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Home » Harvard Health Blog » Backyard gardening: grow your own food, improve your health - Harvard Health Blog

Backyard gardening: grow your own food, improve your health

POSTED JUNE 29, 2012, 4:35 PM

Heidi Godman
Executive Editor, Harvard Health Letter

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quali ed clinician.

When it comes to gardening, I am all thumbs, and not the green kind. But a new book from First Lady
Michelle Obama is inspiring me to try my hand (thumbs and all) at backyard vegetable gardening.
American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America details the
challenges and joys the First Lady has experienced with her now-famous White House garden. It also looks at community gardens all across
America, and how they can improve health.

The book contains helpful hints for starting your own vegetable garden, as well as a school or community garden. Along with the how-to
information about seed spacing, irrigation, soil types, and the right time to plant various vegetables, American Grown also discusses Mrs. Obama’s
“Let’s Move” initiative. How does that t into a book on gardening? In addition to getting more physical activity, so the thinking goes, eating
more food harvested from the ground and less from packages can help kids — and adults — become healthy or stay that way.

“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,”
says Dr. Helen Delichatsios, an internist at Harvard-a liated Massachusetts General Hospital. “When you grow your own food, you savor it more
because of the e ort it took to get to the table.”

Growing your own food has many health bene ts:

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 your own food isn’t rocket science. “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.”

Frith proved that when she spearheaded the Harvard Community Garden, a large collaborative project in Harvard Square. Students tend the
garden and grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. The garden’s bounty is donated to food shelters or featured on the menu at the Harvard
Faculty Club. You can see photos of the garden here.

If you’re interested in growing food in your backyard, Frith o ers these tips:

Start small and plant things you’d really like to eat.

Pick a spot with at least 6 hours of good daytime light and access to water.
Use contaminant-free soil.
Consider using a raised garden bed, which allows you to control the soil and nutrient blend.
Talk to farmers or other backyard gardeners in your area to get a sense of what grows well in your region and when. /
If you don’t have space for a garden at home, a community garden is another option. You can nd one in your community through the American
Community Gardening Association.

“You will be amazed by how much fun gardening can be, and the pride you take in sharing healthy food nurtured by your own e orts,” says
Acacia Matheson, the CHGE’s assistant director of communications. “We hope that people will develop more interest in learning about their food
choices, and how to prepare fresh, healthy food at home.”

Be patient as you cultivate your relationship with your garden and the Earth. Before long, you’ll reap the bene ts. You may even see a little tinge
of green on those thumbs.

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COMMENTS TOPICS

18 Exercise and Fitness | Healthy Eating

Comments:
POSTED AUGUST 24TH, 2012 AT 4:46 AM

Seal

Growing your own food isn’t rocket science. “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.” i agree with tihs.

POSTED AUGUST 22ND, 2012 AT 8:14 PM

teguh
backyard gardening is my hobby, it’s healthy activity and healthy food, good article.

POSTED AUGUST 21ST, 2012 AT 6:58 AM

Rebecca

I have a little garden at my home’s backyard and i have grown so many veg. this is awesome when we pluck veg from our own garden and
cook them…

POSTED AUGUST 19TH, 2012 AT 9:47 PM

Bill Worley
Good post!! Thanks Heidi.
Gardening o ers many opportunities to improve one’s life by providing outdoor exercise, and excellent nutrition with home-grown fruits and
vegetables.
By the way, I am seeking monthly list of gardening tips and “to dos” that are appropriate for that time of year including what to plan, plant,
prune, maintain, plus weed and pest control and fun projects. Any help will be highly appreciated!
Bill Worley

/
POSTED AUGUST 13TH, 2012 AT 10:16 AM

Paul F Davis
Thank you for your commitment to improve public health and help us become more knowledgeable.

POSTED AUGUST 10TH, 2012 AT 5:40 PM

Cadrian

Polyunsaturated fats are the good guys; these fats help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Yes, you will lose weight after a while, but the
body starts to slow down in order to conserve calories. Start your lunch or dinner with a salad or vegetable soup and then protein followed by
carbohydrate. To prevent stress and what it can do to your diet, try exercising every day. The question is not whether it is realizable because I
know it is quite achievable but, how safe and healthy is the program? You can loose all that weight in a glance today but the danger is that
you can gain it back and even more weight later.

POSTED AUGUST 7TH, 2012 AT 1:13 PM

John

i have a raised bed garden and this year was the rst in many years now for an amazing tomato harvest. One thing to consider if you have to
use pots though….I tried for a couple of years to grow the tomato’s in 15 gallon plastic containers that I’d saved from some trees i purchased.
No matter the soil or water provided the plants always wound up very anemic. Turns out the black containers were raising the temperature
too much for the tomato’s sensitive root system….so something to think about.
One more thing i nd in growing my own is that I nd the hand watering a very calming therapuetic time in my morning!

POSTED AUGUST 3RD, 2012 AT 10:21 PM

thanh

This is an important consideration for those of us who love to read about a variety of topics! Thank you for the information.

POSTED AUGUST 3RD, 2012 AT 12:47 AM

beptucaocap.vn

Growing your own vegetables at your backyard de nitely is a practical thing to do but also healthy.

POSTED AUGUST 1ST, 2012 AT 3:19 AM

Anonymous
Kratom comes from the Kratom tree. It’s leaves have been used by indigenous cultures around the world for thousands of years. It has been
used for medicinal, recreational, and spiritual purposes. Kratom is found native to Southeast Asia in the oristic regions of Indochina and
Malaysia. Kratom, also known as Mitragyna Speciosa, is a leaf harvested from the Rubiaceae tree family.

POSTED JULY 28TH, 2012 AT 12:31 PM

chloe

I always like the idea of backyard gardening:) Not only you got a chance to grow your own foods, but also spending quality time with your
children right at the backard!

Dr Chloe Lenon

POSTED JULY 23RD, 2012 AT 11:03 PM

seoacer
Grow your own food without adding chemical agents, is more healthy.Thanks for the information.

POSTED JULY 20TH, 2012 AT 3:31 PM

/
 Nutrition Principles
We’ve been growing a garden for years, but recently we haven’t had the space and we’ve seen a huge di erent in the taste of our food. There’s
nothing like home grown food from your own garden!

POSTED JULY 13TH, 2012 AT 1:24 PM

Mankepe

I love it, I also started mine in January 2012, it was small but its growing Spinach, peppers, tomatooes,kale. I yet to try pumpkin and potatoes

POSTED JULY 10TH, 2012 AT 2:13 AM

Ern

Growing your own vegetables at your backyard de nitely is a practical thing to do but also healthy. There have been a lot of buzz going on
about organic foods because it has no fertilizer in it. This is the same way the First Lady is doing. I think everybody should emulate her for
doing this.

Ern

POSTED JULY 9TH, 2012 AT 8:27 AM

T. Renault

My father was always the gardener in my family. Myself personally have always had a hard time getting things to grow . With that said I, will
consider some of the tips in this post and try again.

Thanks for the information.

POSTED JULY 7TH, 2012 AT 11:30 AM

Anonymous
This is an important consideration for those of us who love to read about a variety of topics! Thank you for the information.

POSTED JULY 6TH, 2012 AT 5:15 AM

prabhu

its a grt infomration and vegetables which grown in backyard are 100% orgain and no chemicals are use to grown and it very heatly than
other types of grown vegetable

Commenting has been closed for this post.

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