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3 Benefits of Having A Garden
There are major benefits to having a garden. I will touch on 3 amazing benefits. I can't imagine not having a garden. It helps us in so many way as we grow our family!
Number 1. For your Health. It is hard to find a better way to get healthier food than having a garden. When you consume the food shortly after you pick it, you will have the benefit of having a more nutritious source of food. You get to choose what you put on your dirt where your beautiful, nutritious veggies are going to grow. You get to choose what kind of produce you want to grow. What does your family need in order to enjoy better health?
Your health will be affected for the better, because of the rays of sunshine that is going to give your body vitamin D. Just don't get sunburned and put on a hat if you are getting too much sun. Also running around pulling weeds, using a shovel, moving a wheelbarrow, running back to the house because you forgot something; you are going to get some exercise!
Gardens provide happiness. There's just something to be said about happiness! Being happy brings health and lowers your stress! When I look at the above picture, I am reminded of the happiness that having a garden brings to my life! So Happy!
Number 2. For the Beauty Gardens are so so beautiful! Every year, you can have a different arrangement for your veggies and flowers. You are the designer! Some years, I plan the whole garden. Some years, I just start throwing in seedlings and seeds haphazardly! I recommend planting flowers close to your veggies. Pretty flowers will attract pollinators. Take pictures every summer so you can enjoy your garden even when it is the off season.
Why was the Garden of Eden the first garden? Why was the Garden Eden the first scene we hear about after Creation? Someone else, thought a beautiful garden was the perfect place to be! Isn't it interesting that we have the ability to create and design gardens? Why wouldn't you want a garden? Too much work? Nah! Work is good for you! Good for your mind, body and soul! It's so satisfying to see a basket of gorgeous produce or vases of your own flowers on the kitchen counter! Boo Ya!
Number 3. Raising Adventurous Eaters. This is one of my favorite benefits to growing a garden! When you cook often with your garden produce, your kids eventually will like it too. I believe the reason I don't have too much, in the way of picky eaters is the fact that everyday we are eating food out of the garden. All year long, it's either food picked fresh, produce that's been put into the freezer, been canned or dehydrated. When you are out in the garden with your kids, sample the tomatoes, peas and carrots with them. Having a garden with a family can just be a natural way of life!
I am no expert on raising kids , but all five of them were raised in the garden; planting, weeding, watering, sampling and preparing the food. If I am in the garden working, I make sure at least one kid gets the privilege of hanging out with me and learning all my insights! Also that time in the garden exposes kids to thinking differently about food.
Two of our kids say they don't like squash and one kid says, that they don't like beets. I am not buying it! I still add squash and beets into lots of different delicious dishes. Guess what? They probably will learn to enjoy it. They have been surprised sometimes, by the fact that sometimes they do enjoy the food that they don't like! Also they can take it or leave it, cuz this mama isn't cooking anything else! And I refuse to let them go eat some cereal. Mean mom!
Food that is picked fresh and that isn't processed or having to travel thousand of miles just taste that much better! I am an accidental food snob and I hope that I am raising food snobs. Ha! I want the kids that I am raising, to know there is a REAL difference. I would hope their health will thank them in the future!
This is not a complete list of the benefits of gardening, but they are three very good benefits that you will enjoy! I love having a garden and if you don't have a garden yet, I hope you will think about how you can start one, even maybe planting something on your balcony or porch! I say, "Bloom where you are planted!"
Here's a verse for you:
Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.
Genesis 2:8
