You may be among those who, on day after 31 December, wrote down a few New Year’s resolutions. Among perennial « run twice a week», « take time for yourself», « eat more healthily»… perhaps one slipped in: « start a vegetable garden ».
If trainers are still in the cupboard and your consumption of rillettes is at its peak, rest assured, nothing is lost: you’re still in time to start your vegetable garden this year. And to boost your motivation, here are 5 good reasons to get started!
1) Vegetable gardening is easy.
Forget warnings from grumpy naysayers keen to discourage you because, yes, vegetable gardening is easy. Admittedly, it can be learnt, and that is one of its many attractions, but sowing a seed or planting a tomato plant is within everyone’s reach. To guide you, we have prepared numerous planting guides and tips: they will give you essentials to take your first steps. You will probably meet a few failures but they will always be full of valuable lessons.
2) It’s good for morale and for health.
Growing your own vegetables is a rewarding activity: what better way to boost self‑esteem than harvesting your first crops? Several scientific studies have shown that gardening can reduce stress. And that is not surprising: the vegetable garden offers contact with reality that is « reconnecting ». Touching the soil, crushing a few aromatic leaves, discovering a whole world you had partly forgotten: earthworms, butterflies, ladybirds, slugs, aphids… Isn’t it a pleasant way to step out of the virtual?
From a sporting point of view, let’s be honest, unless you are one of those keen diggers, the physical activity linked to vegetable gardening will not unleash addictive endorphins in your brain. But doing simple tasks such as raking, watering, mulching allows you to move while being useful. And in cool weather, it is very invigorating!
3) More than economical, it’s a profitable hobby.
No need for costly equipment: a good pair of shoes, essential tools and you are ready! And as a starting stake, several packets of seeds and/or young plants. In terms of profitability, it is simple: by sowing a few seeds you can obtain a full basket of vegetables, with incomparable flavour and freshness. Out of curiosity, we worked it out: one tomato seed (Marmande bio for example) costs €0.08 (€3.90/50 seeds) and allows, on average, harvest of 5 kilos of tomatoes. Cost per kilo is therefore €0.015. Will you find it cheaper than in your garden?
4) It helps you make new friends.
Gardeners like to share. Success of « Welcome to my garden », blogs and forums dedicated to vegetable gardening proves it. Here, the vegetable garden is deliberately on display for everyone to see. To my great pleasure, it is not uncommon for passers‑by to stop for informal exchanges about best ways to stake beans. And often they leave with a few courgettes that are always abundant in mid‑summer…
5) It’s hugely trendy.
Long relegated to back of garden or hidden behind a hedge, the vegetable garden was long regarded as a minor art, on verge of being uncool. That era is long gone: in spirit of return to the land, vegetable gardening is THE new trend. And it is with a touch of pride that vegetables are now displayed both on balcony and at Chaumont.
So, ready to get started? What will you sow this year? Crunchy radishes? Pretty tomatoes? A few beans? Delicious peas? Two or three pumpkin plants? Feel free to send us photos, we love them!
For further reading:
“The anti‑crisis vegetable garden” by Rodolphe Grosléziat - Editions Ulmer
“Starting my organic vegetable garden” by Sandra Lefrançois and Jean‑Paul Thorez – Editions Terre vivante
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