Gardening at Home Benefits Health, Budget and Family Bonding

I love gardening. I admit it is harder on me physically these days but I still love it. My Garden this year included several varieties of tomatoes including cherry and grape tomatoes. Also cucumbers, red and yellow peppers, strawberries and potatoes. I had never grown potatoes before and it was so fun to do something new.

Everything but the cucumbers was a success this year, which is remarkable since I haven't even gotten a thing from the garden due to deer for the last three years. But this year they decided to eat my neighbor's garden instead of ours. So it was a great harvesting year. But the potatoes were the best. How fun is that? It is amazing how much better home grown food tastes. You have not lived until you eat a baked potato that you dug out of the dirt yourself.

More and More Americans are Gardening at home

It would seem that more and more of us are tending to a bit of home gardening. According to the National Gardening Association, 43 million Americans have a vegetable garden at home. Which is 7 million more than in 2008.

Of course the economy has a lot to do with the growth in gardens, but also it is reported by families that this affords them time together, as well as physical exercise and better tasting and quality food.

The Bad Economy is Encouraging Home Gardening

A real benefit of a garden is the physical labor involved. You have to work the soil, plant the vegetables, weed the garden. The work put into this venture is the equivalent to circuit resistance training.

"There's actually a fair amount of moving and resistance that goes into gardening," says Tom Spring, an exercise physiologist at Beaumont Hospitals.

Of course one of the best benefits that come from home vegetable and fruit gardens is the nutritional giants obtained from your efforts. Increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables lowers the risk of most cancers, heart disease and diabetes.

There are Physical, Mental and Emotional Benefits to Home Gardening

So if any of you have not tried gardening at home, what's wrong with you? Give it a try, you'll never eat so well.

Source:

National Gardening Association

Michigan Beaumont Hospital in the News