This is the time of year when green thumbs and gardening novices alike storm the home improvement store’s gardening section and attempt to start a vegetable garden. It’s an old tradition to plant a summer garden. And while it may seem a tad romantic to have a Martha Stewart-styled vegetable garden, for many people it seems highly unattainable.
And I think that’s a shame.
We complain about models being photoshopped on magazine covers, right? Well, I for one will add to that complaint the pictures of unattainably beautiful gardens in magazines. They can be quite attractive, but honestly, that isn’t the ultimate goal.
One of the healthiest things you can do for your body, psyche, and soul is to plant a garden that mixes the edible with the inedible. Whether that garden is huge and abundant or it’s the community garden in an urban setting you have to take a bus to get to, gardening is in my mind, a fundamental connection we can all have with understanding the importance of eating good food.
When it’s grown and cultivated by your own hands, the appreciation for that first green bean or tomato is celebrated with pictures on Facebook and a somewhat braggadocios sentence or two to display your gardening prowess– look at me, I’m a farmer!
I have yet to see pictures on Facebook of food bought at the grocery store. Growing your own food turns the monotony of opening the fridge, pulling out something you bought from the grocery store, cooking it, and eating it every day into a primal experience on many levels. There’s simply nothing like it.
Connect to the source of your food this year and try a little garden. You don’t have to plow up the backyard or even build a raised bed. Just throw some zucchini in between the petunias and impatiens and put a pretty tomato plant in a planter. With a little creativity and thinking outside of the norm, we can all enjoy a bountiful garden.
Need some inspiration to use up those garden goodies? Try our Vegetarian ebook!
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