Why bother growing up?
If I’m completely honest with you all, the main reasons why I grow so much food at home are that, firstly, I’m incredibly lucky to have a gardener who helps me immensely and makes sure that everything runs while I’m busy with work and family. life, and secondly, because I really love it. Time spent in the garden is absolutely me time. It’s deeply relaxing, grounding and relaxing. I don’t see it as a chore.
But if it wasn’t such a positive experience, I don’t think I would find or prioritize the time and energy it takes. This is not, for most people, the most cost-effective way to get fruit and vegetables onto our tables. So the reasons we should care must go beyond economics.
I think there are probably 4 key things to consider here. You may have many more things to add, but I think these are probably the most important to me.
ONE: The joy and satisfaction of gardening for gardening’s sake
Being in nature. Hear the birds. Feel the time on my skin. Observe the seasons. Disconnect from the digital world. Accept the delayed gratification of planting a bulb in October in anticipation of a more colorful May. The endless hope and optimism that permeates the mind of a gardener (because without these things we wouldn’t bother to sow or grow anything!). It’s one of the best forms of therapy I’ve found and I’ve struggled to go a week without it.
TWO: A greater variety of foods
What I grow at home is much more varied than what I tend to buy at the grocer or supermarkets. Many delicious fruits and vegetables don’t travel well, so they simply never make it to commercial markets, even though they are delicious to eat and easy to grow. I think of fresh blackcurrants and gooseberries, plums, quinces, heirloom tomatoes, incredible squash, amazing and punchy salad leaves of all kinds, and even picked wild blackberries. Not only does this add variety to our plates and palates, but also to our bodies, as the nutritional profiles of each variety vary slightly, which is good for us and our microbiome.
THREE: button
Many fruits and vegetables taste completely different when eaten very fresh. Freshly dug potatoes, corn on the cob transported from plant to pan in less than 15 minutes, sun-warmed strawberries, crispy salad leaves, the list goes on. It’s unbeatable in my opinion. Additionally, there might even be some nutritional benefits to reducing the time from field to fork (and therefore the potential degradation of certain nutrients).
FOUR: Connection to our food
Growing ourselves connects me to the food seasons like nothing else, and from there I’ve discovered that it becomes increasingly difficult to eat stolen asparagus in November knowing that it will have nothing to do with it. see with those precious first spears of spring, or buy pale strawberries in February knowing that we won’t have truly sun-ripened and fragrant strawberries until June. I love that now each fruit or vegetable has its rightful place in my mental wheel of the gardening year, so I never seem to get bored of anything and I also eat differently as I go along. as each season waxes and wanes.
Connecting to food through culture has also greatly deepened my appreciation for the effort and resources that go into growing the food we buy, which not only adds a touch of gratitude to my meals, but reminds me absolutely to reduce food waste to an absolute minimum. Wasting food is not only a waste of money, but also a waste of effort, time, sunlight, water, transportation and nutrients.
This connection is perhaps even more important if we have young children, because understanding the miraculous growth of plants is not only a pleasure to observe, but also helps develop a deep respect for the natural world.