Improve your Health

There are many benefits of a home vegetable garden, nothing can beat fresh vegetables when it comes to sustainable health. Ground fresh veggies are chocked full of essential minerals, nutrients, antioxidants and vitamins that can bring a spring in your step and ensure you can work like a workhorse without burning out prematurely.

In fact, organic veggies are especially beneficial as children grow and have so many health benefits. While encouraging kids to eat their vegetables can be a challenge for some parents, according to Science Daily, they cannot resist homegrown produce.

Kids are actually more likely to ask for extra helpings of fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables, even if they never liked them before. With a home vegetable garden in your backyard, you can always ensure that your children have a steady supply of their favorite organic greens at mealtime. By starting them young, you can teach them to appreciate the importance of fresh produce early on.

Organic, garden-fresh food isn't just limited for encouraging kids to eat their greens. Homegrown vegetables hold the same nutritional value and benefits for adults.

Save Money On Groceries

Since you will be growing your own vegetables, you can cut the cost of your groceries significantly. With the investment towards purchasing the correct equipment, the effects are not only limited to the traditional growing season, rather you can enjoy weeks and even years of FREE fresh produce with some succession planting and crop rotation knowledge.

More people are recognizing the benefits and savings they experience from growing their own food. Purchasing plant nursery starts may start small, however, it won't take long before you're reaping the benefits of your first harvest.

Homegrown Vegetables Taste Better

Have you ever bit into a fresh tomato or snacked on homegrown string beans? The burst of flavor is unlike anything you would experience with grocery store veggies even if they look tasty. That's because most grocery produce is adapted and modified for mass commercial farming.

By choosing and breeding specific traits, these vegetables are developed to be uniform in shape and size, have a longer shelf life, and in most cases, ripen in trucks during shipping. In fact, even organic grocery vegetables rarely have the texture and taste that homegrown vegetables have, even if the latter have strange shapes or are a bit bruised.

Reduce Food Waste

Did you know that we waste over 20 pounds of food per person, per month? With a home vegetable garden in your backyard, you can control your impact on the environment and reduce your carbon footprint significantly.

Because you will be working hard to ensure you earn a proliferate crop, chances are you will use every organic matter you grow down to the scraps. Use the trimmings and waste as feed for livestock and chickens, or use it to make organic compost for your home vegetable garden. In other words, once you start to grow your own veggies, you will understand their value more clearly.

Avoid Pesticides and Fertilizers

Commercial farmers use an immense amount of chemical-rich pesticides and fertilizers to speed up supply and reduce loss of produce. While there are policies in place with the intent to mitigate damages and protect the land, it is inevitable for some chemicals to leach into the water supply.

Since you will be preparing the soil yourself, you have the opportunity to use a fertilizer free of harmful elements. Plus, unlike produce sold in the grocery store, yours will be free of dangerous pesticides that large crops have to be doused with to keep pests at bay. However for the non-commercial, home garden avoiding pests and diseases can be maintained with a range of safer, healthier options available at Grange Co-op.

By growing your own food, you can decide what goes into your plants and the soil thus reducing your impact on the environment and supplying yourself with healthier food. Nourish the soil for future crops by using safe and natural products. Grange Co-op offers several brands that are organic, one of which is G&B Organics. With an expansive assortment of soil mixes, amendments, and fertilizers, all G&B Organic products are highly recommended for any gardener.

Make Your Yard More Inviting

A flower garden is nice, but nothing can give a yard a full makeover like a vegetable garden that has a range of colorful, edible veggies. The garden adds life and beauty to an otherwise empty space. The myriad of colors treat the eyes, the fragrance of fresh veggies makes the mouth water and the sound of bees pollinating the garden is soothing to the soul.

Just make sure when putting together your home garden, you keep in mind the plants you will need as accompaniments. Companion planting is the practice of growing different plants together. Certain combinations of plants make them more productive—often because some plants have complementary characteristics, such as their nutrient requirements, growth habits, or pest-repelling abilities. Make sure they are not placed too close together or they won't have the opportunity to flourish.

It's apparent the benefits of backyard gardening give for years. By growing a garden and picking your own produce, you will not only make your home look amazing, but also ensure your family is provided a healthier diet with food free of preservatives. Grange Co-op would love to help you start your first vegetable garden! Check out the range of products we offer and talk to our knowledgeable Grange Gardening Experts to start growing your own fresh veggies!