Tip #77: Plant a Garden!

I spent most of my childhood living in apartments, so when my husband and I bought our first house, I was super excited to be able to plant a garden!  I by no means am a pro at gardening, but with my husband's help I'm learning, and I know the many advantages of having one.

Why should you plant a garden?
1.  You can eat fresh food with no harmful chemicals (without paying for organic at the store)
2.  Save $ on your grocery bill.
3.  Gardening is a great hobby that burns a lot of calories.
4.  Having a plethora of fresh vegetables, may encourage you to eat more of them.  No one wants to waste food!
5.  Great lesson and activity to do with children.

In our garden (above), we have grape tomatoes, better boy tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes (who knew there were so many types of tomatoes???), yellow squash, cucumbers, zucchini, green and red bell peppers, carrots, broccoli and jalapenos.  One of the best resources for learning how to garden is simply by asking others who garden!  From friends and neighbors, we have learned to make a garden bed, what kind of wood to use (non-treated), how much to water, and how to thin certain vegetables (like tomatoes and broccoli) to help them grow better.  Of course there is always the internet too.  Let me encourage you, because neither my husband and I have what you would call green thumbs, but we've managed to create a garden that is actually producing food!  If you don't have a yard, you can always plant things like tomatoes and herbs, etc. in a pot.  Go for it!  It can be quite fun, and rewarding.