Why Grow a Garden?

Jane and I have grown a big garden ever since we first met, even before we were married. Why grow a garden? There are many reasons but at the top of the list are improving our health, simple home economics, learning new skills and for the sheer joy it brings.

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Recently we were visited by two large families. Both couples are in their 20’s, young and full of energy. Their kids had even more energy, all eight of them.

We showed them the entire greenhouse and the acre of garden that we grow and they could only stare and marvel at the work we had done.

Here were two mid forty oldsters growing all this food for themselves and some to share too, and they didn’t have any. Why?

The reason was quickly revealed that they just don’t have to. In Canada, the monthly family allowance check of over $2000 per family took care of all the groceries and most of the household bills too. There was no motivation to do anything for themselves. Anyone can learn the basic skills necessary to grow their own garden.

Now, plunk those 2 same families down in the 1940’s when our parents grew up and I guarantee that they would not have been visiting us while we were working in the garden. Some say that our social system has many benefits, but all we see is the laziness that it has created. ‘We don’t have to’, is a common theme these days. Yes, it might be easier but…. Nothing easy is ever worthwhile, and nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Those two families should have been home working in their own gardens to provide food for their families. In 1940 they would have had to.

Jane and I get kind of angry that in Canada there is no motivation for young families to learn the skills we know and were taught.

It may seem like we have to grow a garden, but the motivation has transcended ‘have to’ and now it is ‘want to’. How did this come about?

We just love fresh vegetables and the satisfaction that producing our own brings to us.

Why Grow a Garden- Simple Home Economics

We have touched on the economics of gardening a bit, mostly today’s cultural push is away from the home garden. Most families have two jobs, there is no time and just the ease at which fresh produce can be purchased as needed anytime of the year at the grocery store has pushed families in this direction.

Instead we buy a $1 packet of seeds that produces several $12 bushels of squash (for instance). That makes good economic sense. The only variable in our economic theory that isn’t mentioned is the cost of your own labor.

Modern economic theory states that we should work at the job that pays us the most and buy our other items from specialists as well.

But, what price tag do you put on pesticide free produce that grows along even while you are away at work? What price for the taste of a fresh real tomato? This is where modern economics has failed us, reducing everything down to dollar signs.

Health – Why Grow a Garden?

The main reason Jane and I have a garden is our improved health. Not only is the work of gardening healthy and revitalizing but the fruit of that labor is healthy, pesticide-free produce. Nothing tastes better than those potatoes dug fresh out of the garden in July, steamed whole with fresh garlic.

Why Grow a Garden? Learning new skills

Jane and I love the challenge of figuring out how to grow new vegetables in our garden. One of Jane’s favorite veggies is onions. But when we first moved to our present homestead onions would not grow for us. They would get about the size of a quarter and stop, so we took up the challenge.

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Finding joy in the garden

Moments of joy and peace are fleeting in our fast-paced World. Taking the time to search for peace is very important for a balanced life. For Jane and I joy is found in our garden and in the wilderness that surrounds our home. Just sitting there watching the garden grow and admiring all of the hard work we have done brings peace beyond all understanding.

At certain times we have seen bears, deer and even the occasional wandering moose in our garden. We plant a heavy crop of clover around the edge to encourage the wildlife to visit.

We like to see them and feel their wild presence… but not to the point of letting them eat the carrots.

It’s a balance we have struck with our wilderness surroundings, a balance that brings more joy than any suburban postage stamp backyard ever could. We know, we have been there, and suffered there too.