Why Grow Your Own?
5 reasons why you should start your own foodie garden
Freshness
What could be fresher than something you've just picked? While freshness doesn't necessarily equal quality, the two are usually closely related.
And in any case, when you grow your own you can pick it when it's ready - most supermarket produce, especially fruit, is picked before it's fully ripe as this extends shelf life.
Economy
Seeds cost next to nothing compared to the amount of food they'll produce. When you start growing your own, you'll soon notice how expensive many retailers are.
Even if you buy young plants from a nursery (eg for herbs), it'll still most likely be much more economical than buying a finished, over-packaged product.
And in many cases, you can use some of the crop to produce the next year's - whether by using seeds, dividing or taking cuttings.
Wastage
If your household is anything like ours, you probably throw away large amounts of fruit and vegetables that have gone well past their best. In the foodie garden, you can often pick what you need when you need it. If you need just one sprig of thyme, you don't have to buy a full bunch.
This will lead to less wastage, and of course you can start composting down any waste that remains, meaning that it's not really wasted at all - the nutrients will be recycled into a new crop.
This only applies to produce with a long harvesting season of course, but even with crops that have a short 'glut' season you'll probably find many ingenious ways of using up most of what you get. When you've spent weeks or months nurturing a plant, you're going to value the results far more highly than if you've just bought it from Tesco.
Provenance
If you're interested in organic food, you'll be keen to know the provenance of the food you eat. If you grow your own food, you'll know exactly where it came from and what methods have been used to produce it.
Whether or not you garden organically, it's a fair bet that anything you grow at home will be exposed to far lower levels of pesticides and other chemicals than commercial, intensively produced crops.
Foodie Factor
Foodies are passionate about food. Growing your own completes the circle - the satisfaction and enjoyment of growing, picking, preparing and eating your own is a more than fair reward for the hard work involved!
Article © 2005 The Foodie Garden All rights reserved
