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Yum! | The Advantages of Growing Your Own Vegetables

A selection of garden-grown vegetables

The current trends towards being more environmentally focused, combined with the economic conditions negativelyaffecting food and gas prices more and more have influenced many people to get back to basics. This includes doingmore walking, cycling and taking public transit, and also involves trying to eat locally and buying seasonal fruits andveggies (which are generally far less expensive) from nearby sources. And those sources for some, are as nearby asone’s own backyard or balcony! As it would happen, one of Navut’s own humble interns (yours truly) has beenexperimenting with this over the summer (for science), and we were hoping to convince you to try and start your owngardens to discover for yourselves the innumerable advantages of growing your own vegetables. Here are a few of myconclusions thus far:

It’s fun

As a creative type with a disturbingly low attention span, I rarely undertake anything long-term (which I consider gardening

to be) unless it’s really, really fun, (or unless I’m being forced to). The latter fortunately not being the case, I can tell youwith assurance: gardening is great fun. You get to be unapologetically dirty, make a huge mess in your house, jugglevarious pots and in the end, watch lovely green things grow. Of course I realize that the entire mess part might be adeterrent to some, but I promise you that once in a while, there’s nothing like playing in the dirt to relieve some stress. Partof the fun is also the reward of seeing the efforts of your hard work, but I’ll cover that a little later. The bottom line is,however: If you love the outdoors, are looking for a new and rewarding hobby, or enjoy simply getting dirty once in a while,gardening can be a wonderful escape.

A newly planted balcony garden

It’s easy

I’ll be honest here: I used to be someone who killed all of her innocent houseplants ( by accident, I assure you). However,with a little reading and some great advice from my garden-savvy parents, even I was able to pick up on the basics ofgardening outdoors. Indeed, one of the most attractive things for people like me who want to cultivate their green thumb, isthat for basic knowledge, gardening is easily learned and accessible. The Internet is chock-full of wonderful tutorials, locallibraries are veritable treasure troves for first-time gardeners, and as I mentioned, parents, grandparents and friends areusually quite willing to share their experience. Furthermore, most plants, seedlings or seeds come with instructions and“levels of care difficulty” so you can target your comfort zone in terms of what you want to try out. Gardening’s ease alsohas to do with its versatility: whether you have a huge backyard to take advantage of (you lucky duck) or a small balconywith sunlight to try a container garden, you’re ready to enjoy the advantages of planting your own vegetables. The

equipment you’ll need to start is usually very accessible and you guessed it, brings us to my next point:

It’s cheap

Hands down (in the dirt), gardening is one of the cheapest activities around for all it can bring you in return. (I mean comeon folks: free food!) It can be as simple and cheap, or as expensive and fancy as you want. In my case (which may be abit lazy I grant you), many of the makeshift pots for my container garden were recycled coffee cans, painted yogurt potsand abandoned finds from the side of the road (it’s amazing what people throw out). Even my trowels were recycled: Igave my old kitchen ladles a second chance! Of course, for those of you perhaps wishing for a more standard experience,basic gardening equipment is cheap and plentiful during the summer season at most home decor or gardening centres. Aslittle as 30$ can have you set and ready to go! All you need is dirt, pots, seeds/seedlings and frequent watering, and naturewill do the rest.

Some basic (and mostly free) equipment for a small balcony garden: dirt, plants, pots and sunlight

It’s rewarding

There’s nothing quite as rewarding as watching something you planted grow; it gives you a new appreciation for whereyour food comes from, and a sense of pride to know that you were able to bring your veggies to term all on your own! Italso makes you less inclined to misuse or throw out good food because know how much time and effort it took to produce.Learning a new skill and enjoying the fruits (or veggies) of your summer-long labor is something very valuable, and it’s agreat activity to share with your children or friends as a group project. Growing something with others builds a sense ofresponsibility, community and fun that’s hard to beat, not to mention that you can enjoy your hard work together withsomething delicious (I must say, I could get used to fresh zucchini bread every week).

A fresh Lebanese variety cucumber

It’s healthy

Other than relaxation and confidence-building, there are other more obvious benefits to growing your own vegetables: it’sdarned healthy! Free and easy access to a variety of greens encourages you to find new recipes to match your particularbounty, and hence to eat healthily. Bonus: You might even learn a thing or two about cooking while you’re at it, youkeeners! The unfortunate truth is that most adults don’t get their recommended 7-8 fruits or veggies a day, so having yourown source nearby can definitely help change those habits for the better. Furthermore, if you have a large garden in youryard, tending the veggie patch is great exercise; so flex those planting muscles!

It’s pretty… and pretty delicious!

In my case, the reasons behind my balcony container garden were as aesthetically-pleasing as they were healthy andenvironmentally-sound. There’s nothing like a little greenery to beautify your summer surroundings… and there’s nothinglike fresh vegetables to make your meals that much more delicious. The pasta sauce below was the culmination of lastyear’s harvest. If that doesn’t get your mouth watering for your own vegetable patch, I don’t know what will.

Pasta sauce made from garden-grown veggies

These particular veggies were grown in the beautiful Plateau neighborhood of Montreal.

If you want to know which other green neighborhoods which might have communitygardens, check out Navut’s Montreal Neighborhood Profiles!

For more great tips on how to get your garden started, check out these great articles we found:

Canadian Gardening Magazine

Reader’s Digest Canada

GrowaRow’s illustrated guide on how to grow a garden

If you have your own tips or experiences (good or bad) with your own gardens, we’d love to hear them! Share with us inthe comments below!