The Benefits of Vegetable Gardening

photo credit: gusandotherthings via pinterest

As we have just planted our midsummer vegetable crop, we have been looking forward to enjoying the many benefits of our labor. We only have a small vegetable garden, but we managed to plant a couple varieties of tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, jalapenos, "big tom" peppers, tomatillos and various herbs.

Here are three reasons to start a fruit and vegetable garden:

1. There is an ever growing list of fruits and veggies that we should buy organic. This can be frustrating at times when the prices are high, the organic produce is less than appealing at the big box supermarkets and it's hard to remember which ones are high in pesticides. Planting a few of these in your garden will help ease that burden at least a little bit.

Here is a list of the fruits and veggies that you should consider buying organic whenever possible:

apples

bell peppers

celery

grapes (imported)

lettuce

nectarines

peaches

pears

potatoes

spinach

strawberries

Many of these are a great and simple addition to the garden!

2. Fresh produce is only a few steps away! One of our favorite things to do in the summer is check our crop and pick ripe fruit! It's exciting to watch something grow into a beautiful perfect piece of produce! It's also fun to make sauces with peppers (my personal plan with the tomatillos and "big tom"peppers) and herbs and freeze them for a quick and easy meal during the winter months. Canning, freezing and storing is a little bit of work for a LOT of benefit!

3. Sharing with others! It's so nice to receive fresh produce from a friend or neighbor. Really, it's the way humans functioned for thousands of years before our consumer dependence on big box stores began. What a great way to be generous and develop a sense of community by planting a garden and sharing it with those around you!

Get out, start planting and share the bounty!