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Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1464520
APRIL 2022 HOME 7 Fresh start From Page 5 There's something about the satisfaction of growing your food. It's a reconnection with nature, the environment and our basic roots. We hear a lot about carbon footprints today. It's basically a measurement of the carbon we produce daily in our lives. Our goal should be to reduce the impact that our actual lives are putting on the ecosystem. Planting a veg- etable garden is one way to reduce this footprint. 3. Back to basics You hear a lot these days about getting back to basics. What does this actually mean? It means: to return to previously held norms, val- ues and traditions. To me this means return- ing to a lifestyle that is more hands-on, less stressful and much simpler. This is where growing your own food comes in. Gardening for food has been around since the begin- ning and has been a part of every culture. As a child I spent countless hours in my father's and grandfather's gardens helping out. I learned a lot from garden- ing in those formative years. It gave me a connection to nature and the world around me. I felt part of it. People are again finding out how satisfying growing your own food can be. 4. Perfect timing Businesses are downsizing and scaling back, vacations have been postponed or delayed, and we're traveling less and staying closer to home. So now is the perfect time to start growing our own food again. Not only does this give us the chance to improve our own little part of the world around us, it gives us a chance to recon- nect with our roots, and hope- fully pass it on to the next generation. Whatever the reasons, I see nothing but positives coming from this. So have fun, recon- nect with your roots, and enjoy growing your own food again. Happy gardening! (Michael Timm is the chief horticulturalist for Ebert's Greenhouse Village in Ixonia.) Photo by Michael Timm When you choose what to put in a garden, you can start with container plants, like peppers.