Is gardening the answer to all of life’s problems?
Maybe not all of them, but definitely many of them.
Gardening (especially vegetable gardening) is so enjoyable and so productive that I don’t know why more people who have the opportunity to garden don’t.
Want to eat healthy, fresh food? Garden.
Want to save money on that healthy food? Garden.
Looking for a good workout without having to pay for a gym membership? Garden.
Looking to reduce your carbon footprint and help out the planet? Garden.
Need more fresh air? Quality time with the family? A connection to nature? Better mental health? Just looking for a really satisfying activity? Yeah, you know the answer. (And in case you don’t…GARDEN!)
For some, this may sound just a little too simplistic. Maybe it sounds inconsequential. Surely one humble past time can’t address all these issues. But once you get into gardening regularly and start to reap its benefits, you’ll really start to understand how wondrous and necessary it is.
Of course, that’s not to say gardening isn’t without challenges. I’ve been seriously gardening for at least 10 years or so, and I still have what you might call “failures”–though I prefer to think of them as learning opportunities. Things still die, don’t germinate, or I run into other problems. Every year I learn new things, and it seems every year I forget a few things, too! Most gardeners will tell you the same. It can be a struggle, but compared to the benefits, the struggle is so worth it.
Sadly, another challenge that affects many would-be gardeners is the fact that that gardening has become somewhat of a luxury. Things like apartment living, or living under an unreasonable landlord, can mean you don’t have the outdoor space, or simply aren’t allowed to grow vegetables.
If you have the opportunity to begin gardening, please do so. If you have the opportunity to begin a community garden, give it some consideration. Or even if you’ve just been thinking about starting some herbs in a windowsill, I would urge you to go for it!
It’s so important, especially among growing concerns about food security and the health of our world, that gardening make a real comeback. It’s almost absurd to think that not growing our own food has become the norm. It may seem unimportant in the face of everything going on in our world today, but just the opposite is true. We need to be more self-sufficient, be healthier, and have a more tangible way to provide for ourselves.
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