Growing Your Own Vegetables

Wandering the aisles of the grocery store lately, I am inspired and excited by displays of packets of vegetable seeds and garden tools - gardening season approaches! I have a few flowers (mostly bulbs and perennials), but my main focus is always on the delights of vegetable gardening.

There is such a great sense of satisfaction in knowing that you will be able to walk down to your own garden and pick the vegetables that you have been growing and then cook them and eat them for your dinner.

You will never be able to get vegetables as fresh as that from the store, and you certainly will be able to taste the difference in the extra freshness that you will get with every bite.

Many vegetables taste just as good, if not better, eaten fresh from the garden without even cooking them. Peas, beans, tomatoes and the like are all ready to be eaten and enjoyed as they are picked.

Companion planting of carrots and onions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What makes garden fresh vegetables even more appealing is the fact that you will know everything that has gone into the soil and everything that has been used to assist in the growing of those vegetables, so you'll have the peace of mind of knowing it is safe for you and your family to eat.

You may need to use sprays or other organic growing aids on your garden to ensure you have a healthy crop so it is wise to look at all the instructions and the contents of any products that you might need to use. By using only natural and organic growing aids, you can be satisfied that not only will your crops have had the best nutrition but you will also be safe from some of the chemicals that many commercial growers use.

You can often keep pests off your crops, or reduce the incidence of the damage they can create by planting companion plants around your crops to keep them away.

You can reduce the chance of getting disease by selecting resistant varieties of plants that are less susceptible to disease and by giving them more room to grow by spacing them out a little more.


Whether you use an organic product or a natural method to control problems in your vegetable garden, a healthy and well-cared-for garden will provide you with lots of tasty produce throughout the coming growing season!

Feel free to post comments below about what you plan to grow in your garden this year! In my limited space, I'm planning on lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and my cabbages and kohlrabi which have wintered over - hopefully those will be ready before it gets hot.