Categories: Home & Garden

The Joys of Growing Your Own Vegetables

I grew up in a big property surrounded by lush. My mother was an avid gardener, and she grew mostly vegetables that can be harvested in no time. This practice of backyard gardening easily rubbed on me, and I did my share of planting too. As a young girl, I successfully grew a few string beans, okra, and bitter gourd. I also remember those days when I would just go to our gardens and pick a fresh tomato to munch on. It was heaven and I would never trade it for any material thing.

Now that I have a family of my own, I get to grow my own vegetables with the help of my husband and kids. My husband has a green thumb and can easily grow certain flowers and vegetables that other gardeners in our area cannot. He’s very diligent at watering the plants and picking out bugs. We have but a small backyard but there we have grown pechay, eggplant, tomato, okra, guava, sweet potato, calamansi, bitter gourd, and plenty of chilis. We buy our seeds from a local hardware, but some are from the compost and a few have been brought to us by the birds.

We love to use our vegetables for many of our favorite dishes, mostly soup dishes. More often, our soups have more vegetables that meat in them and we like it that way! They’re packed with more nutrients and our children learn to enjoy consumption of vegetables.

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There’s also comfort in knowing that if we ever run out of good ingredients in the crisper, we can always rely on our backyard for fresh greens. I personally prefer to grow the wild and leafy green vegetables because they are the healthiest kinds of food we can have. Best of all, they don’t cost a cent. They grew out of our own hard work and eager toiling.

How about you? Have you tried growing your own vegetables?

(Image by Pixabay)




  • nichewriter

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    • I grow vegetables up till now.I have a space at my backyard.My father was an agricultural teacher.My mom and all of us learned the practice of growing our own vegetables.Non of my family member has been diagnosed for shortage of blood in the hospital.Being in the farm ,growing vegetables occupy our time making us busy and resourceful.I wish all peoples should learn how to plant vegetables so that our bodies will be nourished.Those who eat vegetables stand stronger against infections.

      • Glad to know that there are people here who are also into organic gardening. Yes, it's a known fact that people who consume more vegetables than meat are healthier and live longer.

    • First of all, are you a Filipina? You used the term okra, that's why.

      Anyway, I envy your family because you have your own vegetable garden. It's actually what we should do nowadays since veggies sold at supermarkets and wet markets are now laden with fertilizer and pesticides while they were being grown. At least you know for yourself if your veggies are organic and healthy to eat.

      At my parents house, at the backyard, they do have some vegetables and fruit bearing trees. They have kalamansi, malunggay, pomelo, lime and a lot more. As to veggies, they have lettuce because my father is fond of salad. They also have camotetops, gabi, okra though no string beans.

      Bot of you and your hubby are blessed with a green thumb. Honestly, I don't have that. But my mother and two of my sisters have that also.

      • Yes, I'm Filipina. The term 'okra' however is not Filipino in origin, as far as I know. It's widely used in other continents and in various languages. :-)

        Glad to know that your family is into organic gardening as well. There's nothing like seeing your own harvest after months of hard work.

    • My late grandma grew her own vegetables and fruits too. It is not a farm but at the garden. Her house had a big garden. Other than saving money, it is also healthy.

      • My Grandma did, too. And I admire her for that. I hope that when I become a grandma, my children and their grandkids would remember me as the gardening grandma as well. :-)

    • Growing vegetables in a backyard is an art. I never knew that I am a good gardener until the owner of my house came to me requesting for some vegetables during his casual visit. He was bringing a gunny bag and was filling it with all varieties of vegetables grown from the backyard.
      He was very much pleased and maintenance of the house that when I informed him thinking of shifting it he requested me not to vacate the house and asked for excuses if there was anything went wrong with him.
      I told him that I am shifting my house not to any another area but to the city of Hyderabad from Kadapa for joining the new job I got there. He was very happy and at the same time he felt disappointment for losing a potential tenant.
      When I took the house for rent the backyard was full of gravel and stones. I myself cleaned the backyard and dug the soil As it was not good ordered for two loads of fertile soil and filled it completely. I planted all vegetables like Brinjal, capsicum, Potatoe, Tomato, Bitter guard, Ladyfingers, Spinach etc., The backyard was full of vegetable plants.
      My relatives were coming to my house casually and were going wih bags full of vegetables. They were all pesticides free. Everything was organic. After shifting from Kadapa to Hyderabad I never had an opportunity to grow any vegetables in the city as the life is totally artificial starting from vegetables to human lives.

      • I congratulate you on your success! It's not often now that I get to know a person who would patiently convert a stony plot of land into a bustling vegetable garden. Keep it up!

    • I love to grow the vegetables in our backyard, it's a art. Well saying! I don't really like to watering, but my hubby and my kids will do it, the latter love to play with water when watering the flowers and vegetables.

      The reason I love to plant some vegetables in the garden or backyard is because I lazy to go to wet market and buy just a little spicy leaves or a green onion. To me , this is too time wasting.Moreover, it's not cheap to buy all the spicy and the seller might not like to sell just a little bit to me.

      So, I love to grow my own.

      • That's great to know, Ceci! I also prefer to just get my leafy greens fresh from my garden rather than make that trip to the market.

    • I ALSO LOVE TO GROW VEGETABLES SINCE MY FATHER IS A FARMER. IT IS ENJOYABLE TO EAT VEGETABLES WHEN WE KNOW WHERE IT CAME FROM AND HOW IT IS BEING TAKEN CARE. OUR BACKYARDS ARE NICE LOCATION TO PLANT VEGGIES FOR IT IS ACCESSIBLE FOR US TO GATHER ANY TIME WE WANT TO EAT VEGETABLES.

      IF WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE FOR A GARDEN NEAR OR OUTSIDE OUR HOME, WE CAN USE POT TO GROW VEGETABLES.

      NOW THAT MY FAMILY TOTALLY RESIDES IN THE CITY, WE USUALLY GROW VEGETABLES IN POTS UNLESS WHEN WE GO HOME IN THE PROVINCE, WE PLANT IN THE BACKYARD.

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