In an attempt to be healthier, we have planted our very own garden in the backyard. Our garden is cholk-full of fresh vegetables and fruit like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, red potatoes, white potatoes, onions, lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, corn, green beans, cucumbers, watermelon, and cantaloupe. Our summers are always full of delicious, preservative and chemical free vegetables and fruits. Once you taste them, it is hard to switch back.

We grow a lot more than we can eat in one summer, so a lot of our vegetables get frozen, canned, stored or given away to neighbors and co-workers. We make homemade spaghetti sauces, pickles, canned peaches (which we get from Porters. We aren’t ambitious enough to grow those ourselves) and frozen corn, green beans and peas. Everything else, we eat faster than we can grow it! It has become quite the family project from planting to picking. We grow a lot of our stuff from seed. It is started inside in our grow room/laundry room and then transplanted outside.

When they are done growing, we can pick some lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and spinach, clean it and make a salad for lunch or pick some corn, peas or green beans for dinner.

Not only is it healthier, it is also cheaper. We buy packages of seeds for about $0.99 each and those typically last for about 3 years. We make our own fertilizer and soon we will have a rain bin so we can reuse rainwater instead of having to use it out of the tap. So far this year, we have spent $8, minus the cost of water, and it will feed us for about three months.

I will warn you, in the beginning it is a lot more expensive because you have to build the garden, get gardening tools and, in our case, buy lots and lots of dirt because our yard was full of clay. There are also materials for fertilizers, etc. However, after a couple of years, it is so worth it! Moreover, if you have kids, it is a perfect activity to do as a family that gets everyone up and outside.

If you ever have the chance or the desire to plant your own garden, I suggest you do it. Nothing tastes better than fresh fruits and vegetables!