Asking yourself the question “is vegetable gardening worth it? I did not start with the proverbial green thumb but I have had an interest in gardens since I was young.
I will list 17 reasons why vegetable gardening is worth it and why you should definitely at least give it a try.
1. A Valuable Skillset That Will Last a Lifetime
Learning to grow your own food is a great survival skill that can be passed on to the next generation.
- You will learn about the right kind of soil to grow in
- How to perform a soil test
- Which plants require more light than others
- The right growing season for different vegetables
- Ideal growing conditions
- How to combat pests and disease
- Which fertilizers and soil amendments to use
- How to save seeds for the next year
- Other important gardening practices
2. Will save money over the long run
There are upfront costs for gardening supplies when building on your first garden plot.
However, after it’s set up you can grow vegetables for mere pennies on the dollar. This is especially true when compared to buying organic produce from the supermarket each week.
You can get seeds and save even more money in your food budget by avoiding purchasing plants at garden centers.
3. Ability to Grow Vegetables Free of Chemicals
Vegetable gardens give a person the means to feel confident in the safety and security of their food source. Having fresh produce from growing your own food means you know the history of the plants from ground to table.
You know what pests or insects you’ve had issues with. and what fertilizers were used giving you confidence in the process. So is vegetable gardening worth it in this case? I would say definitely so.
4. Maintaining a Vegetable Garden is good exercise
A home garden involves a good amount of exercise when planting, watering, pruning, harvesting, and especially when pulling weeds. Daily work in the garden can leave you feeling sore but in a good way.
5. Vegetable Gardening is great for a healthy lifestyle
Growing your own food means you are eating more vegetables free of chemicals or pesticides. The health benefits are endless and having fresh grown produce mere feet away means having more vegetables in your diet.
6. Vegetables straight from a garden have more flavor
Ever bought a tomato from the grocery store only to find that the flavor was bland?
Vegetable produce is shipped to the grocery store from around the world, tomatoes are usually picked green, and then the packers use ethylene gas to speed up the ripening process for the store shelves.
In other words, there is no fresher vegetable than the one picked straight from your back yard.
7. A Great Family Bonding Hobby
Spending time in the garden is a good way to strengthen bonds between parents, grandparents, husbands, and wives. Growing your own food is a fun learning experience for everyone.
8. Can Be a Therapeutic Hobby
Growing vegetables promotes patience, caring, dedication, a sense of responsibility, and is rewarding. You gain knowledge and the ability to enrich your life and others with great tasting fresh food. It is a hobby even recommended by some therapists.
9. You Get To Be Outdoors in Nature
Spending time in the garden is less time spent watching tv or playing on your phone. You are able to enjoy nature spend time with wildlife while feeling the fresh air.
10. Less Reliant On the Corporate Food Chain
The economic costs and labor costs involved in buying food from the store are high. An economic disaster, natural disaster, or pandemic could disrupt the corporate food chain at any time.
Having your own vegetable garden gives you the confidence to weather the storm should tough times arrive.
11. A Good Source of Vitamin D
While working in your garden each week you will certainly get a lot of sun which can be a good source of vitamin D Not to mention all the other great vitamins you get from freshly grown vegetables.
12. Ability to give back to your community
Growing your own food usually means having a bit extra you can share with those who need help as well as friends and family enjoying the bounty of your harvest together at the dinner table.
13. You Get to Design Space Exactly How You Want It
Creating a garden space is a fun experience, you get to choose the spot and materials. Plus it does not take much space to get started!
You have the ability to design your own garden plan. There are many choices that will make your garden unique such as choosing between raised garden beds, container gardening, or flatbeds. Creating a small garden, or a large one while making the gardening space a focal point of your backyard or another area.
14. A Food Garden Is a Great Teaching Tool For Children
I remember growing my first tomato plant in grade school using a cup, soil, and of course the tomato seed. Watching it grow with just water and sunlight was a sight to behold. As a child, this taught me patience, responsibility, and caring for tomato plants.
I have since started passing these lessons on to my own daughter when tending to our vegetable garden beds during the growing season. She finds it fun to plant seeds in the soil and watch them grow. She especially enjoys the reward of picking fresh cherry tomatoes off the vine.
15. Reduce your carbon footprint
Having a home vegetable garden means you don’t have to drive to the store for certain vegetables saving time, money, and gas. You also don’t need to have vegetables delivered which helps the environment.
Spending less time buying food in a grocery store means less plastic used.
16. Grow Your Own Spices
I enjoy growing a lot of peppers such as cayenne, ghost, habanero, and others. I like to dry them out using a dehydrator and then use the pepper powder spices in my cooking recipes. Nothing tastes better than fresh spices straight from your own veggie garden.
17. If you grow your own food you are less likely to waste it
Wasting food is a serious problem estimated at 30-40% in the United States alone.
Is Vegetable Gardening Worth It?
Growing your own food does take work and time but is well worth it. Don’t have any space outside? Then you can check your local area for a community garden. Often you can rent a space to grow whatever vegetables you choose such as tomatoes, pepper plants, and fresh herbs.
If you’re still wondering if vegetable gardening is worth it my advice is to start small with few vegetable container plants and if you like it expand from there. Happy harvesting.