Six Healthy Reasons to Grow More Food This Spring

When Lisa and I were just married and struggling to keep fresh food on the table, a saint of a neighbor came to our rescue. Harry lived across the street and his entire backyard was filled with edible plants. His passion was vegetables and he purposely grew extra to share with family, neighbors and the local food bank. Fresh tomatoes, peppers, squash and other bounties from his garden were delivered to our door. Believe me, we consumed every piece of fruit he gave us! He was a lifesaver.

A lawn is beautiful to look at, and Fifi enjoys going wee-wee on it, but a lawn is a wasteful entity. It’s better to mimic Harry and turn that space into vegetable gardens. It’s sure to use a fraction of the water consumption without the weekly chore of mowing. Add a few flowers to the garden and you not only benefit from fresh produce, but pollinating butterflies, bees and hummingbirds will love you as well.

Six Reasons to Become a Yard Farmer

1

Lawns Waste Resources

There are approximately 40 million acres of unsustainable lawns; the fifth largest crop by acreage was a turf-grass lawn. These lawns use valuable water, fertilizers, energy, fossil fuels and your time. Millions of gallons of gasoline are used in the weekly lawn mowing ritual in a given week. This becomes almost obscene when the U.S. and Canada are doing everything possible to extract highly polluting oil resources out of tar sands, deep water and soils by fracking. Gardeners waste time and energy maintaining lawns that look good for Fifi and the neighbors.

2

Community Building

Before the 1940s, supermarkets didn’t really exist. People grew much of their produce or got their meat, dairy and other food items from local community farmers. Today, most of us jump into the car and drive to our nearest warehouse or supermarket for our edibles. Many Western countries have squandered resources around a car-dependent culture, which has led to the supermarket-dependent culture. Being involved in growing your own food helps build community. As people grow excess produce, they share it with neighbors and friends, strengthening local networks and local community resilience.

3

Yard Farming Improves Your Health

Studies show people who grow edibles eat healthier foods and likely share them with their family and community. Hence, growing food locally helps reduce reliance on commercially produced and chemically enhanced foods.

4

Food Security

A packet of seeds costs only a few dollars, yet this packet generates hundreds of plants. With the price of fruit and vegetables increasing and inflation eating away our spending power, it makes sense to grow as much of our own food as possible. The more food we grow, the less dependence on long supply chains and highly industrial food systems. As Harry used to say, “Growing your own food is like printing your own money.”

5

 Increasing Local Food Production and Efficiency

The list of benefits of a backyard garden is long. Locally sourced food reduces the number of miles “fresh” food travels before its eaten. Gardens in the yard increase local food security and foster improved soil quality, with less packaging and storage costs. Growing higher quality food reduces dependency on the global supply chain and reduces environmental pollution and fossil fuels. Supporting small farms and independent garden centers promotes local employment opportunities and increases capital flow in our community.

6

You Know Where the Food Comes From

Becoming a yard farmer or purchasing from local farms reduces the long distances our food travels to reach us. Produce grown locally is fresher than the supermarket. Instead of using ample storage and processing facilities, local farmers and growers pick and rapidly distribute their ultra-fresh produce to customers. Many supermarkets use extensive cold storage and distribution centers to hold and process fruits and vegetables. Goods are in transit and cold-stored for days, even weeks, reducing their nutritive values.

If you need help growing better vegetables and herbs this spring, the garden professionals at Watters Garden Center can help. Our center has the largest selection of locally grown, pesticide-free, organic vegetables in Northern Arizona, with the experts to show you how to grow them.

Until next month, I’ll be helping local gardeners grow fresh herbs and vegetables here at Watters Garden Center. QCBN

By Ken Lain

Ken Lain can be found at Watters Garden Center throughout the week, 1815 Iron Springs Road in Prescott, or contacted through his website at WattersGardenCenter.com or Top10Plants.com.