It was once common for people to grow their own fruits and vegetables but as time went by and as the modern supermarkets sprung up all over the United States even in the more rural areas people gave up on growing their own foods and started to purchase everything from the supermarkets.

In recent time however with the bad economy people have once again started to explore growing their own produce again. And here we give you five reasons for growing your own vegetable garden.

Freshness

In case you don't know fruits and vegetables taste better and are much more healthy for you if you eat them as soon as possible after they are picked. However the produce you find in supermarkets is often picked half ripe to extend shelf life and this always has a impact on flavor. You can do your own taste test. Try a tomato that has turned ripe on the vine and one you picked up at the supermarket and see which one tastes better. If you've never tasted a tomato straight off the vine then your in for a real taste treat when you eat the first tomato you grow. I promise you that your taste buds are in for quite a treat. Try a tomato sandwich made with slices of a tomato you grew and mayonnaise on good wheat bread accompanied with a glass of ice cold sweet milk and you will begin to understand why freshness is so important.

Quality

Supermarket produce is never going to taste as good as those fresh tomatoes you grow or that sweet corn from your own garden. I know I just simply love to grow my own squash because those shipped squash in the supermarket are never going to taste like those I get up early in the morning to pick before the sun gets hot. And let me tell you about those green onions. You will never in your life find a green onion that tastes anything like the one you pull from your own garden.

Price

Supermarket produce is so overpriced its ridiculous. When you grow your own produce from seed its about as inexpensive as its ever going to get. And even if you buy already started vegetable plants for your garden your still going to save money and the taste of your own fresh home grown produce is going to beat the taste of any store bought produce hands down.

Provenance

More and more people are starting to worry about where the produce they eat is grown and what kind of chemicals was used to grow it. When you grow your own produce you know exactly how your produce was grown and what chemicals was used on it. You can plant marigolds with your tomatoes and your tomatoes will be pest free. Grow a couple of containers of peppermint in your garden and it will help to keep your garden pest free and you will be able to use some of the mint in your cooking and you can make a wonderful tea from it. But be sure to grow your mint in a container or containers because if you plant your mint in the ground it will take over the whole garden. Rosemary is also another great herb to grow in your garden and it will also keep away garden pests. And you won't believe how great a pork roast tastes cooked with sprigs of freshly grown rosemary.

Variety

There are thousands of varieties of fruit and vegetables but your local supermarket only stocks the most popular fruits and vegetables. When you grow your own fruits and vegetables you can pick out and grow the varities you like and you can also pick out and grow vegetables that your never going to see in the supermarket.

Upside Down Tomatoes

Upside down Tomatoes are easy to grow and you can easily make your own upside down tomato containers and save the money you would spend for the manufactored upside down tomato containers. And the tomatoes grow much better hanging up side down. Post your comments below about upside down tomatoes.