#homegrown

Over the past few weeks I have been repeatedly coming back to the idea of homesteading. The idea has intrigued me for a long time, but I know I would never last long-term...I like my conveniences a little too much!

As defined by the trusty Wikipedia, homesteading "is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency...characterized by subsistence agriculture [and] home preservation of food..." Basically, it is being able to be completely self-sufficient by producing everything you need for yourself including food and energy. Wouldn't that be handy right about now!

But what really fascinates me about homesteading is the garden. Everything that goes into it has a long-term purpose...it's not just for the "niceness" of fresh fruits and vegetables, but rather specific choices that a family makes regarding their nutrition for the next year! I don't know about you, but when I think about what I'm going to put in my garden each spring, I think about what I like to eat fresh.

So, with this being said, I decided to look up why people decide to make homesteading their lifestyle, and I found a list called 7 Reasons to Start Homesteading Today. Here are the Cole's Notes:

1. Homesteading connects you with your food
2. It tastes good
3. Homesteading brings freedom
4. Homesteading provides security during hard times
5. It's hard (yes, that is actually on the list)
6. It's one of the best ways to raise kids
7. Homesteading will change your life forever

Homesteading is a huge commitment and this article does not make light of that (look at #5 if you need to remember), but why am I talking about this anyway? For many of us, it isn't even an option.

Well, here are my 7 Reasons to Have a Garden:

1. It connects you with your food

When it comes to procuring food for ourselves, most of the time it means making a trip to the grocery store for the items we need. Stores have been the primary source of food for quite a few years now, and sometimes we forget where it comes from and what goes into getting it from farm to plate. When you plan, grow, tend, and harvest your garden, you intimately know your plants and produce. You are the one who decided what to grow, watched it and cared for it, and the one who reaps the benefits of that labour of love; watching and participating in the cycle of nature. There is something very satisfying about this process.

2. It tastes good

Much of the produce we buy in the store is designed and bred toward consistency, firmness, and colour....not really taste. It's also harvested at peak time for longevity....meaning green....so the produce doesn't have a chance to fully "fatten up" on the wonderful sugars and other nutrients the plant provides that makes ripe fruits and vegetables taste so good. Some also make the argument that plant-ripened produce provides better nutrition than chemically ripened produce. Scientifically there isn't much supporting the nutrition argument, but the tomatoes from my garden sure taste better than those from the store, and usually when things taste better, they are better!

3. Gardening is easy on the budget

​Let's do a little math here. One of the more expensive fruits to buy at the grocery store is strawberries. At Superstore, a 2 lb box of strawberries is typically $5 until they are in season when they drop to around $3. Now compare that to a strawberry plant. One plant will produce approximately 2 lbs (most varieties are more) of fruit each year and, depending on the variety and the plant, will cost you between $3 and $5. This cost drops when you start your own plants from seed. Now we don't sell strawberries, but we do sell peppers. Red peppers in particular are expensive. Currently they are $3.98/lb at Superstore meaning you're probably paying $4+ for one good-sized red pepper. Sale plug: you can get one red pepper plant from us for $4.49 and it will give you more than one red pepper! :)

4. Gardening provides security in hard times

Hard times is kind of defining our situation these days. Many of us may have parents or grandparents who have been through hard times, or lean times, as well. Did any one else have a grandma who was able to can anything (mine even canned fish), or a mom who saved every last bone from the Thanksgiving turkey to make soup later? Maybe you are that person and your pantry is full to overflowing come mid-fall. You know that if you don't get to the grocery store there will be something you can whip together from the conglomerate of preserves you have stored away. That's the power of gardening.

5. It's hard

Yeah, I'm putting this one on my list too. Gardening doesn't have to be hard, but to do it well it takes work. Growing up, my parents and grandparents shared a garden plot at Eden's community gardens. We had fantastic produce each year, and often more than we needed. What I didn't know at the time was when my grandpa couldn't sleep, he and grandma would go to the garden to water and putz around--probably pulled some weeds and checked on all the plants, too. Then came the time to harvest, and we would spend hours in the hot sun picking cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, carrots, you name it! Then we would make pickles, tomato sauce, salsa, and other preserves, which seemed to take forever when I was 10. My sister and I probably did a fair bit of complaining too...but it taught us a lot! 

---

6. It's a great way to spend time with family

Gardening for me was a family affair, and I love that! Everyone was involved from my grandparents to me and my little sister. We spent time together, learned together, played together and worked together, and made many precious memories.

Photo: John Englart

7. Gardening will change your life

I had always thought that gardening was just a lot of work and wasn't something I planned to do when I set out on my own. Well, here I am, bit by the gardening bug bad! I love my fresh produce. I love watching my plants grow! I love taking care of them!

So, at the risk of sounding corny, Keep Calm and Garden On!