Due to the nutritional, exercise, mental health, environmental, and community benefits of growing a vegetable garden, I believe it is always worth it to have one. Nutritionally, the vegetables we grow will yield a variety of nutrients that we need for our health.
Any gardening (and type of gardening) provides a chance to exert yourself physically. Some people get very little physical activity throughout their day. Gardening gets you outside and fresh air can be relaxing.
Also, gardening reduces trips to the store and the produce you need to spend money on, and it offers you opportunities to meet others. You can also join a community garden to meet others who are growing vegetables.
A vegetable garden offers tremendous benefits to your life, but you’ll get to enjoy tasty vegetables, too. However, depending on how you measure, the value you place on a food garden can vary in importance.
If you are considering a cost/benefit analysis toward expense, or strictly time matter repeatedly, you may find buying produce to be your best scenario, but researchers have shown that we can easily place substantial value on growing that garden anyway.
I have been a gardener in my own home and in community spaces (schools, long-term care facilities, community centers, hospitals, and even an addiction treatment farm) and I have afforded the opportunity for every age to grow their own vegetables with many examples of people being able to benefit by having their own vegetable gardens.
And it isn’t just about the food you harvest though that is a sweet joy in itself.
It Has Nutritional Benefits
It’s no secret a varied diet of fresh food provides you with health benefits such as the following:
- Increased energy
- Bolstered immunity
- Disease prevention
- Quicker recovery when ill
- And more.
Learning to grow your own vegetables is a natural and rewarding way to proceed in this process. Many times, homegrown and locally grown vegetables are more nutrient-dense than vegetables grown and shipped to a store to sell to you.
Growers will pick vegetables early, to avoid spoilage by the time they reach the market and ultimately your plate.
When you grow or buy local vegetables, you’re eating them at their full ripeness, and shortly after they are harvested – they are still fresh and aren’t starting to spoil.
When you grow your own veggies, you also know they haven’t been treated with dangerous pesticides and insecticides. You’ll also be deciding what veggies you will be growing, instead of being left to the grocery store and what they decide to curate.
You might even be introduced to new veggies you have never been exposed to before.
And, they will taste better too.
Lastly, there is research that states that gardening will improve your eating habits. Studies have shown a correlation between vegetable gardening and being more willing to eat more types, and amounts of vegetables.
Some Vegetables And Their Nutritional Benefits
Some of the vegetables you might consider planting in your first garden are:
- Spinach
- Beets
- Carrots
- Peas
- Kale
- Radishes
Let’s start with spinach.
Spinach
Spinach is a fast-growing vegetable that prefers cooler temperatures; you could nearly be harvesting it a month after seeding it. I typically seed spinach early and again in late summer/early fall.
It is a good source of calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and K. Spinach is also very versatile! I blend spinach in smoothies, use it in salads, or incorporate it into savory dishes and even baking (like muffins)!
Beets
Beets take about two months to mature after seeding. I typically grow either two or three crops of beets each year, with the last crop remaining in situ and being part of my winter garden. Beets are high in potassium and folate.
I find that you either love beets or hate them (you can tell where I stand on the issue, since they are part of my garden). Some people like to juice beets, I prefer roasting them and adding them to salads or making soup with them.
Don’t forget the tops, which are also edible! They taste best when they’re young, so grab a handful or so and add that to salads, or smoothies, or just munch on as you work in your garden; I’ve formed this habit. However, don’t take too many from each plant, or you’ll be hindering growth in your roots!
Carrots
Carrots take a couple of weeks longer to mature than beets albeit, once they start growing, carrots are easy to grow. Carrots are winter hardy if they don’t freeze the soil and the tops are insulated adequately.
Some people grow in cold frames for harvest producing fresh veggies at home year round. All plants’ growth slows dramatically during the winter (more so in cooler climates), but this is achievable in all but the coldest climate.
Carrots are a good source of vitamin A (beta-carotene). So, yes, the old saying of they are good for your eyes is true.
You can roast, juice, blend, cook, and/or eat them raw. You can also make carrot cake if you like that sort of cake. At least once you should try fresh carrots in a homemade carrot cake if you like carrot cake.
You can eat carrot tops! I like to throw them in salads or snack on them while waiting for the first carrots. One year, instead of composting, I blended them into a pesto. It wasn’t bad, but won’t take the place of basil pesto.
Growing tip: carrots can be persnickety to germinate. They need constant moisture (not too much) for the first two weeks or you’ll see patchy planted areas. If you are going to be in the garden every day, just make sure they are watered lightly.
I have a friend who waters then covers W/wood in order to stop evaporation and drying out until they start growing (then he takes the wood off). If you give them proper care, they should start growing within 2 weeks.
Peas
It takes about two months to grow peas, and they will stop yielding once they reach temperatures of around 85°F (29.5°C). I plant them in the spring and sometimes again in the autumn. They are a great source of fiber, protein, vitamins A, C, and K, and healthy digestive function.
If you are anything like me and my family, you’ll probably be tempted to eat them as soon as you find out they are ready even before you give your family a chance to enjoy them,
but this means you need to plant a little more than what you think you might need. When you plant them, also be sure to have some kind of support for them, as they can get a little leggy.
You can use a decorative trellis, bamboo stake, rebar, or your fence, or whatever you might have to support them, but just make sure to install it when you plant them so that you do not disrupt the roots when you have to install it later.
Peas are extremely versatile and delicious eaten both cooked and raw. I often eat them the most in spring, but to ensure I have enough to last throughout the winter, I freeze as many as I can to enjoy over the winter.
Kale
Depending on the type you choose to grow, kale can be harvested fairly quickly, often as soon as 50 days! Like many greens, it enjoys the cooler conditions, but once established it is not a picky vegetable and will grow well all year long.
You can easily intercrop it early and also be part of your winter garden (which will have all your winter gardening chores you need to do).
Kale is packed with A, C, and K vitamins and is very good at reducing cholesterol. When it comes to eating the younger, and not so fibrous kale raw, this is the one I pick early in the season for salads, otherwise I tend to switch to kale in sauces, soups, stir fries or smoothies, which boosts the nutrient factor.
It will freeze well, and I usually also dehydrate some, grind it, and make some green powder to have in winter when I don’t want to go outside and pick kale when it’s deep winter. Many people are also dedicated “kale chip” eaters as well!
Radishes
One of my favorite things to grow are radishes, and I always make sure that I have some ready for harvesting in my home garden. They grow in a month, they are a beautiful color, and they have a nice bite to them.
Radishes are high in Calcium, vitamin C, riboflavin, niacin, folate, and potassium, and they help to deal with fungi infections, high blood pressure, and heart disease. They are healthy both raw and roasted. Raw for those who like the spicy kick and roasted for those who prefer not competing with the flavor profiles.
Whatever you decide to grow in your vegetable garden, you will be sure to improve your nutrition and health, but most of all have fun with the whole experience!
It Has Exercise Benefits
Even a simple vegetable garden will require you to be physically active.
No matter what activities you do or how hard you get after it, it all counts as physical activity when you are gardening. Gardening activities are relevant for everyone at every fitness level.
Gardening can meet the needs of someone who wants the most physical activity, someone with physical limitations, and everything in-between.
Regardless of the size or type of garden, it will require your attention and effort, which means you will always have a reason to regularly get some physical activity.
I have seen a lot of gardeners who would identify as pretty sedentary get so wrapped up in what they are doing, that they are surprised that so much time has passed and they had been exercising while they were gardening-while having a good time-and wanted to come back and do it again the next day.
In a community garden I managed, one woman shared how her new vegetable garden became a kind of accountability coach for her, and she was so emotionally invested in making sure it was a good garden that it helped her stay accountable when she maintained a long-standing dissatisfaction with her ability to exercise physically every week.
Over that season she became physically stronger than she had been in years, and when she came to the garden that fall, she was one of the last people still doing chores in the garden after fall planting and one of the first volunteers to start digging in the spring!
Another physical benefit of gardening is how it impacts our bodies in relation to sleep. As we move our bodies become more physically ready to rest. I know that I sleep better and more easily when the gardening season is here!
Apparently I am not the only one; A University Of Pennsylvania study identified gardening as one of a handful of specific physical activities that help participants realize some restorative sleep compared to other fora of exercise.
It Has Mental Health Benefits
Recently, the research on time spent in nature and gardening, and the positive societal and health benefits, has exploded. People say that they feel better after they work in a garden, yet we are still uncertain about exactly why that is.
The reality is that there are many variables, starting with what we have outlined above. Eating well and engaging in even moderate exercise are cornerstone activities of our health and well-being, and they also contribute to our mental well-being.
There is one study that says part of the mental refreshment that many gardeners feel comes from increased exposure to sunlight, which creates vitamin D in our bodies.
Vitamin D is crucial for all bodily systems, and it has been suggested that we feel depressed when we are deficient in it.
Of course, we receive vitamin D from food choices and supplements, but the most plausible way to maintain optimal levels is simply by getting some sun.
In addition, working in your bare hands in the garden creates the potential for an antidepressant-type response as the gardener engages with the soil and the flora.
Soil has something in it called Mycobacterium vaccae that elicits serotonin release in the brain, resulting in a temporary uptick in mood.
You will want to be sure there are nothing harmful in your soil before working with it though.
There are other dimensions associated with vegetable gardening and mental health benefits that deserve mention. These associated benefits include the pleasure of discovery that arises when we learn about and from gardening.
The associated benefits include the feeling of success that one experiences from growing and maintaining a vegetable garden, which often elevates even more when collecting previous and ongoing harvests.
There are also many people who enjoy their gardening because it provides a space to retreat and meditate. For many, their garden is considered a retreat space altogether.
Providing support in a community garden with others fosters community and integration of others into your social network.
The bottom line is there are many mental health benefits to vegetable gardening (and other types of gardening).
It Also Has Environmental And Community Benefits
Gardens provide benefits to all life. No matter if you choose to garden in the confines of a single planter on a windowsill, as long as you take the action of doing this you are engaging in the smallest part of a larger whole. The more people who do this, the more significantly it impacts the whole.
This is also true for gardens that solely produce vegetables.
Just deciding to grow even some small vegetable garden means that you have decided you will not be frequenting the grocery store as often.
In addition to that, you are purchasing less packaged products, consuming less fossil fuel, and wasting less food as well as reducing produce that the store disposes of that you purchase.
You may also provide some vegetables to your friends or neighbors or anyone else for that matter so they call benefit from eating fresh vegetables as well.
Additionally, if your garden is outdoors, as a result of you growing, you will entice creatures who pollinate to visit your garden as they will forage on the plants you grow.
You can take it even further if you decide to join or establish a community garden. Community gardens not only bring people together but also plants, animals, and insects together.
You are sharing the land and the resources and learning from one another as everyone is contributing positively to the community.
Finding a community garden can be fairly simple too. You might just ask one of your fellow gardeners, another local organization, or even just search quickly on the internet, as they are starting all the time.
So, Are Vegetable Gardens Worth It?
Ultimately, it’s your decision. However, if you are willing to try it out and see what happens, we suggest starting small. You can always grow your vegetable garden and increase the number of plants later.
Also, it is likely going to take a little time for you to see the benefits outlined above. But like anything worth doing, you only need to put in the effort and you will inevitably start to see the benefits just like the millions of other people who garden every day.