We can spend a lifetime achieving financial security and perhaps develop a taste for fine food and wine along the path. However, nothing compares with the forgotten flavours and extended shelf life linked to the “champagne food” we can produce in our own backyards. There are many other benefits associated with home food production, including the following:

• There is nothing more relaxing than communing with nature in your garden. We live in a stress-filled society and the cliché “stress kills” is profoundly true on so many levels.

• Food security is becoming increasingly important in uncertain times and the home garden is the essence of self-reliance.

• Food prices are rising and destined to continue escalating in line with increased production costs, linked to oil prices. The home garden can prove a big cost saver.

• There is no greater gift to your child than to inspire a love of gardening and nature. They can escape the digital entertainment and get some exercise and sunshine therapy, punctuated with healthy vegetable or fruit snacks direct from the garden.

• Building the levels of organic matter (humus) on your property can be your biggest personal contribution in terms of combating global warming. A 1% increase represents 20 tonnes per hectare of CO2 that is now stored in the soil, rather than in the atmosphere.

• Every 1% of organic matter that you can build in your soil equates to an increased water-holding capacity of 17 litres per square metre. Building humus is the secret to drought-proofing your garden and reducing your water consumption.

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