I began vegetable gardening at a very young age many many years ago thanks to my dad. He showed me everything I needed to know and I instantly loved it. Sure it was hard work (still is), but vegetable gardening is one of those hobbies where your hard work pays off in the form of something you can eat.

In my dad's garden it was always about radishes, tomatoes and corn, and today in my own garden, the tomatoes still reign king followed by squash and peppers.

More and more people today are growing their own vegetables then every before. In fact the National Gardening Association, a non profit group based out of South Burlington, VT estimates that 48 million people grew a vegetable garden this past year, an increase of almost twelve percent from the previous year.

What may take you by surprise are the reasons as to why many are growing their own food. Off the top of your head you would think it would be the economy, but only 34% of people cited the slowing economy as the reason why.

Ranking tops on the list for reasons why people grow their own food was, for better taste. Fact is when you control what you grow, you also can decide when to harvest, and so on. That directly correlates to the taste of the food. Pick it too soon and it could be bland. Pick it too late and it could be bitter. You get the point.

Next on the list was people wanted to save money on their food bills. According to the USDA a single pack of vegetable seeds can produce well over $200 in vegetables compared to prices paid at your local grocery store. Throw in many varieties of vegetables and food saving techniques such as canning and you can literally wipe out any need to buy vegetables from your grocery store ever again.

On that same list, and rising quickly, is the ability to know that the food you are eating is safe. How many times have you turned on the news, read on your favorite internet news website or heard on the radio of an e. coli bacteria outbreak, or food recall. When you grow your own food, you know what you are putting in the ground, therefore controlling the environment in which the vegetables grow, making your food safer.

Maybe your reasons for growing your own vegetables differ from these, but whatever the reasons are, there is no mistaking the financial and nutritional value you get from home vegetable gardening.