Quite a few years ago, when my kids were little, I had a beautiful backyard garden. I can still picture it and I miss it so much so I decided to start another, right here and now in my smaller, urban backyard. We are also in the process of getting ready to put our house on the market. Texas is our destination. My daughter, son-in-law and grandson are there and that's where we want to be too.
So I decided to use containers to plant some of my veggies in. I have also been planting in my front yard. I have watermelon, zucchini and bush beans growing strong out there now. I would LOVE to get rid of my water guzzling front lawn as well and just grow food but listing the house prevents me from doing that right now.
And whats really cool about my backyard garden is that I have my mini studio out there as well, smack dab in the middle. So while I am creating my art, I am surrounded by glorious plantings of wonderful, organic vegetables and flowers, all grown from seed by me. No poisonous insecticides and no GMO's (genetically modified organisms) are used here.
Here are a few great reasons to grow your own organic food year round...........taken from a great website, One Green Generation, check it out! The link is on my sidebar.
Ten Reasons To Grow A Four-Season Organic Garden
- Growing your own food reduces the distance your food travels from the farm to you (10 feet, say, versus 250-2,500 miles). That means you’re eliminating the petroleum products used in farming equipment, fertilizers, pesticides, packaging, storage, and transportation.
- By reducing the distance your food travels from the farm to you, you also reduce your overall carbon output, taking a bite out of your impact on climate change.
- In the winter when most farmer’s markets close up shop, you’ll still have fresh, tasty produce.
- When you grow your own food, you also know where your food is coming from (no weird salmonella strains in your tomatoes and spinach, for instance).
- Home grown food tastes many times better and has more vitamins and minerals than vegetables raised in a monocultural setting.
- You can choose to grow various heirloom crops that you just can’t buy in a grocery store.
- You can choose to grow crops that aren’t genetically modified.
- You can save seed and create different varieties that are best suited for your little backyard microclimate.
- Knowing how to grow your own food makes you much more adaptable to whatever economic or environmental hardship that comes your way in the future.
- And lastly, it’s fun, it tastes better, and gardening nourishes your soul.
So get out there and get growing. It's creative, it's good for the earth and it's good for you!
