... a Vegetable Garden

Vegetables are one of the main ingredients to a healthy diet yet most adults rarely eat enough of them. To fulfill your daily requirement of vegetables you need eat five to seven servings. Think back to what you ate last week. How many days did you eat your required servings of vegetables? If you are like most adults you were probably lucky if you ate five to seven serving in the entire week! Many years ago I started a vegetable garden to help solve this problem.

At first I just grew tomatoes but eventually I added more vegetables and soon there was not enough room in the small flower bed along the house. So with the help of a firefighter friend I built a raised bed for my garden. Once the frame was done I had three cubic yards of top soil delivered and dumped in the driveway. Then I persuaded a couple of strong young men to haul the dirt to the box and dump it in. Soon I was ready to plant. That first year it was tomatoes, zucchini and peppers. It was so much fun to go out in the morning and look at what had grown during the night. There is nothing better than a home grown tomato! Yummy!

What I grow in the garden changes from year to year. At the end of each growing season I analyze how the garden did and what changes I will make for the following year. I try growing new things, some work and some don’t. Some produce more that I would ever eat others not enough. I have learned that you need to grow lots of green beans and can probably pass on the eggplants. You only need to have one zucchini plant, unless you want to be the zucchini provider for the whole neighborhood. If you have never grown leaf lettuce I would highly recommend it as it is easy and grows fast. My grandchildren love to give the lettuce a haircut when they are over.  I have out grown the raised bed and have moved several vegetable out to other flowerbeds to grow among the flowers. Luckily I have friends to share this great resource with as even with my small area I produce more that I could ever eat. 

  

Do you need more vegetables in your life? Consider starting a garden. You could grow your own salsa or salad bar. Start with a small area in your yard or use large containers. Pick a vegetable you like and find out how much better it tastes home grown. Involve your children and watch as they learn where their food comes from. Let them help you pick the great bounty and learn to love vegetables. This year make vegetables a larger part of your diet on your way to making positively healthy choices everyday!