Natural Gardening for a
Healthy Lifestyle

As a society we have grown so far away from eating naturally as most people in the western world consume a lot of processed foods. The body knows that it is not getting the nutrients that it needs from most of these food sources. This is one of the reasons why so many people overeat to try to fill the void from the foods that are not giving them the nutrients that they need.

Ultimately this is leading to a lot of deficient and overweight people.

Think about a loaf of bread. If you read the ingredients, the first ingredient is usually enriched flour. This means that the flour that is made from a whole grain has been processed so it then must be enriched with some vitamins and minerals from to put back into the flour product. This is why it is a good idea to buy a whole grain product, but check the first ingredients to make sure it contains whole grains.

Now most of us are not going to grow our own grains and then dry them and crush it into a flour and then bake our own bread. Those times are pretty much gone. We might buy the flour and use a bread maker once in a while, but most of us are going to buy bread at the store.

So now that we have taken a moment to think about a typical processed food, lets go to the backyard and look at some good reasons to get back to natural gardening.

The backyard is really a place that we can get back to nature and enjoy all the benefits that natural gardening has to offer.

You don't need to have a large yard to have a garden that can produce a bounty of fresh produce. There are plenty of patio garden pot opportunities too. So look for a space that can be transformed into a garden area and make a plan.

Now I feel truly blessed to have a husband that has a real natural gardening passion that he has had since he was a boy growing up in Ohio. He is such an inspiration to me and our friends and neighbors with tending a big garden every year. And the joy of his labor is seen by many when they get a box of the homegrown veggies from our garden.

First, it is important to amend the soil in natural gardening as this is where you can help supply the soil with nutrients for your homegrown produce. Most commercial produce is lacking in quality soil to grow the plants as they typically only put in a few nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

The soil requires approximately 52 minerals, so you can see that there is a lot of missing nutrients from our commercial foods starting in the soil.

When you grow some of your own food, you have a wonderful opportunity to practice organic gardening by finding natural ways to avoid using chemical pesticides and fertilizers on your plants. This is one of the great benefits of growing some of your own food as you get to be in charge of how your food is grown. I doubt you would put on a mask and walk around your garden and spray toxic chemicals on the foods that you will be putting on your table.

Getting in the habit of keeping and maintaining a compost pile is where you can provide your soil with organic material. It is simple to do by just finding an area that you can put clean grass clippings, leaves and raw kitchen materials to create your own organic mulch for the garden. It also benefits the environment to be putting these biodegradable materials back into the soils instead of having trucks take these materials to the dump.

A wonderful benefit to natural gardening is the therapeutic environment that attracts birds, butterflies, bees and other bugs that feeds the circle of life in the garden.

One of the best things about having your own garden is being able to go into your backyard and select a ripe cucumber, pepper, tomato, onion and maybe some green beans and taking them into the kitchen to prepare a healthful meal with the produce from your own garden.

Picking fresh produce from your own homegrown garden and preparing a nutritious and simple meal at home can be one of the top healthy habits that we can create for our families.

Consider starting a natural garden and see what you are able to create in your own backyard. You will be amazed at all the benefits of growing some of your own food.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to teach a child about natural gardening as they can learn what real food tastes like and where it comes from. What a great way to inspire a family to eat their fruits and vegetables, grown in your own garden.

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