by Bruce Beamish, Cancer Council WA Regional Education Officer for the Great Southern

During isolation and we’ve seen a renewed interest around the world in growing and making food at home.

There was a time when growing your own vegies was the norm: every bit of available land was planted with staples to help keep the family fed. Only the very wealthy could afford to have ornamental gardens, and lawns were an extravagance.

Over the years the home vegie patch has lost its popularity. This is because of changing tastes and expectations, changes in the way we work and spend our leisure time, access to cheap produce from markets and supermarkets, and changes to houses and properties.

Covid-19 changed everything. Food security was no longer guaranteed, panic buying left many supermarket shelf bare and prices began to skyrocket. People spending more time at home were looking for creative ways to spend their time. Alongside baking, home gardening has taken on a new appeal. It isn’t hard to see why!

Benefits of growing your food

picking radishes

Delicious food at your door (with the bonus of knowing how it was grown)
Saving money: new research from the University of South Australia has shown that (not counting garden setup costs) 79% of people who established vegetable gardens were estimated to have saved over $250 on their annual grocery bill,
Good for mental health: gardening has been shown to reduce stress and promote mindfulness, is creative and productive, and gives a sense of achievement
Good for the environment: zero food miles, no plastic packaging and a reduction in landfill if you compost your food scraps
Improving kids’ eating habits: children who participate in growing and cooking food are better at trying new things and eating more vegies.

Thinking of trying your hand? We’ve got a series of blogs to get you started, covering everything from construction and design, soil, composting, propagation and choosing what to grow. Good luck on your home gardening adventure!

We’d love to hear about how your garden grows! Tag the LiveLighter Campaign in your socials (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).