Edible Vegetable
ORGANIC VEGETABLE GARDENING: Organic vegetable gardening lets you grow delicious, fresh vegetables without chemical fertilizers or dangerous pesticides. Organic vegetable gardening is easy and very rewarding. An organic garden can give you a steady supply of tasty vegetables, help you stay fit, and help you relax.
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ORGANIC VEGETABLE GARDENING
DEFINITION: Organic vegetable gardening lets you grow delicious, fresh vegetables without chemical fertilizers or dangerous pesticides. Organic vegetable gardening is easy and very rewarding. An organic garden can give you a steady supply of tasty vegetables, help you stay fit, and help you relax.
Why choose organic vegetable gardening? The first and most important reason for organic vegetable gardening is to protect your health and your family’s health. Organically grown vegetables are free from chemical residues. We don’t know all the effects of these chemicals or how they will interact in our bodies, and many others have been proven to cause major health problems.
Edible Gardens: Step Forward Towards Functional landscapes
• What is edible landscaping?
• Why is it a good idea?
• Benefits and scope
• Challenges
• Recommendations
• Conclusion
What is edible landscaping? Thoughtful arrangement of edible plants to maximize their aesthetic appeal, production and resistance to pests.
Why edible landscape? You will see it in their eyes, brimming with pride and joy, as they pick their harvest and they tell everyone about their garden: “Look at what we grew in our garden. Come and see our garden!”
Vegetables are always good choices for kids to start with in a garden. Not only do these germinate faster, but they can also be eaten once ripened and many interesting varieties are available, which appeal to the kids’ senses with fun colors, shapes, and sizes.
Benefits and scope
1- Education: How vegetable and food grow?
2- Aesthetics: Combining edible plants with conventional can be very beautiful best of both worlds – edible & ornamental
3- Grow Food Safety and Health: confirm Pesticide free and organically grown vegetables. There is no need to worry about chemicals or soil-borne pathogens in home-grown edibles.
4- Money Savings or economic role: Save on your grocery bill, save with less trips to the store, save with no longer throwing out food that wasn't consumed. You can harvest your veggies as you need them. What you don't use now can be stored for use in the winter either by freezing, canning, drying or simply placing in a cool spot in the basement.
5- Increased Food Security: An edible landscape reduces your dependence on foreign food sources which have unknown production systems.
6- Nutritional Value: As soon as edibles are harvested, they begin to lose nutritional value. Harvesting directly from your yard gives you the opportunity to eat your veggies and fruits at their highest nutritional value. So enjoy the freshness and flavor of home-grown, fully ripened fruits and vegetables.
7- Variability: Instead of only having the choice of the few varieties sold in the grocery store or at the farmer's market, you can choose from hundreds of varieties of vegetables and flowers in seed catalogs and grow exactly the custom garden that you want. To grow unusual varieties not available in stores
8- Water Savings: Edibles use large amounts of rainwater that otherwise would become runoff.
9- Reduced Waste: Almost all parts of edibles can be placed into the compost bin at the end of the year to create soil for next year.
10- Tastier Food: Edibles grown in your own yard are significantly better tasting than store-bought.
11- Recreation and Therapeutic Value: Coming home to a beautiful garden is relaxing and calming. Working in the garden is stress-reducing and fun! You will be surprised at how good it makes you feel.
12- Attract Beneficial Wildlife and environmental impact: unplanted area enhances biodiversity and many native plants are also edible and part of ecosystem. Edible plants that provide food for people are also food for birds, animals, and beneficial insects Birds and beneficial insects will love your edible landscape and that is not a bad thing! They protect it from the invasive species that look to destroy your plants. Natural world making your home a haven to birds, bees, butterflies and many other beneficial insects.
13- Fun and Exercise: Growing your own crops is rewarding and fun! The exercise you get in the process can help you stay fit. It is also fun for kids.
Vegetables are always good choices for kids to start with in a garden. Not only do these germinate faster, but they can also be eaten once ripened and many interesting varieties are available, which appeal to the kids’ senses with fun colors, shapes, and sizes
How can planted be almost entirely with edibles that have ornamental value and appear to be a decorative
CHALLENGES: (In Public Place)
1- Surrounding safety
2- Responsible for implementation and maintenance
3- Waste of plants
4- Liability and ownership
5- Policy: Some City guidelines discourage planting edible plants on public lands
CHALLENGES: (In Private Garden)
1- General lack of knowledge on the part of the developer, designer, or home owner.
2- This is a simple matter of information and education.
3- People might be open to the concept of edible landscaping if they see that there are many beautiful trees, shrubs, vegetables, herbs, and flowers that incorporate easily into conventional ornamental gardens.
4- Finally, people may require additional information about special maintenance
5- Requirements for edible species.
Recommendation
1- Work in partnerships to care for edible landscapes
2- Promote community awareness and participation
3- Encourage edible landscaping on private land
Here are some more ideas for edible landscapes
1- 1-Put pots of herbs
2- 2-Include cherry tomatoes in a window box or hanging basket
3- 3-Grow nasturtium, violas, borage, or calendula and include flowers in salads
4- 4-Eat your Aloe vera
5- 5-Plant a fruit tree in the corner of your yard
6- 6-Grow Red-jewel Cabbage
7- 7-Put basil together with coleus in a planter
8- 8-Try yellow or "rainbow" chard
9- 9-Grow Watermelon with hanger
A FEW TIPS:
Remember timing, habit, requirements
1- Start planning early
2- Be creative: Think outside the rows! Vegetable boxes can be designed as part of your landscape to provide an attractive structure that can be planted to produce vegetables
3- Think about combinations
4- Don’t be afraid to try something new.
CONCLUSION
1- The possibilities for edible landscaping are endless.
2- By incorporating just one—or many—edible plants into a home landscape, you can develop a new relationship with your garden and the food you eat.
BENEFITS OF GARDENING:
Gardening has many health and therapeutic benefits for human, especially when you create an edible garden. Garden beds, equipment and tools can all be modified to create a garden that is interesting, accessible and productive.
Some medical conditions and physical disabilities may restrict or prevent just for older people from participating in gardening. However with planning and a few changes, you can create a safe, accessible, and pleasant space.
GARDENING KEEPS YOU FIT AND HEALTHY:
Everyone can benefit from creating an edible garden. Seniors can get particular benefits because gardening:
• Is an enjoyable form of exercise?
• Increases levels of physical activity and maintains mobility and flexibility.
• Encourages use of all motor skills – walking, reaching and bending – through activities such as planting seeds and taking cuttings.
• Improves endurance and strength.
• Helps prevent diseases like osteoporosis.
• Reduces stress levels and promotes relaxation.
• Provides stimulation and interest in nature and the outdoors.
• Improves wellbeing as a result of social interaction.
• Provides nutritious, home-grown produce.
• Our social and therapeutic horticulture sessions and creative arts & crafts sessions use gardening, plants and creative activities to help our clients recover from or cope with mental health difficulties and other significant illness.
• We see first-hand how gardening and creative activities transform lives and can help everyone, regardless of age, background or disability.
• Better physical health through exercise, strengthening of muscles and improving mobility
• Improved mental health through sense of purpose and achievement
• Opportunity to connect with others – reducing feelings of isolation and exclusion
• Acquiring new skills to improve access to employment opportunities
• General feeling of well-being for being outdoors and in-touch with nature
• Improved general health & well-being
• Improved self-confidence and self-esteem
• Access to safe, green, urban space
• Future social enterprise activities will also include new and additional development opportunities for our project beneficiaries, including a structured work experience program to enhance employability skills and build confidence in the workplace. Why is gardening so great for our bodies and mind?
The Joy of Gardening and the resulting beauty and peace
1- Getting the fresh air and the Vitamin D even if the sun is hiding behind clouds.
2- The yoga movements that happen during the work: forward bending, twisting, reaching forward, kneeling..
3- The joy and nourishment of our hard work harvesting flowers, fruit, berries and vegetables.
4- When I am tired, just walking around my Zen Garden and enjoying the beauty of it makes me feel great and brings a smile to my face and soul.
5- Sitting with a book or a cup of tea out in the garden or eating a meal surrounded by all theses beauties and the magic of nature is priceless.
6- Watching nature coming to me in the form of butterflies, hummingbirds, the singing of the birds, my cat massaging her fur and back on the pebble alley and grass is such a pleasure.
7- Sharing my garden with friends and neighbors to inspire them, to enjoy relaxing times together.
Sweating is a good natural way of detoxing when gardening
Resources and inspiration: http://www.rosalindcreasy.com
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