I've been reading an article that implies gardening costs you more than you spend than you get from it. The argument is based on the logic that to get anything from a garden you have to spend a number of hours working on it. However the mistake this writer makes is assuming that one works on his/her garden during working hours. How many hours do people spend watching TV, a movie, guzzling beer in a bar or simply flirting with some pretty guy/woman? Would you call that wasted time? It definitely isn't. It is your free time and you can do whatever you please so if it's gardening that is your fancy why should someone tell you how it doesn't help you save money? Would buying a beer save you more than you would if you planted a few vegetables during that time? Your thoughts?
I've never met someone who was overtly against it. Indeed there are initial investment you must make for tools and such, and they may take a while to pay back but eventually you will certainly both make a saving in the long run financially, and gain invaluable experience and a degree of self sufficiency.
You will save money in the long run, especially if you are able to can produce. You also don't have to pay an enormous amount of money to get a garden started. Gardening provides exercise, sunlight, fresh air and a way to unwind. There is a harmless bacteria found in dirt, M. vaccae, that research has shown has the same effect as antidepressants. It's also believed to reduce inflammation.
Wow, I never did know that. No wonder people who live in the country [and who spend time out in the fields] are generally happy. I'll need to experiment and see if this works for real the next time I feel stressed out.
I planted a garden the last three summers and 2 of the 3 summers got about 10 tomatoes total. For me, the garden wasn't "worth it" at all. I spent more in plants (and time) than I got back in fruit. But I'm not an excellent gardener, and I didn't really know what was wrong with my soil or the location of my garden. This hasn't deterred me from trying though. This year I'm doing a container garden. I completely moved the location and plan to actually fertilize on a schedule. We'll see if things turn out better. I'm determined to figure it out because I do love garden fresh herbs and veggies. But I do agree with the first post also. I mean, for the time and initial investment, for many people it probably is more profitable to invest in a co-op or spend money at a farmer's market.
You can Google the name and numerous articles will pop up. Many of them link back to the original research papers and journal entries. That is, if you want to research it on your own.
I've never heard someone to be against it, personally. We don't have the room to do a huge one now, as we are in an apartment complex. But, they do have a small shared area where we can grow a couple of things. We do each year
Like most things, people like to find something wrong with just about anything. That's my problem with articles written by people who only consider their experience or gather bias stats. They don't consider the things you mentioned...I have NEVER heard of a complaint like this for gardening. Really? Ha. It seems like someone tried it once, was unsuccessful because of their own faults, and wanted to write on it based on that and not facts. For me personally, I'm just not interested. I know a couple friends who maintain a garden and I think it's very smart to have. They're also so used to the "work" that it doesn't even feel like labor to them. It's good to create your own produce if it's something you can maintain or have the right soil to do so. Other people who just don't agree with it, may also be the people who make excuses about not having time to exercise. x_x Can watch TV all day, but make a million excuses about something they don't want to get done. It's the world we live in. =/
I am not against it. It is just not for me. I personally think it is too much of a hassle for someone like me to tend to a garden, and still work to jobs. I think it is easier to buy vegetables from a grocery store, rather than growing my own garden. I do even like the idea of gardening in general. I will leave that to people who actually enjoy that sort of thing.
I can't say that I've met many people who are against a veggie garden. As a matter of fact, I can't recall a single person. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that I live in the country, and almost everyone here has got veggies growing in the backyard. It's not hard at all to get started and the work is worth it for all the wonderful rewards you get. If you spend a bit of time preparing the soil properly, making sure that it has adequate drainage and plenty of compost and other organic materials, it's really quite easy after that. Find out what grows well in your region around certain times of the year and start planting.
Not a really good article it seems By having your own garden you have access to healthy veggies for free and you also get some exercise outdoors. Much better than watching TV or browsing the web for cat pictures. Most likely the writer lives in one of the big cities that lost contact with the 'real world', a person that lives in a flat and has no space or need for a garden.
I don't have the time or interest to grow a full fledged garden, but I wouldn't mind getting back into planting a few things in pots to grow on my balcony. I used to help my parents and grandparents with their garden for many years when I was younger, so I'm relatively familiar with it, but I also recall the amount of work that went in to it as well. I would probably just do something simple, like tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onion & herbs. There are some drawbacks, particularly if you've never gardened before. Unless you're really serious about it, you can waste a lot of money on basic gardening supplies, only to find out it's not for you. Or you may realize you don't have quite the green thumb you imagined you would. Plus the gardening can sometimes attract unwanted pests and bugs.
I don't think many people are flatout AGAINST a vegetable garden, but for some people, it doesn't make sense. Maybe that person doesn't eat enough veggies to really even warrant a garden. Maybe that person would rather spend a few extra bucks on veggies at the store rather than put some work into growing them himself. And yes, some gardens can be expensive to begin with. My boyfriend and I just made a garden and spent a ton on wood to fence around it, bags and bags of dirt, and we also had to buy tools because we didn't have any. Maybe in the long run, we will save some money, but for us it's more about having our own fresh veggies.
