Three Perks of Having a Garden

With the help of my generous and hard-working parents, two raised garden beds were successfully built on each side of the green house!
It's ideal to grow vegetables and herbs on raised beds so that the soil can easily be amended, in other words, adding soil that is water-retaining and enriched with proper minerals.

It's also necessary for keeping critters out, especially in a backyard like ours where rabbits and deer freely roam around the property!

During my few months of gardening, there have been three major advantages in growing my own food!

THE FRESHNESS

This is a given, isn't it?

To start, transitioning from lettuce out of sealed-up bags to fresh from the ground was a major improvement in its quality!

Before growing my own lettuce, I would remember coming home from the local grocery store with bags of tightly-packed greens and a decent amount of water content to keep the moisture in. If I dared to keep the leaves in the fridge a day or two later, they would come out slightly withered and brown on the sides with a slightly strange smell. This would then force me to chuck them out because who ever wanted to eat funky-smelling lettuce?

To be honest, with any type of food you buy from the store comes the given fact that it will not be completely fresh and plucked off the stem. As I have mentioned in a previous health post ('Is is TOO Organic?'), you may even end up with some traces of residue or waste on produce with organic labels! This is why you should always take care in what fruits and vegetables you decide to purchase!

With a garden, you don't have to worry about your food wilting or smelling strange after a few days, that is if you take proper care of it! Which leads me to the next advantage...

THE RESPONSIBILITY

As with any newly-hatched inspiration, it may be tempting to jump into the deep end and see what big goals you can tackle! But when it comes to tackling gardening for the first time, you will have to take care in observing exactly how much time and effort will be spent taking care of your baby plants and how that will fit around your schedule. To my surprise, I realized that the intense summer heat and blazing sun would require me to water my plants at least twice a day!

As they say, what is easy to be said is sometimes harder to be done, and I will admit, I was not the best at checking up on my plants... But on the days when I'm on top of my gardening game, I always feel this sense of grounding from the responsibility I give myself!

THE GRATIFICATION

In perspective, gardening enables you to take care of actual living things, whether it be beautiful flowers to admire or nutrient-dense produce to sustain you! Regardless, these living things will need your love to thrive and constantly remind you that you're not the only one who needs attention! Once you learn to be responsible with your garden, it shall in return, reward you with the humble feelings of selflessness and self-accomplishment!

So why not start small? Take the learning experience of gardening through baby steps by buying your own personal plant to put on your window, your desk, or near your bed! Let me know if you venture into the gardening world, and for anyone who already has a green thumb, feel free to share some of your experiences and the lessons you've learned along the way!

Let's grow together in the gardens of eager, innovative mindsets where abundant flowers of prosperity and thanksgiving may come to blossom!

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