Vegetable growing

I get a real sense of wellbeing from attempting to grow fruit and vegetables.  There is something wonderful about being in the fresh air, working, watching, hoping and then finally tasting what you have helped grow.  It helps me appreciate the time, effort and expertise that goes into the production and supply of our food.  We're still very much beginners at growing.  We started with a few pots containing strawberries, tomatos and blueberry bushes 3 years ago and are very slowly building up. 

Time is the main prohibiting factor, along with the expense of turning a concrete retangle into my little paradise.  I'd always thought that growing your own was cheaper than buying from the supermarket until a conversation with a friend made me realise that it is actually quite an outlay if you have to buy soil, wood for raised beds, water butts, seeds, not to mention tools. It can also be quite emotional if you've spent hours and days lovingly tending seedlings to have them end up as a snack for a herd of hungry slugs.

Over time the costs should go down, our level of knowledge should increase and our crop output go up.  But rather than measure our success by how much we have managed to grow to eat, I want to measure it by how much happiness and satisfaction the whole growing experience has given us.  However, for me, there is an even more important reason for having our own little vegetable plot than saving money or enabling me to pick the tastiest, freshest cherry tomato I've ever eaten.  The reason to do it is to show my daughters the miracle of nature and hope they are as amazed and in awe of it as me.