Gardening is an integral part of simple living and a growing number of people are getting down in the dirt. According to a National Gardening Association survey, food gardening was the only category of lawn and garden activity that saw a significant increase in household participation and spending in 2009. Food gardening participation increased by 14% while the total spent increased by 21% over 2008 levels. The Association defines food gardening as including vegetable gardening, fruit trees, growing berries, and herb gardening.
But if you’ve never really grown anything edible, you may be wondering why, exactly, so many people think gardening is so important.
Let’s see…
1. Gardening can save money. As long as you avoid the mindless, consumerist gardening gizmos and contraptions that fill the pages of gardening catalogs ($400 rainbarrels? Are you kidding me?), growing your own vegetables will save you money. Keep it simple sweetie, aim to use the energies and resources that are flowing through your property for free and you will come out ahead.
2. Gardening beats inflation. Even if you buy seedlings and seeds every year, growing some percentage of your own food will beat the inflationary spiral of food prices that’s sure to hit as peak oil begins to be felt. (Our entire industrial food system is based on oil; supplies are leveling out and will soon begin to decline.)
3. Gardening gets you back in touch with nature. When you’re outside, digging in the dirt or transplanting your seedlings, you become much more aware of the life that surrounds you. Birds sing, bees buzz, earthworms work the earth. Turns out humans aren’t the center of the universe after all.
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