Free Food with a Little Bit of Hard Work

As someone who only recently started gardening, and really has been enjoying the fruits of her harvest, I enjoyed this post contributed by reader, Tim, himself an avid gardener.



In today’s society, saving money can be a task in itself. Due to rising prices met in a person’s daily routine on everything from gasoline to produce, creating a substantial savings account can fall by the wayside. There are many ways to save a little bit of pocket change or even to create visible savings in your accounts and one of those ways is to plant your own vegetable garden. Produce and groceries have skyrocketed in price in the recent months and this is partially due to rising costs in fuel used for delivering produce to grocery stores. There also environmental factors such as drought or floods plaguing various areas.

Whether you have a vast amount of space to work with or a small area, we will discuss what the benefits are of growing your own vegetables and herbs throughout this post.

Basic Equipment Needed

First off, when starting to plant a personal garden, regardless of size, there are some basic tools and equipment recommended to make the process go smoother. A gardener will always need padded gardening gloves to prevent major or long-term damage to their hands, a sturdy shovel and trowel for sifting through the soil, seeds of choice, and a good source of water flow. Some plants need to be watered in spurts, while other plants might just need a sprinkle of water to reach their greatest growing potential. To control the water flow needed for your garden, a good hose nozzle that has several water flow settings to choose from is recommended. Now, onto the many great reason to grow your own food!

Financial Reasons
Growing your own vegetables or herbs can create savings of upwards of 25% or more on your family’s weekly or bi-weekly grocery bill! Instead of paying to purchase tomatoes in a package of four, why not grow a vine full and have more supplies to use in different recipes. The easiest vegetables to grow are tomatoes, potatoes and even carrots which can run anywhere from $10.00 to $20.00 when bought at your local grocery store.

If you buy herbs, either fresh or dried at your local grocery store, it can run expensive while a package of seeds can only be a couple of dollars depending on what herbs you are in the market for. When dried properly, home-grown herbs can last for months without losing taste or quality.

The Taste is Incomparable


Depending on your proximity to certain areas, your vegetables may be trucked from halfway around the globe. These vegetables have been harvested for weeks now and kept in refrigeration units until it is time to make deliveries and unfortunately, the taste can show in your food. Normally, to maintain vegetable quality, harvesters will pick the vegetables when they are halfway ripe to better endure long-distance deliveries, and this will account for a different taste in your cooking. There may be a staler taste, or the produce offered at the grocery store is not as crisp as you normally like, almost having a bruised or limp texture.

Growing your own vegetables can change the taste of your cooking for the better with fresh additions right from your own garden. Vegetables stay crisp and fresh as they are in their home of soil right until harvest and prepared that evening.

Organic and Chemical Free
A person can never be sure what chemicals or pesticides or what method of adding nutrients to the soil have been used on the vegetables they are purchasing unless they actually work on the farm where they are grown! It is highly recommended for a person to wash their fruits and vegetables before consumption and this is mainly to remove any residue caused by whatever compound was used to decrease bugs and critters from destroying the crop.

When a person grows their own vegetables, it is their personal choice how they add nutrients to the soil and plants along with how they deal with bugs or critters. Perhaps you prefer to use a homemade mixture to ward off unwanted guests or use netting designed specifically for garden bugs. There is no second guessing what is being put into your body and that creates a peace of mind for yourself and your family. People will want to eat healthier when the effort it takes to bring the food to the table is one that is tangible.

Conclusion



Pinching pennies can seem like a challenging task when first starting out, but with a little bit of time and genuine effort, the rewards will start pouring in. So, if you are tired of shelling out your hard-earned money on grocery store vegetables and herbs that are not really worth the price you will have to pay, why not roll up your sleeves and spend some time in the dirt. You will get to breathe the fresh air, feel the sunshine on your face, and even exercise muscles you may have forgotten existed!

See my disclaimer.