I Heart Gardening
Every girl has something to love about gardening. For some girls, it may be the love of tomatoes to make fresh salsa and BLTs. For others, it may the pretty spot to sit among the flowers and have coffee in the morning. Still others may love to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Here’s my list of reasons to love gardening, no matter what type of girl you are:
1. Are you a gourmet girl? You will love growing high quality produce to feed your epicurean muse. Experiment each growing season with new varieties such as rainbow chard, purple carrots, or peach habanero peppers, and then let their colors, flavors, and textures inspire your creativity in the kitchen. Recipes I’ve invented using my garden harvests include spinach and arugula toasts, butternut squash ravioli, and corn cakes with roasted red pepper butter sauce. Even if you prefer to stick to a cookbook, simply grow a few pots of herbs like basil, cilantro, and rosemary to add whole new dimensions of flavor to your favorite recipes.
2. Are you a healthy girl? We all know and love the health benefits of vegetable-based diet. When you limit animal products and processed foods in your diet, you lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Did you know that your risk for cancer may be further reduced if you limit your exposure to pesticides? The following vegetables appear on the “dirty dozen” list of produce that contains the highest level of pesticides when grown non-organically: celery, spinach, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, lettuce, kale and collard greens. It’s easy to grow these vegetables in your own organic garden and thereby reduce your exposure to harmful environmental chemicals.
3. Are you a skinny girl? You will love how gardening helps you stay that way by strengthening and toning all of your major muscle groups, not to mention the fat you burn by doing common gardening chores. Cultivating the soil burns 300 calories per hour (or more depending on weight), while weeding burns around 280 calories per hour. Your sweat equity is returned in the form of high-nutrient, low-calorie vegetables all summer long.
4. Are you a thrifty girl? You will love how gardening helps reduce your food budget. The year 2009 saw a boom in gardening as Americans sought was to reduce spending during the Great Recession. Rising fuel prices have kept food prices high and frugal gardeners continue to save money at the grocery store by growing their own. You can, too. Instead of buying expensive pre-packaged salad greens, which tend to get slimy after just a couple of days in the refrigerator, plant a window box with a lettuce mix and harvest your own greens as you need them in about 30-40 days, or even sooner for baby greens. You can buy a package of 250 seeds for about the cost of one 10-ounce bag of mixed greens and enjoy salad after salad all summer long. Stretch your savings into winter by expanding your garden and freezing your own beans, peas, and sweet corn or canning tomato sauce and pickles.
5. Are you a mom? You love your kids, right? Childhood obesity has become an epidemic in America, with the percentage of obese children tripling over the last 30 years. The primary causes are a fast food diet coupled with a sedentary lifestyle. Gardening with your kids is a fun family activity that will get them outdoors, teach them where food comes from, and help instill healthy eating habits from an early age.
My next post will provide even more reasons to love gardening. In future posts I’ll provide tips, how-tos, and recipes that will inspire every girl who loves gardening, no matter what the reason.
