Backyard gardening can inspire you to take an interest in the origins of your food and make better choices about what you put on your plate. When you grow your own food, you savor it more because of the effort it took to get to the table.

Growing your own food has many health benefits:

- It helps you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

- You decide what kinds of fertilizers and pesticides come in contact with your food.

- It lets you control when to harvest your food.

Vegetables that ripen in the garden have more nutrients than some store-bought vegetables that must be picked early. “Growing food is very simple,” says Kathleen Frith, managing director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE) at Harvard Medical School. “It takes a little time, but things like tomatoes, lettuce, peppers — basic kitchen crops — are very forgiving. Really, anyone can learn to grow food pretty easily.”

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Community gardens might seem like a secret club that no one else can be part of, but joining a community is easy and a great way to meet people, grow your own fresh produce and learn about gardening.

People join for different reasons. A lot of times it’s about growing fresh food and having a local space. For others it’s about the real social network that develops around these community gardens.

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