Personal Gardens

After I graduate from high school, my family will move up to their property in Northern Wisconsin while I go off to college (hopefully UW Madison).  While they're there, my mom plans to start up a backyard garden, a true, hardcore, versatile garden.  In my old home, my mom had a garden in the front yard, but it was a beginner's; she only grew simple stuff like lettuce, tomatoes, basil, and onions.  Being an excellent cook already, having home-grown vegetables and spices made her meals that much better.  You would never expect home-grown crops to taste any different from store-bought ones, but they really do.  Comparing store-bought tomatoes to our home-grown ones, I noticed that our tomato had a fuller red color; not only that, there was more flavor in our tomato.  So, why is there a difference?  Well, store-bought vegetables, if not organic, are grown with pesticides, and all vegetables are shipped halfway across the country to grocery stores, deeming them not as fresh as backyard vegetables.  Backyard vegetables are also treated with personal care rather than with machines.

I highly suggest starting up your own backyard vegetable garden; it is definitely worth the time, money, and effort.  When you eat your own vegetables, you know exactly where they come from.  It is a great feeling, not just because you know what you're eating, but also because you know that they are your vegetables and they are the product of your effort.  Vegetable gardens are also a way to have less dependence on grocery stores.  No more eating fruits and vegetables that you don't know the origins of, no more unknown pesticides, no more doubt.  And, if disaster ever strikes, vegetable gardens allow for self-sufficient living.  The benefits of gardens highly outweigh the detriments, so why not pick up that trowel and plant?