Why on earth do you even bother?🌱

Published: Sun, 06/12/22

Well, hello there, Rural Sprout readers,

By the time you read this, I’ll be on the road headed back to Pennsylvania. We decided on a trip up north to visit my daughter and son-in-law. Fossils were dug, Jurassic movies were watched, and a freshly minted 12-year-old was celebrated.

Whenever we travel, I like to walk around and peek at what everyone is growing.

I’m always surprised at the ingenuity of folks who want to grow vegetables. Nothing stops them. Not even living in an urban area. I passed plenty of tomatoes growing in containers and a few front yard gardens.

Even my daughter and son-in-law, who live in a garden-level apartment, have figured out a way to grow a bit of veg outside their ground-level window.

This desire to grow something for ourselves speaks to one of my favorite aspects of gardening – nurturing. At its most basic level, that’s what gardening is. We are nurturing plants, most of us, for the end goal of eating what we nurture.

Think about it.

What’s the point of growing one single tomato plant on your patio? Or how about a tiny planter of basil, thyme and parsley? Obviously, it would be cheaper to buy tomatoes and fresh herbs. And these singular plants aren’t really going to make a big difference in our self-reliance on the supply chain.

So, what’s the point?

We enjoy it. We love watching those tomatoes grow bigger. We love the idea of fresh basil right outside our front door. We enjoy tending to these plants that aren’t going to put a dent in our grocery bill, just for the sake of doing it.

As many of our readers know, I’m a huge advocate for growing even a little where you are. And as I drove around Buffalo this weekend, it was nice to see I’m not the only one.