Gardening Helps You Have More Control Over Your Food
Knowing where your food comes from is so important. It’s why so many people shop local, go to farmer’s markets, and are flocking to restaurants that are part of the farm-to-table movement. Growing your own food takes the guess work out of what you are eating. You know exactly what’s used on and near your food, what is in the water source, and who is near your food.
Gardeners also plant what they eat. If you love salads, plant more greens and salad veggies. If you love zucchini, plant more zucchini.
Higher Levels of Nutrients in Your Plants
Produce loses 30% of its nutrients in the first three days and it sometimes takes more than a week before it reaches shelves in your grocery store. “University of California studies show that vegetables can lose 15 to 55 percent of vitamin C, for instance, within a week. Some spinach can lose 90 percent within the first 24 hours after harvest.” That means that the produce you are buying at the store doesn’t pack the most punch and it makes it harder to meet your daily nutritional needs through eating alone.
That’s on top of the fact that standard, mass-produced vegetables aren’t as nutritious as they used to be. “Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant carrot is truly less good for you than the one before.” According to an article from the Scientific American, crops produced today are less rich in vitamins and minerals than they were decades ago because of soil depletion and several other modernizations to farming.
By gardening and growing your own food, you can harvest and eat your produce in the same day.
Gardening Helps You Eat More Vegetables and Fruits
You reap what you sow, as they say! Planting a garden helps you and your family eat more vegetables and fruits. Makes sense, right? If you plant these vegetables, greens and herbs, they will eventually need to be harvested. Of course, you could totally let them rot but who wants to do that? Growing your own food creates a connection to these plants and prompts gardeners to make sure they eat those veggies instead of letting them go to waste. When you have these fresh vegetables on hand, it’s so much easier to walk to your garden and make better decisions.
And, there you have it! Gardening has so many health benefits and we only touched on a few of them here in this post. However, there’s no doubt that gardening will improve your quality of life and your health.
If you don’t have any space to grow or want to grow year-round, check out our indoor hydroponic gardens.
Photo credits:
Daniel Oberg
Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis
Kelly Sikkema