My family and I have had our garden for around 5 summers now and it’s been such a nice passtime for the warmer months. It’s so rewarding to see the literal fruits of our labour and then to be able to eat those rewards on top of it feels really cool and fulfilling.
Gardening is one of those things that seems so simple in theory but the more you think about it, the more you realize how much actually goes into it. It’s the same for me but with farming – I love the concept and idea of having a small farm for myself but could never keep up with the upkeep and daily tasks of running one.
Anyways, today we’re discussing the pros and cons of gardening in hopes of convincing new gardeners to finally start theirs and to offer further perspective. I hope I’m able to teach you something new!
Just for reference, this post talks about having a fruit/vegetable garden.
Benefits
- Well-being
This is one of the most beneficial parts about gardening for a myriad of reasons. It offers benefits to basically every part of your body, soul, and mind as well as emotional aspects.
Gardening gives you a chance to develop a growth mindset – when something goes wrong, it’s a chance to try again and approach it differently. Take my garden for example, we’ve never been able to get carrots to grow in the five years we’ve been veggie gardening. We have no clue why it doesn’t work – could be the soil, the companion plants, the placement in relation to the sun – but I’ve been so determined to grow these carrots.
I might try them in a few pots this year just to see if I’m successful with them in general. Gardening is a nice reminder that when something doesn’t go “right” or “according to plan” that it’s not the end of the world – they just weren’t meant to grow in that spot.
Gardening can help fix your relationship with gratification. Especially with the internet, a lot of us have developed an instant relationship with gratification – where we can know almost anything immediately by doing a quick search or by sending a quick text. So by having to wait for things to grow and to show up, we’re able to better balance our relationship with gratification.
It also gives you something to look forward to. Whether it be all the recipes you can cook/bake with your harvest, watching your plants grow, or if you’re just looking forward to more outdoor time, gardening is a different experience for everyone that offers the same rewards no matter how seasoned you are.
- Physical
I’d say this is one of the most obvious benefits to gardening, but one that might not seem obvious at first. And this benefit is a two-in-one.
Gardening encourages minimal daily physical activity while providing outside time and a chance for us to reconnect with mother nature. It’s so critical these days to get outside and some spend time in the sun – especially if you’re like me and you live in Canada, we only get to experience warm weather for so long – so please take advantage of it while you can.
So many of us are living with a vitamin D deficiency without even knowing about it. Literally spending just 10 minutes minimum in the sun helps your vitamin D levels, and gardening easily gives you those 10 mins. Of course there’s other ways you can get these 10 mins – personally I like sitting outside with my laptop or reading a book, and spending the afternoon out on the deck. It’s comforting listening to the birds in the background too.
- Healthier Eating
As I said earlier, this specific post is catered to those who are wanting to start, or have already started, a vegetable/fruit garden. And you aren’t going to grow stuff you aren’t going to eat – you’d just be wasting money on soil and seeds in that case.
Your vegetable garden gives you the opportunity to start eating healthier. Not just from the vegetables/fruit you choose to grow, but also because your home-grown produce would be organically grown without harmful pesticides and chemicals.
Another way it could help motivate you to eat healthier is to eat what you have instead of opting to buy more groceries. If your garden produces too much and you aren’t able to keep up with the rate of growth, you can always give some to your neighbours or nearby family. You can even bake or cook new recipes with your produce and give your baked goods to them instead, if that’s more your style. Either way, you’re encouraging not just yourself but others around you as well to eat healthier by choosing to use home-grown ingredients.
- Financial
I think this is one of the main reasons why people choose to start gardening in the first place, and for good reason.
Although starting a garden has a huge upfront expense, I’d say the rewards – both physical and financially are worth it. The amount of money you’ll spend and save will depend on how big your garden is, and the type of garden you choose to go with (i.e. soil grown, hydroponic, aeroponic). But again, either way, you’ll still be saving yourself a bit of money on your grocery bills – even if it’s just a few dollars.
Especially now, with the way the economy is going and is currently headed, I think everyone should give gardening a shot. Even if it’s something as simple as an herb garden – everyone starts somewhere.
Drawbacks
- Time Consuming
Gardening is time consuming – both with building your garden and the upkeep of weeding and pruning – and the time and attention your garden demands from you will increase depending on the size of your garden. Usually they don’t require daily attention, but I always head out to check on mine about every 2-3 days maximum.
When I do these checks, I’m looking for new growth, any bugs that might’ve found their way up the sides of the garden beds, any suckers on the tomato plants, and any weeds in general that could be removed. The tasks/things you’d look for depends on the plants you yourself grow, but I wanted to mention a few of mine just to give an idea.
- Expensive Upfront Costs
If you aren’t as handy or if the thought of building a garden seems daunting, there are pre-built gardens available out there. But regardless as to whether you go with a pre-build or a custom build, there is an upfront cost to starting this.
Another expense/cost to consider is water/electricity. Your generic garden will require more water and a hydroponic garden will need both water and electricity to run. Consider this before deciding type of garden you’re going to pursue.
I’m not entirely sure how much my garden was to build, but we have two main above-ground garden beds, a smaller garden bed by the poolside, four square-shaped smaller garden beds, and our garden bags. All of the smaller garden beds had been there for awhile before we built the above-ground beds to grant us more growing room.
But I always tell people when they’re starting something new – regardless of what this new thing is – to start out small, feel it out and see how it goes before fully committing. So I’d recommend starting with a smaller garden and just do a few select plants – maybe the ones you eat the most – or you can even start with a counter-top garden and try growing herbs before fully committing to a larger garden.
- Spatial Requirements
Depending on the size of your garden and what you’re wanting to grow, gardening can take up a lot of space. However, thanks to the world of modern day technology, there’s a few solutions for those who want to start but might not have the outdoor space to do so.
Vertical gardens have become increasingly more popular as the years go by and backyards getting smaller. While limited with what you can grow, vertical gardening offers the same experience as an in-ground garden while not taking up as much space.
These are perfect for those who live somewhere that might not have a larger backyard, or maybe you do have a larger backyard but don’t want to dedicate all that space to a garden. Either way, vertical gardens (and even counter-top gardens) are a good substitute to scratch your gardening itch.
- Seasonal and Zone Limitations
As unfortunate as it is, everyone is limited as to what they can grow depending on where you live or where your garden will be. Also known as hardiness zones, your zone will tell you what your average annual minimum temperature is and what plants are able to survive in those colder, winter temperatures.
However, if you want to sow new plants each year, you absolutely don’t need to pay attention to your hardiness zone. The hardiness zone only applies to plants you don’t want to plant year after year, and if you don’t plan to grow stuff during the winter, this won’t be of worry to you.
What you will have to worry about however, is sprouting time for each plant. On the back of each seed packet, it will tell you how long a plant takes to sprout. Some plants take much longer than others, so it’s important to be mindful of sprouting times if you’re restricted to growing things in a limited amount of time.
Take my garden for example – my family and I mainly grow peppers, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, beans, peas, squash, potatoes, and the odd strawberry plant. All of these plants produce their fruit before the ground becomes too cold and the season ends. Some of these we start by seed (lettuce, peas, beans, radish, potatoes) and the others we buy pre-sprouted stocks from a garden centre (tomatoes, beans, strawberry, squash, peppers).
The main reason why we buy pre-sprouted stocks is because the aforementioned plants take a bit longer to fully sprout and then it takes longer for it to bear fruit. But this is absolutely something you could consider doing yourself if growing from seed doesn’t sound too hot.
To answer the question, I’d say gardening is worth it.
It offers me more outside time and gives purpose for said outside time. I do still love a good sunbathe with a nice book, or taking my computer with me to work on blogs, but it’s nice to go out to take a peek at what’s growing and do some light weeding or pruning.
If you’re considering starting a garden, do some research if you haven’t already on your zone limits and your native plants. It’s so important to not introduce invasive species to your local area to preserve the wildlife. I’d also recommend researching the types of plants that manage well in whatever type of garden you’re wanting to start. For example, root vegetables don’t fare well in a vertical garden.
I’d love to know your thoughts on whether you think gardening is worth it for you, so please feel free to leave a comment.
Or if you’re a gardener already, what do you grow or plan to grow this season? And what made you start your garden?
I hope this helps give perspective to anyone who wants to start gardening and hopefully it gave you things to consider before sowing your seeds.
Happy gardening, and I’ll see you in the next!
– julzy
julzy 
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