Gardening for Your Health, Hip Pocket, and The Planet
- Gregory Andrews
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 23 hours ago
Climate Conscience Man explains why growing veggies makes sense - for your body, wallet, and the world.
There’s something steadying about starting the day in the garden. Cool air. Quiet mind. Tomatoes in one hand, zucchinis in the other.
Climate Conscience Man's veggie patch isn’t perfect. Some plants bolt. Some sulk. Many get eaten by possums, currawongs and bugs before they make it to the plate. But it’s alive. And that’s the point.
Gardening used to be a hobby. But now it’s a habit. A small act of calm in a noisy world.
He started a decade ago with the basics - tomatoes, zucchinis, beans, cucumbers. Now, on a good summer morning, he can fill a basket while the coffee is brewing.
Yes, it’s good food. But more than that, it’s grounding.
The mental bit
In the garden, Climate Conscience Man is not thinking about Elon Musk, Pauline Hanson, or climate tipping points. He’s thinking: does the rhubarb need picking? Has that possum come back? Where's the trowel?
Even the weeds are good for his head. There’s something about watching a seed become food that feels like a small but certain win.
The health bit
When veggies are growing at your back door, you eat more of them. Simple. Climate Conscience Man's teenagers are more likely to eat what's been picked. It’s fresher. It’s unwrapped. It hasn’t sat in a truck for two weeks. And if a caterpillar sneaks through? Extra protein.
The money bit
It’s not free - there’s a bit of cost upfront. But once the garden’s going, it pays you back.
In summer, the weekly Aldi bill drops by about $100. There’s always something ready: tomatoes, aubergines, rhubarb, basil. He’s made pesto, frozen beans, and given away more zucchinis than he can count.
One zucchini plant can almost feed the whole street if it gets cocky.
The climate bit
No transport. No packaging. No cling-wrapped carrots.
Big agriculture uses a lot - fuel, plastic, fertiliser. Climate Conscience Man's garden runs on compost, chook poo, sunlight, and mild frustration with the possums and currawongs. He uses chilli powder against them. It mostly doesn't work. They mostly come back.
The resilience and serenity bit
In a world of climate shocks and cost-of-living chaos, a veggie patch is a small kind of insurance. It’s not about going off-grid. It’s about feeling a bit more prepared. A bit more connected. A bit more useful.
Climate Conscience Man swaps seedlings. He shares excess. Chats over the fence.There’s a quiet kind of community that grows with gardens. He reckons we need more of that. More active hope.
If you’re thinking about starting one - now’s the time. Zucchinis are a good way in. They grow like weeds. One plant can feed you for months. Grated zucchini goes into everything. It’s the tofu of the garden - quietly doing its job.
Got a garden going? Or planning one? Climate Conscience Man would love to hear how it’s growing. Drop a comment or suggesiton below.👇🏽
My garden is my solace. I’ve got a urban backyard but in it I’ve packed a huge diversity of plants and trees. No fence is bare - there’s snow peas, passion fruit and blackberries! I have added a few wicking beds now as it helps with reducing the need for overhead watering and for the first time I’ve grown decent celery. I have 3 worm farms as well as compost and chicken poo so I have finally achieved a closed system of recycling which has been my dream! I’ve also been experimenting with mushroom logs - but I have to find a way to get to the shiitakes before the slugs do! I share with my neighbours and they share…
I run a backyard permaculture garden where the public and my permaculture group can come to learn and experience sustainable living, so it includes my house too. You are right about zucchinis, my neighbours are all regularly supplied with these as well as whatever is over-producing as I progress through the seasons.
What I find about growing my own food apart being immensely grounding, is the savings I make on food, some weeks not spending anything (I am vegan after an illness and find this the quickest way to recover health). The biggest bonus is it has built close community and neighbour ties which I am very grateful for, they look out for me as much as I look out…
Totally agree. Weeding sucks but it must be done and when it's over it's a great feeling of accomplishment and relief 😉. It's the sharing that I like the most. We have so much that I am able to supply my fav thai restuarant with leftovers, at no cost of course. I love trying unusual plants. No chemicals, we cut out the bugs, make jam, chutneys etc using recycled jars. Also, have small but lovely orchard which looks like having a bountiful harvest this year. The birds can have their share of the really buggy ones. Even have a Feijoa, it's hardy which it needs to be out here. Hopefully, come January, we will have 1st taste. Cannot wait …
Hi Climate Conscious Man,
Firstly I love your blogs, thank you.
Growing veggies is a huge challenge of persistence, resilience and physical labour----- good character building.I have never managed to grow a bountiful crop here in Adelaide due to pests and weak growth.Despite a fully organic garden with home composting. but even a bit if greenery like kale, silver beet, warrigal spinach is worth it.Parsley is my forte.I let the plants go to seed, complete their life cycle.I have 2nd, 3rd , 4th generation parsley in abundance, it has many months of being suitable to pick....it's the best super green parsley ever, can be chopped and sprinkled liberally on meals and snacks.