VERY often, owing to various natural reasons, we are hit with high prices for fruits and vegetables when we visit the markets to do our weekly shopping or sometimes when we want a particular thing to eat, it is not available.

The complaints are endless. It comes during drought and again during the rainy season when flooding destroys crops.

However, there is a simple, economically viable and sustainable solution – a kitchen garden. In the past, many have advised that people have kitchen gardens in their yards and rear a few chickens, ducks and even pigs.

Not many have heeded this valuable piece of advice and the reasons vary.

Some claim they don’t have the time and energy to maintain such a garden and others claim they don’t have the space for it. However, these are merely convenient excuses.

All a kitchen garden really needs is less than 30 minutes of care each day and endless love and dedication.

Kitchen gardens have many benefits. A major plus is that it can help to greatly reduce one’s household food bill. There will be less need to spend thousands of dollars on fresh fruits and vegetables which we can grow in our backyards. When we grow our own food, we can consume as much as we want without having to deal with the cost factor.

It can bring in additional income for the household; the produce can be sold within the community.

Having a kitchen garden can inspire us to eat healthily. It can contribute significantly to a daily balanced diet by ensuring that we have foods from the different food groups and have nutritious, fresh and organic supplies at our disposal.

A kitchen garden can give us produce that is free from disease, pesticides and fertilisers. Our minds will be at ease knowing that what we are consuming is safe.
A kitchen garden will ensure food security, as there will be a steady supply.

Additionally, such a venture can turn into a productive hobby which can be used in a therapeutic way to reduce stress. A few minutes each day tending to trees and crops can help to relax our minds, drowning out the stresses of our daily lives.

Today, putting together a kitchen garden is very simple: no experience is required; just commitment, determination and creativity.

There are many gardening apps available, also, a plethora of information can be found on Facebook and gardening websites.

What is known is that kitchen gardens do not require a lot of space. If this is a factor, plants can be grown in pots or unwanted containers or even hanging baskets on your back porch. It is also a good idea depending on where you live to plant in raised beds which can be easily built with pieces of wood you might already have.

When it comes to a kitchen garden, the advantages are too many to ignore. Next time you go to throw away pumpkin or boulanger seeds or callaloo stalks, or you pass the stall in Bourda Market that sells seedlings for most of the popular vegetables and herbs, think about the possibilities. Think about how you can have all those things growing in your yard.