growing your own is it worth the effort

[Nicos]

I blame our grandparents...always harping on about the 'grand old days'
Things were easy for them- they had DDT.

[WrexTheDragon]

If you do it right, you will not get hurt.

Lot's of advantages with GYO, just think of the health benefits.

[Patchninja]

It just feels good to feel part of nature even if it is slugs and birds!!! And, my veggie patch is so pretty with the mix of veggeis and nasturtiums etc that is makes my little heart sing.

[weekendwellies]

... but what about the rest of our body that gets damaged in the making of it?

Well, some people like to play sports, some people like to do DIY, they get injured, thats the way it goes.
Thats Life.... if you take sensible precautions, and practice a bit of H&S and apply a bit of common sense, you are less likely to be injured. But if you didnt do anything because you didnt want to injure yourself ever, then it would be a very dull life indeed, albeit a long one most likely.
Wrap yourself up in cotton wool by all means.

[Jardiniere]

i grow veg on my plot so i've got an excuse to stand about on the side of the river and just look at it....s'pose i could take up fishing instead but ........
it used to be totally overgown with trees and bushes and birds nesting .....perhaps i should have left it like that?
Oh No! what have i done .....frightened off the blackbirds just for some scabby bits of celery...............

[cupcake]

Definitely worth it. You just have to treat gardening like learning a foreign language, you'll make mistakes, you won't be fluent for a long while, but everyone appreciates the effort, well except in Albufiera where if you tried a few words of Portuguese they spoke English back to you

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Yes need to type to have more than 10 characters

[toastie]

Have had one (half) plot for 4 years and one (half) for about 12 months and definitely think its worth it. Nothing better than growing your own fruit and veg, and sharing it with friends and family etc. Wouldn't change it for the world.

[Two_Sheds]

We hurt our backs, knees, wrists, fingers, get things in our eyes, splinters, cuts, trap our fingers etc

Only if we're extremely careless

[weekendwellies]

Yes need to type to have more than 10 characters

i put in a row of dots then change the colour to white when that happens.

[Hilary B]

Our garden is tiny and we did everything in contaners this year, we managed enough spuds for Sunday dinner for about 4 months, enough runner beans and courgettes to get tired of them, some sugarpod peas, a few carrots, the leeks are still to be gathered, some chillies, and it wasn't much effort at all.
Yes it's worth it, I just wish we had something like double the space (much more than that and I would never make the effort it would need) but worth it? every time!

[Flummery]

It's worth it if only for exercise and fresh air. But nothing beats the smugness factor of your own veg, your chickens' eggs, your jam and wine from your own fruits, chutneys pickles etc. Oh yes, it's worth it!

[stella]

In a way growing is a bit like playing chess. You put the seeds in nature floods with rain, you replant down come the bugs. It depends who has the most patience to get to the final first, if you see what I mean

[pauco]

Well for me in my 1st year of GYO, and only growing tom's this time, yes it was worth every minute of it! Just going to pick those tom's for the 1st time was a real pleasure.
So a big thumbs up from me.

[Snadger]

i put in a row of dots then change the colour to white when that happens.

What a clever little weekendwellies..never thought of that!