A food garden can be anything from a few container pots on a patio to a large field of veggies.
There has been a growing need to revert to planting our own food. The constantly increasing food prices have seen many families considering starting their food gardens. If you are having the same thought process, please tune into Mayenzeke and Mawande Baza’s podcast, to get ideas on how to change your backyard into an organic supermarket.
Benefits of Starting A Food Garden
Starting your own garden does not only put food on the table (food security), but it is also beneficial to the environment. Here are some good reasons why you should consider starting your own food garden today and help Mother Nature while at it.
Obvious Health Benefits
Planting your own food takes away the stress of deciding what to cook daily. Imagine just walking to your garden to pick ingredients for your morning smoothies, light salad for lunch or vegetables for a hearty dinner. When you have healthier food readily available, you automatically make healthier food choices.
The health benefits include consuming vitamins, minerals, and fibre daily. Maintaining and harvesting provide exercise along with a good dose of vitamin D. Don’t forget that plants play a role in cleaning the air that we breathe. It’s a win-win. Gardening does not even need big space; start with a space you have or consider pot plants.
Do your bit in reducing Carbon Emissions
For some foods to end up on the retailer shelves, a lot had to be done to ensure the perfect packaged product finds its way to the table at home. Let’s take apples grown in a certain town in the Western Cape. These are some of the steps taken to get those apples in your shopping basket include:
- Possible use of litres and litres of pesticides to control unwanted pests. Pesticides are chemical based and have a negative impact on the environment.
- The amount of water and energy used to wash and package apples.
- The amount of packaging (boxes, plastic, polystyrene, etc) used to ensure the apples arrive in the same state they left the production plant and warehouses.
- The fuel used by trucks transporting these apples to their destinations around the country and the world.
- The emissions (air pollution) released by the factory, and the trucks. Your driving to the stores adds to the pollution load.
That just some of the steps. Now imagine your monthly food basket and think about how much nature had to be affected to ensure you had food. When you have your own garden all those steps are eliminated, and you have done your bit to save the environment in your little way.
Produce your own organic compost
You don’t need to have your own food garden to produce compost. The unused parts of the fruits and vegetables can be saved to create compost to feed your soil and create a good base for your food garden. Mayenzeke advised against using some store-bought compost as they may contain chemicals in them, he advised to check the labels and rather go for the organic option. Once you see earthworms, know your soil is good.
A practical lesson for the kids
Mawande spoke of how their garden has become a source of lessons for her 2 young kids. The garden has afforded her the opportunity to teach her kids the science of how nature turns a seed into food. Gardens also provide a lesson about seasonal changes.
Provides a cleaner and quieter environment
Plants contribute towards the cleaning of air and reduce the amount of dust. An example of this can be seen by comparing environments in the suburbs and townships. Where there is a lack of trees and plants, dust rules. South Africans experience the month of August (informally named the “dust month”) differently according to where they stay. So next time someone in your family wants to cut down a useful tree or remove plants, please stop them! Well unless the tree does the opposite for the environment, e.g., consumes a lot of water. Not only do they make a space aesthetically pleasing, but it also provides a soundproof and peaceful environment.
Create Space for other living organisms
Insects and birds will gravitate to any green space, creating an ecosystem that will allow more food and plants to grow. Pollen moves from one plant to other thanks to different flying insects such as bees. Bees feed on nectar and pollen, and in turn produce honey. Birds build their nests on trees. Insects that live in the soil allow oxygen to flow, it’s a whole factory system where one cannot function without the other. Your garden provides all of this for nature to thrive.
Green with Envy will always preach about the ripple effect of small actions. Let’s all think about converting our spaces and planting fruits, vegetables, or herbs. Become a plant parent by getting pot plants indoors and outdoors. Let us commit to doing what we can, no matter how small.
I personally, removed some succulents from my small garden to make space for food. What will you be planting??
