While shoveling and wheelbarrowing dirt these past couple days, I’ve had some serious time to pause and ask myself, “now why am I doing this, exactly?” The image in my mind of turning our backyard into a garden oasis seems farther away, rather than closer, as we dig, uproot, and move heavy, wet piles of dirt around the space that resemble T-Rex dung (as my son aptly pointed out yesterday). Hardly a paradise for the butterflies and hummingbirds I’d hoped to coax into the space.
Sure we could’ve done things on a smaller scale…but I guess that’s not who I am. When I get excited about something…I go all out. That’s how I’m hardwired. So, readers…today I nearly had a mini-breakdown (but I didn’t). I really had to stop and remind myself why I’m doing this in the first place. I came up with 5 reasons.
Reason #1. To eat healthier. This is perhaps an obvious one, but it’s an important one, is it not? I want to eat better and set a better example for my kids. Like many kids, they can be pretty picky eaters. I want to encourage healthy eating habits from an early age. Because we’ll be growing this food ourselves, I can ensure the quality of it. I’ll know what kind of fertilizers and pest control methods I’ve used. I’ll know what’s gone into the soil. I’ll know if I’ve chosen to start my garden from organic seeds or not.
Reason #2. To learn an essential life skill. With so many modern conveniences, I think there’s so little we actually know how to do for ourselves anymore. I think there must be something very rewarding about realizing that YES, I can grow my own food! And it’ll be good!
Reason #3. To turn our yard into more usable space. We have a decent chunk of land and every summer, I tire of watering the lawn to keep it all nice looking…when it barely gets used. While our project is large, it’s becoming every bit a landscaping project as much as a gardening one. I feel we’ll be making better use of our resources this way.
Reason #4. To make memories. I have very fond childhood memories of going into my grandpa’s garden. He would show us the rows of neatly planted beets, carrots, and corn. We’d awe at the size of the squash and zucchini! And then, my grandma was always hard at work canning, pickling, and preserving. How wonderful to live off the healthy food you’ve grown – and to share that experience with your children! I am truly looking forward to spending meaningful time with my kids outdoors in our garden.
Reason #5. To inspire others. Am I some sort of garden pro? Good gravy NO! And I sure hope you don’t think I am! I am just a gal, wanting to do something for the health and betterment of my family. I’m here to share my experiences – good, bad, ugly – with you. I hope in the process I’ll inspire some of you to join me.
If you have a garden – or if you’re thinking of starting – why do you do it? What are your reasons?
Photo credit Sasha Hoffman
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Angela-
Your site is looking FAB! I love it. Congrats and great job!
We’re doing one this year, and I have to admit I’m nervous about it. Most plants under my care die quickly but so far our starts are doing amazingly well. I have a few motivations, and some are the same of yours. My goals with this are: to spend more time outside (I love camping but beyond that I’m naturally a curl up indoors with a book kind of girl), to save money/have more produce options, make memories with the kids & teach them more about food, and of course for the health.
My husband has a large vegetable garden and a small orchard, and I’ve spent the last few years learning how to preserve more and more produce. (He jokingly says I’m not allowed in the garden, so I have to do my work somewhere else.) In addition to the reasons you mentioned, the garden saves us so much money. And our 4-year-old loves to search for snacks in the garden. There’s something so satisfying about being able to provide for the family in this way.
We are also starting a garden. So far, we have dug out the dirt, correction clay and rocks! Ah, SC dirt. Ok, we have dug out and leveled the location, built the box, and have the plants ready either from seeds or plants we purchased. But we still have to get the soil delivered since we don’t have a truck. I love finding deals at the grocery store, but it would be nice to get most of my produce from my garden. We also bought two peach trees and planted them. Good luck to all of you on your gardens.
Watching Food Inc. 2 Months ago prompted our family of 10 to start a garden.
We have COMPLETELY cut out all fast food and “kiddie” grocery snacks.
We have a garden every year here in Oregon and it is so satisfying! Fresh fruit and vegetables and canned ones for the winter. Anything worth having is worth the effort put out to get it. I hope it goes well for you. Can I share something I learned last year? Plants need nitrogen to grow. My green bean plants came up such a light green and didn’t look like I remembered. I found out that coffee grounds add nitrogen. I had 2 very long rows so I went to Starbucks and got a very large bag of coffee grounds that they give away to gardeners for free! In a weeks time my bean plants were a lovely, darker shade of green. For free!
Thanks, Angie!! And YES. I am ALL EARS, people!! If you have advice, tips, do’s or don’ts…I’m listening.
You might have noticed I left “to save money” off this list. I really don’t know how much money we’ll save or not at the end of this adventure…I sure hope we do…that’s my goal. But I’m prepared to spend some money and time on this because it’s worthwhile to me.
My brother moved dirt, put of fencing and planted our garden last year. This year it has fallen on my shoulders to get it up and running. At least eveything was in place. All I had to do was buy or grow plants and it is half there! My dad will plant some seeds in trays and bring them over for my small greenhouse. Then I will take some back to him for his garden. Funny he has the 7 acres and wants the lg greenhouse but time. So everyone just start what you can inside and go plant it somewhere you have on a small scale. My garden area(s) get bigger every yr w/growing family. Great feeling you are helping your family and budget. Great learning experience for everyone & yes, memories NEW AND OLD!
My small garden started cause I love to watch things grow. Then the satisfaction that comes from producing something edible. As my kids have gotten older, I can add the pleasure that I see on their faces when they are popping tomato cherries or fresh picked beans in their mouth. Now we enjoy having peach or pear pie in the winter courtesy of our neighbors trees. I feel accomplished and proud watching my garden grow just as I do my children. My oldest is asking for his own garden this year, so now I’m passing on a favorite of mine to the next generation!
This couldn’t have come at a greater time since I’m now starting my first raised garden bed. I love the idea about the coffee grounds. I had no idea that Starbucks gave away their grounds, so now I’m off to pick up some free coffee grounds. Thanks so much!
I think it is wise to keep “to save money” off your list. My garden has been getting better over time and cheaper to maintain, but I still spend a good amount on it every year. The memories, convenience and organic nature make it valuable. It helps to plant things that come up every year on their own (like onions) and things you will actually use. Thanks for sharing your gardening adventures with us!
My husband and I planted a garden the first year we moved into our house (six years ago!). For me, the initial reason was because I had grown up gardening with my mom and Great Grandma, so wanted a little part of that back (after too many years of apartment living). We discovered so much more though, after our first ‘crop!’ We were eating the most delicious veggies, saving money, having lots of fun, and even getting in some exercise. All these years later, and we are still gardening (we have even added an extra raised garden) but with our two little helpers; our four year old and 16 mnth old. My four year old has been helping us garden since he was about 1 1/2 and is rewarded with all the tomatoes he can eat!
For us, those reasons we started in the first place still apply. Being able to feed my family fresh veggies for a much cheaper price than store-bought (if you were to just plant tomatoes alone, you;d save a bundle, since those are so spendy in-store!) is invaluable to me.
And, I’m not sure if this is a very good tip, but I’ve recently started educating myself about ‘beneficials.’ These are things like flowers and herbs that are natural insect deterrents or attractors of beneficial insects (ladybugs, bees, worms, etc). Plants like Marigolds (which are edible, so safe for kiddos). Cornflowers or herbs like dill and garlic chive are great for this.
Looking forward to seeing your completed garden! :0)
{ 5 trackbacks }