Gardening is good for you, and it is a hobby well worth cultivating. Groceries are expensive and produce seems even more expensive than most items. We all complain that produce doesn’t taste the way it used to. Let us use the lowly tomato as an example. Organic or not, tomatoes don’t taste the way they did when we were kids, picking them vine ripened and sun warmed from the garden. We would eat them right there in the garden with the juices dripping from our chubby chins. Mom would serve them in salads, make escalloped tomatoes, or serve thick slices with a dusting of salt or sugar. They were so good. I haven’t tasted anything like that for a very long time, have you?
It could be that our memories are faulty, but do you really think so? It bugs me that I have to pay $1.38 or more a pound for the pale pink blob that is passed off as a tomato these days. The Farmers Markets do better and the produce is somewhat local, if the other side of the state counts as local, but they still cost an arm and a leg. You hardly dare buy more than one at a time least they spoil before you can use them. I don’t know what bothers me more, the price or the fact that they just don’t taste the same anymore.
Gardening may indeed be the answer. Think of gardening as a rather complete form of exercise, not to mention that you actually have something to show for your efforts. You probably haul more weight and do more squats than you ever do in the gym. Gardening is good for your health. Gardening is one way to make sure that you eat your vegetables. Who can resist fresh green beans and peas still in the pod? Be adventuresome; try something new like kohlrabi, pumpkins, asparagus, strawberries and salad mixes.
Limited space? Make the most of limited space by planting a mini garden plot by your front door, in pots on the balcony, in hanging baskets and in window boxes. If you want to expand a bit more you can rent a small plot at the community garden. Some people find digging in the dirt soothing. There aren’t a lot of solitary, meditative opportunities anymore (except housework of course; we all know how everyone disappears when that subject is broached). We don’t even need to mention the financial benefit. Now that produce is sold by the pound and each apple has a sticker on it…well, it costs a lot of money to eat fresh.
It is a good time for experienced gardeners to share their expertise and enjoy the fruits of their labors as well. Older people need to consume fewer calories while increasing the amounts of healthy nutrients. This isn’t easy to do when your interest and your appetite aren’t what they used to be. Gardening might be a good way to rediscover how good food can taste again.
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