There is no doubt that vegetables are great for your health.
Even those who don't like vegetables would have to admit that they really need to eat them.
There are several choices in purchasing vegetables e.
g.
supermarket, farmers market, frozen and organic.
All have their pros and cons such as convenience, price, and freshness.
A single person will have a different buying pattern than a large family.
Someone with access to a fresh food market or someone with only supermarket access, a busy person or a time rich individual.
1.
Growing vegetables as an affordable therapy! We all have our reasons for our buying habits.
Having a vegetable garden is another way of thinking.
It may not really about the food at all.
Your vegetable garden may be come your place of relaxation.
Your moments of peace of quiet in a hectic day.
It may be your place to think and plan or it may just be somewhere to hide from the world for a while.
2.
Your vegetable gym.
Preparing a garden bed, bringing in dirt and fertilisers, digging up the weeds, these are all physical activities.
Save yourself some gym time and start digging.
3.
Kid time.
Involving children or grandchildren in your vegetable garden will be fun and educational for them.
You will need to relax about them being dirty and occasionally pulling up the wrong plants, or planning the rows crookedly.
But heh its about family fun not perfection.
Give them responsibility for some plants.
I remember my son at 3 proudly presenting a capsicum to us.
Unfortunately it was only tiny, but that didn't matter.
4.
Kids health Their immune systems will greatly benefit from direct access to dirt, resulting in fewer colds and flu's.
My son would happily be covered in dirt from head to toe.
It was a lesson for us to not sweat the small stuff and he has always been a super healthy boy.
5.
Kids diet.
Children who are part of the vegetable growing process will generally be better eaters of vegetables.
Encourage them to graze in the patch, pick some cherry tomatoes and baby rocket leaves.
Let them pick the salad greens for dinner 6.
Your health.
It's not all about the kids.
Your health is likely to be greatly enhanced by planting and growing your own vegetables.
For all the same reasons that kids benefit so too will you.
So much about good health these days seems to be confined to stuff in bottles or being prescribed, or things out of your control.
Growing your own vegetables is an important part of taking control of your physical and emotional well being.
7.
Your taste buds.
Packet and tinned foods are mostly taste modified with sugar and salt, so that many adults and children don't like the taste of fresh vegetables.
Sure a lettuce leaf is slightly astringent but you quickly become accustomed to this flavour once you reduce the amount of processed food.
Of course you don't have to eat your home grown vegetables raw.
You can add them to your favorite Asian, Italian or any dish.
The health benefits are still there as long as you don't cook them to death.