This audiobook contains proven steps and strategies on what you should know before you start a garden. These days, more and more people are discovering the joys of playing in the dirt - although grown-ups might prefer the term "gardening." Food gardening is especially hot, with nearly 20 percent more households hopping on the food-growing train during the past five years. Renewed interest in gardening may be due in part to the local food movement. 

Locavores are interested in having greater access to healthy, high-quality food, knowing where their food comes from, and supporting the environment and the local economy. Gardening (especially organic gardening) certainly fits the bill! 

Kitchen gardening has also been shown to have significant health benefits. For starters, it encourages people to engage in other behaviors and activities that promote wellness, connecting food environments and health through the relational nature of aesthetics. 

For example, gardeners consume more fruits and vegetables than non-gardeners. The influence of social involvement, neighborhood aesthetics, and community garden participation on fruit and vegetable consumption. When gardeners choose to grow food organically, they're reducing their exposure to pesticides and potentially eating produce with a higher nutrient content organic foods contain higher levels of certain nutrients, lower levels of pesticides, and may provide health benefits for the consumer. Gardening also reduces stress and improves mental health. And it counts as moderate-intensity exercise, which can help people live longer lives physical activity of moderate intensity in leisure time, and the risk of all-course mortality. With all those good reasons to garden, what are you waiting for? Whether you have your own plot of land or will need to pursue an alternative approach to gardening, get started with this handy guide to the gardening basics. Kitchen gardening is often a process of trial and error, so remember to relax and have fun with it. We promise, it's not as intimidating as it might seem!