Haven't seen a poll here in a while, so here goes...

[JayPoc]

So what is your primary motivation for growing your own veggies? If none of the choices fit, feel free to write it in....

[RogueRose]

It doesn't have the option that I want to answer: ALL OF THE ABOVE! To be more sustainable, reduce my carbon footprint, to know what I am getting, to not have GMO food, fight climate change. And because it's fun, tastes better, etc etc etc.

[JayPoc]

yeah....this forum only allows 4 options. I originally planned like 10 options, including some you mentioned, with the ability to vote for your top 3 or 4 choices. Oh well...

[Brandywinegirl]

I agree with Rogue Rose - all of the above - plus, its therapeutic for me. I have a community garden plot and it takes me away from the real world. Plus, I get to share my harvest with family friends and neighbors.

Btw, Rogue Rose, your 2013 pictures are fabulous!!

[TheWaterbug]

I agree with Rogue Rose - all of the above - plus, its therapeutic for me. I have a community garden plot and it takes me away from the real world. Plus, I get to share my harvest with family friends and neighbors.

I find gardening incredibly therapeutic. My day job involves managing technical people, which means I do a lot of "Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet?" without being able to actually _do_ anything. While I do do a lot of heavy lifting elsewhere in the job, that part of it can be incredibly frustrating because it's so indirect.

With gardening I can literally get my hands dirty, lift heavy objects, feel the impact of what I'm doing, and eat the fruits of my own labor.

Of course I also get to yell at vermin, mourn fallen seedlings, and puzzle at mystery ailments, but that just makes the harvest sweeter at the end

[jal_ut]

#1 reason- it has to be for the food.
Yes it is good food, better than you can buy, but it is very important to simply
have some food.

All the choices are good.

My Grandfather gardened, my Father gardened, they were both farmers.
I guess it just runs in the family?

Grandma would glean some things from the wild in season.

I know there were times that all we had to eat was what came off the farm and garden.
There was often no money.
I know they did it for the food, but suspect they reaped a lot of satisfaction from it too.

[rainbowgardener]

I like Rogue Roses answer; mine is similar. All the reasons are important, but if I had to rank them, it would be

Sustainability/ carbon footprint: To have (very) locally grown organic food, which hasn't been shipped by truck across the country, hasn't been grown with petroleum based fertilizers

Food value: Having food that has no poisons and incidentally tastes wonderful and has more nutrient value.

Habitat value: To have a garden which provides a safe haven for ladybugs, braconid wasps, and other beneficials as well as the plant eaters they prey on. (Having non-poisoned refuges for the plant eaters helps keep the population from developing resistance, all though really it mostly only helps if the refuge is near the poisoned areas.)

And for the process, which gets me away from my computer, out in the sunshine and fresh air, and is a mindfulness practice of slowing down and focusing.

But I can't eliminate any or pick one.

[Sasha]

All the above-stated reasons, but I think my enthusiasm for gardening is driven mainly by the fact that I love growing plants. Any plants. I've just gotten a community garden plot and have sown vegetables; however, I also plan to get some native prairie plants going as soon as I can too.

[webmaster]

....this forum only allows 4 options.

Fixed.

[Roseamore]

Hi Guys,

Initially I started to save money. BUT then I planted a few seeds and became fueled by curiosity about how the dry stuff I'm accustomed to buying (dried oregano and basil) grows. The various types of a given plant e.g. basil. I'm also fascinated by how cuttings grow and develop; I constantly have something in my kitchen window!

Also I have discovered the trill of picking and eating things I've grown myself. Nothing like pizza with my own home grown basil on it. Nothing like spearmint, peppermint, and lemon (basil) tea with sprigs taken fresh from my garden. Can't wait until I have tomatoes!

The therapeutic value of gardening is as important as all the above reasons. Taking care of the plants helps take my mind off my major stressor; writing my thesis (which btw I'm suppose to be doing right now).

And finally, I cannot over look the educational value that gardening has for my 7 year old. I'm going to have him be responsible for watering the plants a couple of time a week (with my supervision of course). He already has some sweet basil seedlings he is responsible for; I'll teach him how to prune and take care of them. He is already familiar with the various plants I have in my garden; their look, feel and smell. Maybe he will be inspired to have his own garden when he is grown.

That's why I garden.

Roseamore

[RogueRose]

I agree with Rogue Rose - all of the above - plus, its therapeutic for me. I have a community garden plot and it takes me away from the real world. Plus, I get to share my harvest with family friends and neighbors.

Btw, Rogue Rose, your 2013 pictures are fabulous!!

Thanks! It's just a teeny tiny plot, but I do what I can do! I would love to get my own house/land so I can really spread out and grow LOTS of food! My family all has had "commercial" farms (in a foreign country - non GMO and all that!) and so it's kind of in my blood but I never attempted "farming" myself til now. It is just so rewarding to come home and say "what's for dinner?" and go "oh let me see what's out back" I never even conceived of growing anything until my landlord said "Oh we had a little garden here, feel free to do it yourself" - and thankfully they have since let me tear up more of my yard for more space.

[valley]

To grow items that can't be found in markets and grow better what can be found. I'll go with jal's answer. Food.

[Cola82]

Yeah, so many reasons. I checked just for fun, but on a personal level I just think it's incumbent upon everyone to have certain basic skills. We all need to appreciate the things around us and where they come from, as opposed to just mindlessly consuming everything in our path because we have no idea what it really costs. It's why I sew, too, and build things.

Even just a little self sufficiency is enormously empowering.

[amylong]

This is my first time trying to grow anything..I think I have some sort of brown thumb or maybe I give up to easy and not invest the time to take care of the plants. I am trying to learn patience, and grow as a person from growing plants too. It is very exciting to see the plants grow and set fruit. I am looking into what I can grow in the fall-winter time...maybe something indoors if possible since we get snow sometimes. my house doesn't get much sun light though:(.

[rkunsaw]

I pick all the options but I'm not so sure about the saving money part. But I grow food that can't be found in stores. And the exercise is good for these old bones too.

[digitS']

Well yes, food. I'd like to think that I can make good use of the food that I can grow - right thru the season.

Then, what doesn't need to go onto the table or into the freezer can go to the farmers' market. That way, I have enuf $ to buy broccoli at the soopermarket thru the winter . Or course, I've got a freezer with veggies, too.

I appreciate the exercise that I get and wonder what condition I'd be in without it! I tend not to do anything if nothing or no one will suffer . . . Oh yeah! Spend all my time in nonproductive sorts of things. The plants provide me with motivation. They will suffer. I get food and exercise.

Getting down to the plant's level and really looking at them is important to being a good gardener. Trying to understand what is going on with them is part of trying to understand what life is all about. I like to feel that I'm a part of life and nothing makes me feel that way better than being in my garden.

Steve

[applestar]

I'm going to say "primarily for fun" -- because the other explanation would be that there's something wrong with me.

...how else to explain the way I force myself up at the crack of dawn to pull on clothes and go outside, trudge around all over the garden doing things that makes me ache and hurt all over until I'm ready to collapse? Stomp around in the sweltering sun until I'm dripping and spend my time roaming around in the rain until I'm drenched?

...Why else do I dash out in the middle of food preparation because I HAVE to get some lettuce or herb or pull a green onion? Oh I need celery for the soup, chives for my baked potatoes and basil for the tomato sandwich.....!

Why do I stand at the windows with binoculars, straining my eyes to see the minutest color change in the tomatoes.... every few hours?

Oh, the other choice I would have picked if it had been available would be "because I'm too lazy to go shopping"

[Brandywinegirl]

Applestar, you are not alone!!!

[Cola82]

Getting down to the plant's level and really looking at them is important to being a good gardener. Trying to understand what is going on with them is part of trying to understand what life is all about. I like to feel that I'm a part of life and nothing makes me feel that way better than being in my garden.

I really dig this right here.

And Applestar, I wonder all those things, too. I like to sit with them for long stretches in the evening, just turning over leaves and thinking about them.

[rainbowgardener]

"Even just a little self sufficiency is enormously empowering."

Well said cola!

I'm not a doomsday prepper type, but I do love knowing how to do things and providing for myself some. I love it when I can pull some of my frozen or canned garden stuff out in the middle of winter. Somehow for me that is the ultimate in providing for myself: look here it is winter, with snow on the ground and nothing living in the garden and we are STILL eating from the garden!

Unfortunately, that is a rarish event, my little city lot, I'm not anywhere close to being able to feed us all winter. Can't live on herb jelly and tomato sauce (even with the occasional soup, lasagna and pesto thrown in).

[A Happy Seedling]

All of the above

[tanya117]

Because supermarket tomatoes taste just plain awful! Of course, not all my tomatoes survive to ripen; I tend to pick them when they are still green and fry them...

[River]

I feel certain there is more then one reason. It did start as something I thought was fun and interesting at the same time as a child. Now I stiill enjoy but it was said in an earlier post it's great therapy. Build a few compost piles keep them active and now u can get some exercise.
If all goes well u and others enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Sometimes the weather the insects what have u make it more challenging. I am just glad this is a hobby and not something that I am dependent upon. It makes u appreciate what farmers go thru on a very small scale.

[lexusnexus]

There are a lot of reasons. But for me it's pretty basic. It's not reducing my carbon footprint, which it does. It's not aligning myself with nature, which it does. It's not about sustainability, which it does. I just love gardening and playing in the dirt.