I think there are many reasons why some of us choose to garden and I’d love to hear what you can add to my list, and your reasons for adding them.
I began my small garden with the hopes of growing vegetables and fruits in my yard. Not only to cut down some of the cost of purchasing food for ourselves, but also to provide my family with the freshest and most nutritious food items that I could. There is nothing like eating a freshly picked tomato is there?
Another reason why I like to grow some of my own food is that I know exactly what it’s been exposed to. Nothing.
I don’t use chemicals on my garden, and because my fruit and vegetables are picked and eaten fairly quickly under very sanitary conditions I know that, unlike some of the fruit and veggies that are sold in the grocery stores (spinach and strawberries for example) that my produce is free from food borne contaminants such as e-coli.
Another reason to garden is that it’s good exercise. Particularly for the obsessed like myself. When I get out in my garden, and I’m in the mood to work, I can be out there for 8 or more hours at a time. I come inside and I’ve earned the right to be tired. I sleep better. I feel a little bit healthier and my muscles get a work out too.
Moderate gardening for one hour can burn 300 to 400 calories!
Exercise is good for the bones too, so therefore gardening helps reduce osteoporosis.
Another reason I enjoy gardening- besides having so many lovely flowers and plants to enjoy eating and or looking at, is that my garden relaxes me. The act of gardening is good for my soul. It puts me at peace with the world even after the most stressful of days.
Gardening also gives me another area to entertain friends and family too. What better place to gather for a nice meal and some good wine with friends than in a lovely garden. Now that’s living.
Why do you garden?
Why do we garden? Such a good question.
I have been a true dreamer all of my life (nearly 65 years now) – dreaming the future and then seeing that future that I dreamt unfold as time goes by. In many dreams I had dreamed that there would be a time when there wasn’t food (or at least enough food) and I would need to be growing my own – not only for myself but for those around me. This is the number 1 reason why my large yard is filled with fruit trees, grape and berry vines, nut trees and a garden every year.
Fortunately, I also love the process of growing plants – and I love flowers. I like the idea that my food doesn’t have harmful chemicals sprayed all over it or animal wastes contaminating it.
Gardening relaxes me and makes me feel productive.
It makes me feel connected to the earth and the cycle of life.
Thanks for the question.
Best wishes
Jean
I garden because I can’t help it. I am driven to garden. There are a couple years in my life where I lived in a dorm and couldnt garden, it drove me nuts. I ended up with a whole window full of plants. (we wont mention the plant one of my dorm mates had). Like I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I think it is genetic.
Excuse this ramble but it is such a good question.
Gardening enriches our lives and enriches the world. It is a creative activity. So often we are involved in activities that don’t create anything (i.e watching TV). They don’t add anything to the richness of life. But when we garden we enrich the world. Creating something gives us a sense of achievement. This is particularly true with gardens. We have a constant reminder of our efforts everytime we walk in the garden or look out of the window. I think it is more rewarding than may other creative activities because it is an ongoing process. A painter works on a painting for a period of time and then he moves onto another painting. It is a record of his perspective at a specific point in time. But gardening is an ongoing process that is evidence of a changing perspective and also of a consistent approach to the world. The longer we garden the more rewarding it is.
What a great question! I think I might have to do a separate post to answer you, though. (I’m not so good at concise… lol.)
Such a nice question….
Why do we garden?
I love garden because seeing flowers and plants make my day complete. I really love flowers. Flowers make me forget my headaches. Most of all I love flowers because they grow lovelier and lovelier. I don’t plant plants because I can’t take care of them, but I love watching them grow. I hope somebody send me a dozens of pink and white tulips. Lol!
wonderful question.
To garden is the ability to make something small reach it’s full potential. It’s the ability to take the smallest, most vulnerable piece of life and nuture it into the plant it will become. Gardening is something that draws me into a state of relaxation but mostly, gives me a sense of satisfaction that I’ve done something meaningful.
I know it was most likely rhetorical — but there is ABSOLUTELY nothing like a tomato grown from the garden. Raised in an Italian family, and having had the privilege of eating my grandma’s tomatoes from her backyard garden — I can testify without a doubt. I have a question — does it make a difference to use filtered or somehow purified water in the garden? I would think it has to, but I can’t find an answer. Maybe a great future post?