5 Reasons to Have a Kitchen Garden

There are many advantages to having a raised bed vegetable garden. Here are five reasons to install one of your very own.

Image Credit: Gardenary

Imagine stepping outside to your own little oasis filled with fresh herbs, vibrant vegetables, and colorful flowers. A custom kitchen garden not only adds beauty to your yard but also provides you with a sustainable source of fresh produce right at your fingertips. If you need more reasons to have your own vegetable garden, here are five more below:

1.    Your food will have more nutritional value and flavor

When you buy produce at the grocery store, do you read the tag on the plastic container that tells you where it's grown? If you do, you might have seen that it was grown halfway around the country, or even the globe. While it's great that we can buy produce we could never grow here in Delaware, vegetables like tomatoes, squash, lettuce, spinach, green beans, (and more!) would thrive in our backyard.

When a tomato is picked to be sold in grocery stores, it's nowhere near the vibrant red you're used to seeing. In fact, it's green. That's because it takes weeks to get to your plate, and tomatoes travel best when they're not ripe. That would be like picking a tomato off the vine from your garden in July when it’s green, and slowly watching it ripen on your counter before you eat it.

The truth is, the moment you pick any fruit or vegetable, it begins to die. This means it starts losing its nutritional value. When nutritional value is low, so is the flavor.

 Have you ever wondered why spinach only lasts 4-5 days in your fridge? It's because it flew in from either California or Arizona a couple of weeks before it made it to the store.

If you had your own kitchen garden, you could pick vegetables when they're ready to eat that same day! Trust me when I say that you will taste the difference between a freshly picked tomato in the summer and the one you bought at Food Lion in December.

2.   You'll have more variety than a grocery store

While the produce section in any grocery store looks abundant, the variety of each item they sell is pretty limited. We’re used to seeing one type of eggplant, one or two types of hot peppers, and a few varieties of tomatoes.

Would you believe me if I said you could have an eggplant that was long and narrow, or palm-sized? Or that there are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes? Or even that there’s a hot pepper out there called “mad hatter?” You’re not limited to what is sold in stores. There is a whole world of options available to you when you grow your food yourself.

Herbs also have many varieties. We’re used to seeing Genovese basil, but there is also purple basil, cinnamon basil, lemon basil, and Thai basil. Oregano could be Greek, Cuban, Syrian, or Italian. You could grow common thyme, lemon thyme, French thyme, or German thyme.

You will find some of these varieties at the nursery, and even more if you buy them from seed.

3.   Gardening improves your health

Not only do you reap benefits from the food you grow, but the act of gardening is actually great for your health.

Having a garden to take care of is a great way to get your daily dose of Vitamin D, though it’s best to get any watering and planting done before 10:00 am to limit stress on the plants and your exposure to damaging rays.

Gardening is also a great low-impact exercise. Walking around your beds to water and prune, pulling plants or weeds when flipping your garden, and pushing a wheelbarrow full of compost to freshen up your beds will increase your steps, give you some resistance training, and increase your heart rate.

Gardening also does wonders for your mental health. When you plant a seed or transplant a seedling, you have something to hope for. You’re eager to see that plant succeed and grow. It also gives you something to look forward to. On my worst days, I can always step in the garden to see the progress my garden made and it always puts me in a better mood.

When you grow your food without herbicides or pesticides, you start to see the natural cycle of life right in your backyard. You’ll have some ‘bad bugs’ like aphids on your tomatoes, but then you’ll see ladybugs who devour them. You’ll see cabbage worms, but then you’ll see more birds hanging around your yard. And, you’ll also start to get less freaked out about bees, because without them, you wouldn’t be able to grow most of what you plant in the Spring.

Being around your 128-square-foot garden is still connecting with nature which is what we were designed for.

4.   Your family will love it

If you’re a parent, I’m sure it’s a struggle to get your kids to eat their daily dose of vegetables. You’ve probably tried dressing them up in every way possible, but your kids saw right through it. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, talks about getting rid of bad habits and starting good ones.  Well, starting a garden is a great way to introduce better eating habits for your family.

According to James, to form a new habit you have to 1) make it obvious, 2) make it attractive, 3) make it easy and 4) make it satisfying.

So, let’s break this down:

Make it Obvious: 

Your garden is in your backyard where you can see it from the window

Make it Attractive: 

Your garden is lush with colorful fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers

Make it Easy: 

Your garden is right in your backyard where your kids can pick fruits and vegetables themselves

Make it Satisfying: 

The food you’re growing is beautiful, flavorful, and delicious!

Your family will eat foods they've likely never thought about simply because it's beautiful and readily available. Being involved with the garden will make them feel more connected to the food they’re eating.

I have two teenagers in the house who actually get excited when they see butternut squash growing because they know roasted butternut squash soup is coming. They also get excited seeing jalapenos to start adding them to tacos or to make hot sauce. When eating the green beans I canned from my garden, my eldest stepson said, “Wow, this tastes like what we get from the store, but better.”

If you can sell cleaner eating to teenagers, you can sell it to anyone!

5.   You'll build community

So fun fact about me, I am terrified of people. I’ve worked in Human Resources for about 15 years where I engage with people daily, but when it comes to small talk with strangers, or asking my neighbors about their days, I would rather jump through a wall. Everyone in our neighborhood knows and loves my husband, but I’m the mean lady who keeps her head down when I see people so I don’t have to awkwardly say hello while he's talking to them. I know, it’s terrible.

My garden has actually helped me break out of my shell a little.

During my first year growing, I had so much lettuce that we could not possibly get through, and I didn’t want to toss it. I bagged it up and randomly walked to my neighbor’s house (palms sweating) and asked them if they wanted any. They were so excited to hear that I grew it and took it without hesitation. The following week they stopped by to tell us how much they appreciated it, and how much their family enjoyed the fresh salad!

Now anytime I have too much of something, I just give it away to neighbors, family, or friends. This is a great way to build meaningful relationships.

You can also give your produce away to a food bank! This year I wanted to experiment with Swiss chard and ended up with way too much. I cut down the row I had in one bed, bagged it, and dropped it off to the Food Bank of Delaware. You can check out my Instagram Post to see how I did it.

Last year, I didn’t even know we had a food bank local to us, and now I’ve made it a goal to donate 20lbs from my garden each year. What a great way to get involved in our community!

Let’s get your Kitchen Garden Started!

At Sown in Thyme, we specialize in helping individuals create and nurture their very own kitchen gardens. Our services range from garden consultations and design to planting plans and sourcing garden supplies. We can assist you every step of the way, whether you're just starting out or looking to enhance an existing garden space.

If you're in northern Delaware, Book a Consultation today to get started on your backyard kitchen garden!