Growing a garden offers so many benefits to the gardener, and their family. Everyone knows this, but when community gardens are started, the number of people who can benefit increases significantly. While some of those benefits might seem obvious, such as access to fresh food, there are a few that might surprise you. A few of the lesser thought of benefits of community gardens are outlined below.
More Control
By growing your own vegetables, you can control the quality, as well as the variety, of the produce that is available. By carefully choosing seeds that are either organic or heirloom seeds, or ones that have not been genetically modified, you can ensure that the foods you eat are free of harmful chemicals.
Build Connections
While the food benefits are likely the first to pop into your mind, they are not the only wonderful aspect of community gardens. These hubs of the community are also a great way meet up, and connect, with other preppers who have an interest in being less reliant on outside sources for their food. Growing your own food is also a superb way to spend quality time with all members of your family.
Outreach
Many urban areas have community gardens available as a way to keep youths out of trouble. Sometimes children do things they shouldn’t simply because they don’t have a positive avenue to exert some energy. Community gardens are also a great way to teach less knowledgeable folks the importance of healthy food and how to grow their own.
Build It, And They Will Come
No community garden in your area? Not to worry. You can start your own. It is easier than you think with resources such as this checklist from the American Community Gardening Association (ACGA). It contains a list of easy to follow steps you can use to start your community garden. As the word spreads about this new, and welcome venture, you can be sure that preppers, and other like minded people, will flock to it.
Community Gardens are Just the Beginning
Community gardens are a fabulous base onto which you can then build relationships with other like minded folks in your area. Your community garden group will undoubtedly help each other in other areas of prepping and knowledge sharing. You may even form a mutual assistance group with your fellow gardeners.
If you do not have much land of your own or are in an apartment, you should definitely consider becoming a part of or starting your own community garden.
The editor of Resounding Earth, and pursuer of relatively interesting information, Simon has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and Journalism from the University of Wales, and is a photo-journalist and writer whose written and photographic work has been represented by the AFP news agency and appeared in newspapers across Europe and Asia.