Why I grow my own food

This post brought to you by Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

There are 4 main reasons why I grow things. There are many other reasons, but I'm sure you can understand the 4 main reasons why I grow my own food.

Reason #1: My husband.  I love him, and while he gets on my nerves at times (I get on his all the time), I want for him to be around to have a very long life spent with me.  He has a preference for no pics on the blog, so no pics of just him. (This is a RARE thing that I have a picture of either of us so shhhhh)

Reason #2.  My soon (too soon) to be 9 year old.  She's the kid that made me a mom.  She's smarter than anyone I've met, she can challenge me like no one has ever before in my life, she's so like me and so completely opposite me. She is determined and strong willed. She's funny, she's sweet, and she loves kittens like nobody's business.

Reason #3 My son, age 6 1/2. He's my little guy, my snuggler, my prankster.  He will kick and scream through every minute of writing anything that isn't math or a comic-like picture, but he'll spend an entire day reading and exploring math and science concepts.  He's sweet, he's funny and super brave, my little guy is.  He's the muddy, dirty, hit the ball out of the park and snuggle with  his lovey without fail kid in the house.  He's also the only kid who will cuddle with me every day, and I know it won't last.

Reason #4 The littlest Martin.  The gift of my life, the surprise of a lifetime.  After struggling with fertility issues before and after her sister and brother, we weren't even going to try for a few years.  Somehow we managed to make a baby all on our own, one who came into this world way too fast, scaring everyone….yet totally fine.  I believe she's my mom's last gift to my family- she's named for my mom. I can only imagine how much joy she'd have brought my mom if she were alive. She's smart, she's a mama's girl through anything and everything, and she will put up with no nonsense from anyone.  She's tiny and fierce, and has a comedic side like I've not seen before in a 4 year old.

These are my reasons for why I grow my own food.  I do, of course, grow food to keep my body healthy and strong.  My husband and I have chosen to have a large garden and put the work in each year to prep it, plant it, tend to it and harvest it because we want to give our kids a healthy start in life.  Growing our food means we control it- what seeds we purchase, what we use to amend our soils, how we keep pests away from it.  We cannot always afford to purchase organic produce, no matter how much we'd like to, and growing our own food gives us the opportunity to do so.

 

By gardening together as a family, we're able to teach the kids skills they'll need throughout their lives.  Planning the garden, mapping it out, making lists of what to buy, purchasing those items, prepping the area, planting, caring for it- it's all important and something they'll need to know later in life.  It's also exercise, time spent together as a family UNplugged, and a way to help care for our earth.

We are actually "growing" chickens right now- we've raised them from day old chicks and we will care for each of our "ladies" until they die.  We're raising our little flock for eggs only, as well as pets, so by caring for the chickens and preparing their coop, we're also teaching the kids about caring for animals.  Chicken manure is great for compost, which also helps our garden grow.  Chickens eat many foods that we compost, so by sharing leftovers and scraps with the chickens, we're also helping to grow our compost.  It's pretty neat to be able to not just talk to our kids about where foods come from but to let them live where there foods come from.  We're not able to grow everything, but we have a fairly good sized garden and garden areas in our yard and it's been a great experience for all 5 of us to grow together. It's made us grow as a family, too.

When we aren't able to amend our soil to our liking just using our own compost, we like to use Miracle-Gro Organic Choice products.  They work well and have no added chemicals to harm our bodies.

 

 Everyone grows for a reason. Some people grow to spend time with their family, or to beautify their community. Some people grow because they love cooking with home-grown ingredients, or because it’s a skill and tradition passed down from generations. Other people grow for personal relaxation, or because they love decorating their homes with freshly cut flowers. That's why Miracle-Gro came up with the Gro Something Greater Campaign.

What do you grow in your garden?