Growing vegetables saves you money and helps you live healthily.
An introduction to why growing vegetables saves you money and how growing food from home helps you live more healthily.
Growing vegetables saves you money and helps you live healthy… Ironically most of the fresh vegetables we find on the refrigerated store shelf in the grocery store are extremely easy to grow and produce ample harvest for just a few seeds you plant. In addition, organic homegrown vegetables are healthy as well as pesticide and hormone-free. This is a statement most fresh vegetables on your grocery shelf simply just cannot make.
Why is growing your own vegetables bettrer than buying them in store?
Growing your own vegetables saves you money and helps you know for sure that what you are eating is healthy, nutritious, tasty, as well as chemical and pesticide-free. Homegrown vegetables are most definitely cheaper than buying them from a grocery store in South Africa. So, save money by growing vegetables, generate a return on investment, and win a healthy, happy, and stress-free lifestyle in the process.
Some quick tips on how to grow your own vegetables successfully and cheaply:
Almost all vegetables are best grown in full sun and will need at least six hours of sun in a day to avoid pests and diseases and ensure a healthy plant.
Almost all vegetables need to be replanted or sown again every 6 months or so or per season.
Remember vegetables are segmented into warm-season and cool-season crops so make sure you plant the right vegetables at the right time to avoid disappointment and wasting money.
As far as possible mulch your garden beds with wood chips compost or leaves to reduce your water bill and save time on weeding.
Some vegetables need to be shown in seed trays and planted out into the garden once they are big enough, this will always be indicated on the seed packet
Companion planting plays a big role in successful vegetable gardening.
Some plants prefer growing alongside others and some don’t your vegetables should be positioned with this in mind. Some plants repel pests and others attract them, vegetables companion flowers like marigolds and Nasturtiums should be used accordingly as deterrents or traps.
Here are some of the best vegetables you want to grow if you want to save money or simply just live more healthily.
To grow vegetables that save money you want to select vegetables you like and try to grow vegetables that you use often and that can be stored easily.
1 Tomato
2 Zucchini and summer squash or pumpkins
3 lettuce and other leafy greens
You can’t beat lettuce when it comes to the volume of a leafy harvest these plants produce. You could literally grow salad for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack in between… If you have ever bought a packet of lettuce seeds you would know the enormous amount of seeds you get for such a small purchase.
If you plant a pick and come again lettuce you could harvest from the same little plant every two weeks. So be careful when sewing these and sow them successively every two weeks for a constant supply of fresh crispy delicious little salad leaves.
4 Green beans
Green beans are available in two major growth habits the first being Bean Bush beans also known as dwarf beans and the second climber beans. Climber beans will need a trellis or support, so plant them along a fence for an easy fast growing screen that you can eat.
Grow for life – Health tip:
The varieties of vegetables you typically find in your local supermarket are very seldom if at all bred for their nutrition and taste. Vegetables grown agriculturally also often contain harmful pesticides, growth hormones and other unhealthy baddies.
5 Carrots
Another great investment for the home garden. One small packet of carrot seeds contains ample amounts so again, make sure you plant carrot seeds in intervals every 2 to 3 weeks I don’t want too many at a time. Sow carrots in rows and pick out the baby carrots to thin out the rows as the plants mature.
Baby carrots are sweeter and crispy, eat them fresh straight from the garden or sauteed with a little butter for an absolute treat on any plate.
7 Herbs
Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow and many of them or perennial meaning they carry on growing year after year for a continuous harvest of delicious fresh homegrown herbs. Perennial herbs to easily grow from home include famous favourites like rosemary, thyme, oregano aka Origanum, mint, bay leaf, sage, lavender, chives, and lemongrass.
Annual herbs; meaning herbs you will need to sow every season or so would include flat and curly leaf parsley, basil, cilantro aka coriander, and dill.
6 Onions
Brown and white onions all the sweeter purple onions are all easy to grow and that they make take some time to mature they have a long shelf life if you store them in a cool dry place and make sure they have ample ventilation. Keep in mind one small packet of seeds contains more than you could ever need so plant these sparingly.
Some more benefits of growing your own vegetables.
Besides the fact that growing vegetables saves you money, as mentioned another exceptional benefit of growing your own is that many of the varieties of vegetables we buy in grocery stores today are often genetically modified.
These varieties of vegetables are often bred specifically to appeal to the eye and grow for qualities that ease their packaging and distribution, and ensure a longer shelf life.
In conclusion Growing vegetables saves you money and helps you live healthy.
So, if you ask me the answer is a resounding yes, growing vegetables is cheaper than buying them in stores. Growing vegetables saves you money and helps you live healthy while you pursue your family and career goals in the modern digital world.
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