Thursday, April 19, 2012

Growing Healthy Foods In Your Own Garden

You try to feed your family healthy foods, but often it’s cheaper and more convenient just to reach for the closest sugary snack.  While it requires a little bit of work, growing a garden is a great way to have healthy food available right at your fingertips.  Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing that you grew them all by yourself and that you’re providing for your family - and there's really nothing better than that!

Fresh vegetables are important components of a...Fresh vegetables are important components of a healthy diet. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The most common healthy foods grown in gardens are fruits and vegetables.  When planting these foods, choose carefully, especially if you have limited space.  You want to be able to choose crops that will grow well in your area, but you should also consider what you have time and space to grow, and what your family will eat.  You may have perfect soil and space for tomatoes, but it your family won’t eat them, there’s not much point in growing them.  A garden is a great way to get inexpensive fruits and veggies that you know are fresh and healthy, and that your family will enjoy.

You can grow fruits and vegetables in your garden as a way to eat healthier, but don’t forget about herbs as well.  You’re probably not eating just stuff you can grow on your own, but you can make the other food more flavorful without a lot of fat and calories by adding different herbs and seasonings.  This way you can have great tasting food that isn’t so bad for you either.

Foods you buy at the grocery store have been grown using tons of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers.  These chemicals may make fruits and veggies look more appealing and will increase farmer yields, but they can also be dangerous to your health - plus they just don't taste that great. You can buy from an organic food store, but you’ll end up paying a whole lot more.  Growing your own garden is a great way to know your food is safe without having to pay a pretty penny.  Start a compost pile to fertilize naturally and research other Organic garden cloches at Beningborough Hall A...Organic garden cloches at Beningborough Hall. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)methods of safe and sustainable fertilization and pest control, like companion planting. You'll find that not only are these foods healthier, but they also taste WAY better than anything you can buy at the store! Not only are they fresher and riper than what you could find on store shelves, but the taste of many vegetables are negatively affected by the chemical fertilizers used in commercial growing operations.

When we consider how healthy our foods are for us, we usually just consider the calorie content, but what about taking into account what it takes to get them?  We all know it takes more work to grow your own veggies than to buy them at the store, but we usually don’t take into account all the calories that work is burning.  Gardening is a great workout!  Growing your own fruits, veggies, and herbs can actually help you stay in shape.  That’s a lot healthier than picking something up off a shelf - wouldn't you agree? 

Gardening isn’t just for pretty flowers anymore.  You can grow a great garden to feed your family tasty, nutritious foods - which is doing a great thing not only for you and your family, but even for the rest of the planet.

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