Gardening is an iconic activity. From a hobby to a form of survival, it has factored into the human experience from the beginning.
Nowadays, people can purchase food at most supermarkets — or any store for that matter. However, that doesn’t make gardening irrelevant. On the contrary, there are many ways gardening can still be the better option, both for the Earth and for your pocketbook.
How Gardening Helps the Planet
Gardening has some major positive aspects for the Earth. The most obvious one is the simple fact that a garden is full of living plants. These help clean the air and improve local ecosystems. But the benefits don’t stop there.
Growing your own food at home also reduces the food miles involved in getting food onto your kitchen table. Food miles are the total distance that food travels from where it grows to where it’s consumed.
As a rule, the more food miles an item requires, the less sustainable it is. Naturally, if you grow your food in your backyard, it has the lowest food miles possible.
In addition, growing your own food means you can ensure you’re using more sustainable production methods than farms. Farmers are infamous for using unsustainable chemicals and other agricultural hacks in order to grow massive monocrops that yield maximum results.
While you can avoid this in your own garden, it does take some effort. For instance, many gardeners use herbicides to protect their plants, but those can harm the local bee population. Also, things like older vermiculite, a soil conditioner, can contain traces of the harmful substance asbestos, which is not good for you, the gardener.
If you want your garden to be a net positive compared to large-scale agricultural methods, make sure to choose your tools wisely.
How Gardening Helps Your Wallet
Along with helping the Earth, gardening can also have a powerful effect on your bank account. If you want your gardening to save you money, though, you want to plan out each aspect of your project thoroughly.
Take the time to budget what you can afford to put into a garden compared to what you normally spend on food. Then adjust your approach depending on how much cash you have to invest in your garden.
If you invest in a thoughtful, affordable garden, the fruits and veggies it yields can save you money on groceries over time. On top of that, taking the time to budget means you’ll be more aware of your overall financial state.
The financial benefits can even go further over the long term, too. By gardening on a regular basis, you’ll be getting consistent exercise. This can help preserve your health, which can save you money on future health-related concerns, as well.
Making Your Own Garden
If you’re interested in investing in both the Earth and your financial health through a garden, here are a few steps to help you get started:
- Pick a suitable plot of land with plenty of sunlight and good soil.
- Make sure to protect that land from potential pests and intruders.
- Consider what plants you want to grow to meet your herbal or vegetable needs.
- Study up on how often and how thoroughly you should water your garden.
- Start a compost pile to sustainably develop extra fertilizer.
Above all, always take the time to plan out each aspect of your garden before you start. That way you’ll have a clear and informed blueprint to follow once you get going.
The Power of Gardening
From finances to sustainability to physical and mental health, there are many reasons to garden. So, consider how you can get into the gardening game today. Do you already have a garden that needs more attention? Have you always dreamed about a garden but never set one up?
Whatever the state of your gardening aspirations, use the benefits of gardening to inspire you to take action here and now, in the name of your personal life as well as the betterment of the entire world that we all share.
