Sustainability is always in season! Its been a while since I posted life has been busy. With my kids both going off to school I found myself spending less and less time in the kitchen. I was loving the empty nester life until the Covid Pandemic hit and they were forced to return home. Being stuck at home gives you more time to work on the things that you enjoy in addition to finding new passions and hobbies to pursue. I have always enjoyed gardening and the fresh produce that summer brings. For many years I have had to fend off the deer but this year we were able to erect a fence and that seems to have done the trick. I planted in May and was stoked at how beautiful everything looked. I wanted to plant things that we eat often to curb the amount of time that I had to go out to the grocery store.
I have never been afraid of hard work or getting dirty. I am the type of girl that can play in the dirt and then turn around and get dressed up for a night out with my husband. I love the benefits of both these worlds. Growing produce from the ground is a lot of work. There are so many variables to contend with to include the nutrient make-up of the soil, weather, water, disease, and pests. Farmers who grow for a living are underappreciated. Their hard work to carve out a living is not lost on me. While I am not trying to make a living growing my own produce, I am finding ways to improve the quality of food that we eat. Gardening has improved my physical and mental health as well as the health of the environment I live in.
After I planted my garden in the backyard, I was introduced to the Tower Garden by Juice Plus. When I was first approached, I looked at the video and put it aside. But then I decided to take a closer look. And then I did a deep dive into everything that I could find out about these towers. I decided to give it a try. But me being me, I decided to sign up as a distributor to get the discount. I wanted to compare the differences in growth between my raised bed garden in the yard and traditional gardening to the Tower Garden and growing aeroponically
My Tower Garden is the Flex model with a Micro Green Extension. I also added the support cage, dolly, and light kit. We have a long growing season, but when the cold weather sets in, I plan to break the tower down, clean it and grow inside for the winter. When my order arrived, it was like Christmas! There were all these huge boxes on my front porch. (Ladies just a side note: This is not one of those things you will be able to buy and sneak passed your husband! Ha Ha)
Set up was super easy. Because I did not want to wait for seeds to grow, I purchased some seedlings from an authorized seedling provider for Tower Garden. When my seedlings arrived I filled the 20-gallon reservoir, popped the seedlings into the ports and plugged the timer in. I was so fascinated with this new type of gardening that I found myself going out to the deck looking at the Tower Garden often.
I have had the garden going for 4 weeks now and I am amazed at how quickly things have grown. I started harvesting greens off the tower at the 2-week mark. I have several varieties of lettuce growing; bib, romaine, summer leaf, and micro-greens and they are growing to a point that we need to eat faster. I have been able to pick lettuce off the tower almost daily. Growing lettuce in the extreme heat we have had is incredible in and of itself. I will continue to compare growth between the two gardens, but so far, I love the ease, and the fast produce that the Tower Garden is producing. You can check out all of the information and how the Tower here. 
I believe that gardening can improve your physical and mental health as well as the health of the environment. Growing your own produce is a simple solution to numerous health, environmental, and economic problems. Whether you are growing a single tomato plant or have a large backyard garden, it is beneficial to your health, as well as the environments.
Five reasons to grow your own food include:
More Nutritious
When growing your own food, your diet is more diverse and healthy, packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Food in its rawest, freshest form is not only the tastiest way to enjoy it, but also the most nutritional. Most produce sold in grocery stores go through a long process of being harvested, shipped and distributed to stores. Once distributed, the produce can end up staying in storage or on the shelf for an extended period of time before being purchased, losing nutritional value.
Stay Active
Gardening is a fun way to get outside for some fresh air and physical activity. The physical activity required in gardening has proven to promote physical health. Involvement in gardening helps to improve cardiac health and immune system response, decrease heart rate and stress, improve fine and gross motor skills, flexibility, and body strength. Getting regular exercise can relieve stress, anxiety and depression, while boosting energy.
Get Vitamin D
Gardening is a great way to absorb vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin. Vitamin D is crucial to maintain healthy bones and teeth, and it can also protect against certain diseases.
Save Money
You can save a lot of money by growing your own vegetables and
fruits. By spending a few dollars on seeds, plants, and supplies in the spring, you will produce vegetables that will yield pounds of produce in summer.
Better for the Environment
Long-distance transportation of produce relies heavily on fossil fuels. Growing your own food would help reduce the reliance on this transportation that is harming the environment. Also, by growing your own food, you are not using chemicals or pesticides that can harm environment.
Being able to escape to my garden has given me an outlet, a peaceful place, a place to ponder what happening in the world around me, and the opportunity to grow great tasting food for my friends and family to enjoy. As we begin to head towards the end of the summer a have already began working on my fall planting schedule! I would love to hear what you are growing in your garden. Till next time, I’ll leave you with a great gardening tip!
Money Saving Gardening Tip:
When your flowers and vegetables have matured, they’re going to produce seeds before they dry out. Collect these seeds and store them in a cool, dry place. You can use these seeds in the spring next year to grow your plants again. You can start from the easier seeds to save such as tomatoes, peas, beans, and pepper and work your way up from there. This will save you tons of money on buying new seeds annually.
Keeping it Fresh!
Shandelin
