There are many reasons why you may want an organic garden of your own. Maybe you enjoy cooking with really fresh produce, want the convenience of having the vegetables and herbs you love at your fingertips, or maybe it’s simply an enjoyable activity you would like to share with your family. Whatever your personal inspiration, here is what the people we surveyed came up with as the top 10 reasons to have an organic garden.

10. Knowing Where Your Food Comes From

Food products today are often labeled as “all natural” and “local.” It can be hard to differentiate between the marketing hype and the real thing, but with your own garden, there is no question— you know it comes right from your own backyard!

9. Relieving Stress

Did you know that horticultural therapy is a time-proven practice, recognized as early as the 1800s? The colors, textures, and scents of a garden provide sensory stimulation that can quickly distract the mind from worries and stress.

8. Saving Money

Growing your own produce is always more cost effective than buying it from a grocery store; careful design and planning can maximize crop yields. And the next time you want to create a spontaneous meal, you will save time and money by not having to drive to the grocery store!

7. An Enjoyable Outdoor Activity

Your garden reaps the benefits of fresh air and sunshine and so can you! A backyard garden is a focal point and hub of activity that the whole family can enjoy through the seasons and cycles of nature.

6. An Easier Way to Get Kids to Eat Veggies

A recent study found that preschool children who were almost always served homegrown produce were more than twice as likely to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day—and to like them more—than kids who rarely or never ate homegrown produce. What a great way to develop those young taste buds!

5. Food That Tastes Better

Did you ever purchase a package of tomatoes during the winter and wonder why they tasted like cardboard? Supermarket tomatoes are frequently picked before they have the chance to fully develop flavor so that they can withstand travel. Homegrown, freshly picked produce always tastes better and provides an appreciation for what is in season.

4. Better Nutritional Value

Vegetables that ripen in the garden have more nutrients than store-bought vegetables that must be picked prematurely and sometimes degrade on their way to the supermarket, especially if exposed to heat. With your own garden, you have total control over when to harvest your food.

3. An Easier and Convenient Way of Having a More Organic Lifestyle Without Leaving Your Yard!

You can help the planet while you help yourself. Growing your own food organically, without pesticides, herbicides, or GMOs, keeps your body clean and healthy and helps prevent unnecessary air and water pollution. As a bonus, you have reduced the use of fossil fuels and the number of food miles traveled to zero!

2. Cooking and Entertaining Using Your Own Fresh Produce Gives You Neighborhood Bragging Rights

With a backyard garden, you can host your own garden-to-table dinners, creating a powerful shared experience for all involved as your guests may opt to help harvest, clean, cook – and, of course, eat!

1. Enriching your life and your health

Hands down, growing your own food is one of the most gratifying things you can do and provides an amazing sense of accomplishment while putting you and your family on the road to optimal nutrition.

Kenny Baldo is co-founder of Yard2Kitchen, which designs, builds, and maintains organic garden beds here and in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact Kenny at 732.410.6173 for more information or consultation.