my case...

I grow vegetables because it's FUN!!!

I love spending time outdoors, being close to nature.

When I am stressed, gardening calms me.

Working with the seeds, the plants, the soil... it's all very meditative for me.

I like gardening by myself. I enjoy the calming, peaceful alone time.

I also like gardening with friends and family. It's a great way to spend time together.

I LOVE seeing beautiful baby plants sprouting up from the soil!

I like seeing morning dew on the leaves of lettuce & cilantro, raindrops gently dripping off of red, shiny peppers.

Essentially, I see beauty in everything in the garden, from the moist, crumbly texture of the soil to the colors, shapes, & textures of different vegetable seeds, to the myriad shades of greens, reds, yellows, and even pinks & purples of the vegetables themselves.

I love feeling the sun on my back and wearing a big straw hat!

I like taking artistic photos of vegetables.

In general, I love being creative with the entire gardening process. I can read endlessly about gardening, I love experimenting with new vegetable varieties, and when spring is right around the corner, I find that scheming up new ways of growing my garden is more fun than going out on a Saturday night.

I like working hard and seeing the fruits of my labor.

I enjoy sharing the food I've grown with family, friends, and coworkers. They are so appreciative and sometimes can hardly believe how fresh and delicious garden-fresh produce tastes.

Nothing beats walking outside, grabbing a head of this, a couple roots of that, picking a pepper or tomato, snipping a few sprigs of herbs, then walking back inside and cooking up a fabulously fresh breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

There's also nothing like walking past the garden and seeing the most delicious looking spinach, sweetest snap peas, juiciest cherry tomatoes, etc. and just grabbing them and munching on them right there. YUM!!!!

I love sharing the garden with children. They LOVE finding and eating the sweet snap peas, the cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. They are very curious and interested in discovering that the broccoli head grows right out of the center of a giant broccoli plant! They like finding worms, bugs, and butterflies in the garden. Children are delightful gardening companions.

The family dog likes the garden too. When he's not stealing our sweet, juicy snap peas, he enjoys romping around in the backyard with me as his pal.


I could go on and on about why I love to garden, and surely other people garden for additional unique reasons. I will just end Gardening Info Series Question #1 with the following summary:

YOU MAY WISH TO GROW A VEGETABLE GARDEN IF YOU WANT TO EAT DELICIOUS, FRESH, NATURALLY GROWN FOOD, POTENTIALLY SAVE MONEY ON GROCERIES, AND/OR IF ANY OF WHAT I'VE WRITTEN ABOVE SOUNDS FUN, BEAUTIFUL, CALMING, TASTY, OR INVITING TO YOU IN ANY OTHER WAY.

Question #2 in our Gardening Info Series will be:
"How To Select A Garden Site"