subject: Why You Might Want To Start An Herb Garden [print this page] There are a whole host of reasons why someone might want to start an herb garden. Aside from the obvious reason that herbs are a delicious and healthy addition to your recipes, herb gardens are good for your health and your mind.
One of the best reasons to start an herb garden is because herbs taste good. Herbs add a lot of flavor to dishes, without adding all of the things that are unhealthy for you, such as salt, sugar, cholesterol and fat. Adding a lot of fresh herbs to your dishes is probably the number one recommendation of nutritionists when they are designing menus to help people lose weight, just for that reason. Fresh herbs also add a fresh taste to things like canned stocks. Just add some fresh herbs to your chicken stock and it suddenly doesnt taste like canned stock anymore.
Another great reason to start an herb garden is that cultivating an herb garden is good for your overall physical health. Spend a little bit of time lifting full watering cans, or pushing a wheelbarrow of top soil and youll get a decent work out. Of course, you should always be careful not to injure yourself, but what other workout is there that will help you become healthier and give you great tasting herbs at the same time?
Yet another good reason to start an herb garden is that growing an herb garden is good for your mental and emotional well being. Research has shown that those who garden have improved mental focus and hand-eye coordination. This is one of the reasons why seniors find gardening so rewarding. It helps them stay sharp, while others in their age group would be declining.
Emotional well being is another reason to start an herb garden, but that is a relatively new discovery. For some time, society has thought of those who find emotional peace from plants as hippies or eccentric. However, research has found a correlation between those who spend time gardening and elevated mood. Gardening usually requires you to spend time outdoors and being out in sunlight and fresh air does have the effect of lifting ones mood. In fact, some people suffer from a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is similar to depression, but brought on by a seasonal lack of sunlight and time spent outdoors. It is also emotionally uplifting to have your hard work rewarded. Gardening is not an instant gratification type of hobby. It requires patience, and when your patience is rewarded with delicious herbs, it feels very good indeed.
As you can see, there are a lot of reasons to start an herb garden. Its easy to do and doesnt cost a lot of money. Even if you dont have a yard to start an herb garden in, you can still grow a container herb garden and they have the added benefit of being easily moved and rearranged to give your patio or balcony a different look. Give it a try and youll see how rewarding it can be.