Did you know that gardening can produce food almost for free? Once established, native and wild-growing perennials can yield for years with little to no labor required! Blueberries and blackberries are our favorite examples. Find out which plants work for you in our plant picker tool.
Gardening is a great outdoor activity! It is a low-impact form of exercise appropriate for all ages. Gardening is also relaxing and meditative, perfect for lowering stress. Working in the soil to nurture life creates feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment.
According to the EPA, transportation and agriculture account for about 38% of US greenhouse emissions. The simple act of growing fruits, vegetables, nuts, or legumes in your home garden addresses both these sources of harmful gases.
Industrial farms often practice monoculture - growing a large quantity of a single variety of one crop. This approach creates a bigger target for pests and disease. With only a single crop, one pest can wipe out the entire harvest. Heavy pesticide use is required as a result. In contrast, smaller more varied gardens are more resilient to pests. If you have planted 25 crop varieties, it is less likely that a single pest will be able to consume them all.
Centralized agriculture is also more prone to catastrophic failure. If a farm that feeds 100,000 people has a total crop failure, it is a disaster. On the other hand, out of 10,000 gardens feeding 10 people each, any one garden can fail while the rest fill the gap. In this way, distributed systems are more resilient.