Things You Don’t Know About Home Vegetable Gardening

Urban gardening is not a new concept and has proven to be quite lucrative for many people. Yet, it remains largely unpracticed and underutilized by the vast majority. Speaking from experience, the most difficult part of any new project is the first step. Once that first step is taken, it all becomes easy.

You might have heard this repeatedly from a number of people that there are many benefits of growing your own vegetables at home. And certainly, most of them would have stated the same positive way related to growing your vegetables at home. I am sure you would have heard your friends who are involved in home gardening telling you that growing your own vegetables is healthy, low cost and also a great way to spend your time. But these are not the only benefits of growing your own vegetables. There are many more that escape the attention of most keen onlookers and avid gardening websites.

By Steve Cornelius under CC BY-ND 2.0

Space Is Not a Problem

Quite a few people are under the impression that growing vegetables requires a good deal of space. They are sadly mistaken! All that you need to grow decent vegetables is a decent amount of sunlight, which means about five to six hours of ‘direct’ sunlight every day. People living in bungalows with backyards can easily utilize this space to grow vegetables rather than having aesthetically pleasing flowers and bushes. However, if you would rather maintain the beauty aspect of your garden, you can still manage to grow vegetables in your backyard. All you need to do is purchase a few wooden containers, fill them with soil and compost and plant away those seeds. You can place these containers directly in your backyard in any spot of your convenience. Personally, I would place them dead center as I believe vegetables add to the beauty of the garden.

Not to forget the open spaces on rooftops and balconies. Rooftops are an area with unlimited sunlight and are ideal for growing vegetables that require endless sun, such as eggplant, tomatoes and gourds. Balconies and windowsills too can be utilized for growing vegetables that require less sun and can flourish with a bit of shade. Examples include spinach, lettuce, broccoli and beets.

It is excellent education for your kids

If you are a parent, chances are that you are sick of watching your kids glued to the TV and playing mindless video games. What better way can there be to school your kids than to teach them about the cycle of life in fast forward mode? Growing vegetables is precisely that – your child can learn the entire process from sowing to harvesting that includes nurturing and caring for the plants. There are lots of lessons to be learnt for your kids from taking responsibility to punctuality.

It does not take a lot of your time

Most people do not take up vegetable gardening at home due to the common misconception that it requires a great deal of time. In reality, all that is needed is procuring the supplies, (soil, compost, containers, seeds, etc.) setting up and watering the plants on a daily basis till germination. You can then limit watering to once every two days. Some vegetables do require more caring such as tomatoes. However, if you are a new starter, you might go with those vegetables that do not necessarily require a green thumb such as gourds, spinach and peppers.