Why Vegetable Gardening?

When I was a child, one of the most important parts of my summer was rooting through my grandmother's vegetable garden to find fresh veggies to eat. I loved the carrots best of all, and my grandmother would often tease me by saying I was going to turn orange if I ate to many of them. Later in life I learned that you can indeed turn a little orange if you eat too many of them, but I don't think I was in any danger of that at the time.

I used to spend long hours with my grandmother outdoors. She had a beautiful flower garden along with her very large vegetable garden. Though she was a farmer's wife and had to spend a lot of time helping out with the family business, she made time to tend to both of her gardens. Her vegetable garden was not only a labor of love; it was something that helped them through the winter. The more they could can, the more money they saved when milk production was low and the money was not as good as it should have been.

The best part of my grandmother's vegetable garden was the fact that you could usually find something ripening at any time. Not everything was ready to be picked at the same time, though there were a few things that ripened all at the same time. I looked forward to the fresh lettuce, juicy cucumbers, and of course, there were the carrots. The vegetable garden was something that was a lot of work, but the results were well worth it. Though digging potatoes was a huge chore, it was also a lot of fun for me.

You may not have the room my grandmother had for her vegetable garden, and you may not need it. She canned a lot of her veggies for the winter months, but this is not very common any longer. In fact, if you just want to grow stuff for the satisfaction of doing so, you don't need a lot of room for your vegetable garden at all. You will want to grow just a few of each veggie so that you can enjoy them when they ripen, but you won't have to worry about a lot of it going to waste. If you find you have planted too much, remember neighbors, friends, and family may all enjoy a little of your homegrown veggies.

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