No matter where you live or what your circumstances are, you can grow at least some of your own food. Just plant a pot, or turn under some lawn to build a vegie patch. Do it. It’s not hard and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Do it for yourself, for your family, for the environment and for all the reasons listed below. Lettuce begin.

1. Growing Your Own is delicious. Homegrown produce is tastier and more environmentally friendly than store-bought. You can plant what you like to eat and enjoy the pleasure of fresh produce.

2. Growing Your Own relieves stress. The emotional benefits of gardening are wonderful. “All the world’s problems can be solved in a garden”.

3. Growing Your Own is good exercise. Pulling weeds, digging holes and hauling dirt burns calories comparable to brisk walking. It also challenges and tones both lower and upper body muscles.

4. Growing Your Own is good for children. They can learn how food grows. This reconnection to the earth, is paramount to their future health.

5. Growing Your Own helps you prepare for potential food shortages. Planting your own food supply and preserving the surplus, could help you stay within your budget when food prices spike due to climate change or economic uncertainites.

6. Growing Your Own is easier than you think. Just like learning any other new thing, gardening can be overwhelming at first, but once you go up the learning curve, it becomes  easier. Take note of the successful & not-so-successful trials in your garden. This is where seeking the advice of local gardeners comes in handy. Perhaps there is a local gardening club in your area?

7. Growing Your Own makes it easy to eat organic. When you grow your own food, you’ll know exactly what is used to nourish the soil and prevent insect infestation.

8. Growing Your Own makes it easy to eat locally. Harvesting sweet bell peppers from your backyard uses no fuel to transport the finished product to your kitchen. This is quite different from store-bought peppers that traveled from other parts of the world, especially those grown in energy consuming hot houses. Peppers from your yard use sunshine for their growth!

9. Growing Your Own is cheaper than store-bought. After some initial investment in tools, seeds and soil amendments, the cost of home-grown produce is often cheaper than store bought. By composting scraps to make your own fertilizer, subsequent year costs can be limited to new seeds and seedlings. And by learning the art of seed saving, this cost can also be avoided.

10. Growing Your Own has withstood the test of time. For some of its history, mankind has depended on gardening to sustain itself; the decline of growing one’s own food has paralleled the decline of our nation’s health and overall welfare.