Top 10 Reasons You Should Start a Garden This Spring

Gerry and I have been counting down the days until we could start our garden again. Spring could not get here fast enough. We love spring and summer veggies, and have been planning our spring/summer garden for months! Having succeeded and failed at many veggies, we are excited to try, try, again, at a standard size tomato, if it kills us! 

This weekend, we built the frame for our raised bed garden, because frankly, nothing will grow in the dirt (ahem, sand) here on the NC coast. We wanted to start getting our soil prepared so that we can be ready to plant once there is no concern of frost returning. 

We purchased some timber (approved with our no-buy year, by the way, for our garden) and soil, and added some seaside mushroom compost, a tidbit from a neighbor. As we’ve discussed, we’ve been composting, so once we built our raised bed frame, which we plan to blog about in a week or so in greater detail, we added the soil, the mushroom compost, as well as our own compost, and churned it all together. We hope to be able to start planting vegetables in the next few weeks. 

So, all of this brings us to the top 10 reasons why we feel it is important to start a garden this spring, and we hope that it will inspire you to do so, too. 

1. Empowerment! Is there anything better than growing food for your damn self?! No! We have never felt as empowered as we do, going to our own garden, taking care of what we’ve planted, harvesting what we’ve grown, preparing it, then eating it, allowing what we’ve cared for to nourish our bodies. We’re contributing to our own food security and that is very empowering!
2. The food is healthier! If you are growing your own food, you have control of every single thing that you do to make it grow, so you can keep it organic, chemical-free and you are eating natural foods, rather than fast food, or food that’s not actual food at all. 
3. The gardening process is healthy! Not only is the food healthy, but being outdoors, tending to the garden itself, getting your hands into the soil, is good for your body, mind, and soul. There is something about getting your hands dirty that is so gratifying. I even take my gloves off sometimes just to feel the dirt. It feels nostalgic, like being a kid again. 
4. You will save money! First, the money you save on produce will astound you! Second, when you grow your own veggies, you will want to eat them, hence, saving you money on other food. 
5. It’s great for the environment! You’ll be reducing your carbon footprint by not having to go anywhere to get your fruits and veggies, and/or not have to depend on the transport of them getting to you. Just walk into your backyard, or your container garden on your porch, and enjoy! 
6. Less waste. Trust us, you will not want to waste your own food. When you put the blood, sweat, and tears into growing your own food, you will not waste it! You’ll even begin making new dishes, learning new recipes for tomato sauces, cucumber dips, and squash casseroles, because you will NOT want to waste any! 
7. You’ll make friends! When you have a garden, people LOVE to talk about how you make your garden grow. Oh, and you’ll love talking about it, too, because you’ll be so proud! Also, referring back to #6, you’ll love sharing your harvest, because again, you won’t want any to go to waste. 
8. Pure aesthetics of having the garden is lovely! We have ours outside of our kitchen window, and we just love seeing it in the morning. We also love walking out in the evenings with a glass of wine, sitting by the garden with Betty White and admiring it. It’s just so pretty, and a really nice addition to our yard. Oh, and if you don’t have a yard, having a container garden, or several containers is also aesthetically pleasing and nice to enjoy! 
9. Gardening is a wonderful hobby. This blog post is about why you should start a spring garden, however, when you do start a spring garden, if you’re like us, one of the benefits is that you will then become an enthusiast, wanting to learn more about the process of what you can grow, and perhaps, learn more about various seasonal gardens. 
10. Gardening helps to reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress and improve quality of life. 

You don’t have to have a lot of space, nor a lot of skill, you just need a little bit of dirt, and dedication to start your own garden. If we can do it, anyone can. Feel free to message us with any questions. We learn more and more each season, but more than anything, we have learned the benefits of having a garden far outweigh life without one.