If you’re my age you can remember a time when almost every household had its own small (or large) vegetable garden.  You don’t see many gardens anymore.  Here is a picture of our clinic garden out back.  That's just one plant taking over by the A/C unit!  It is a volunteer gourd that comes back every year.  We have a tomato patch for fresh tomatoes at lunch.  Those tomatoes were grown from seed in my barn. 

There are many reasons to have a vegetable garden.  Here are just a few. 

• Most vegetables grown on large commercial farms are picked early and not vine ripe.
• Vegetables have sat a long time from being picked on the farm, shipped to the store, and bought by you.
• Unless you buy local, produce is usually trucked hundreds of miles before it gets to your store.
• Commercial farms do not use techniques such as crop rotation. This  depletes mineral quality of the dirt the vegetables are grown in.
• Chemicals!  Commercial farms use pesticides.  Bad for you!
• With your own garden you can grow non GMO vegetables.  More on this later!
• Store bought vegetables have a lower vitamin content than your back yard garden.
• You will pay more for local, organic, non GMO vegetables compared to growing your own. 

There are always exceptions to the rule.  You can find a flea market or even some grocery stores that may have local organic foods but the idea here is to be independent and do it yourself.  How much better does a garden fresh tomato that you grew yourself taste than a store bought tomato!  See my point.  I challenge you to think about growing a small vegetable garden with your favorite vegetables in the future.