My first year of gardening!

From spacing and pests to soil, I've learned so much about gardening. Now that it's an established part of my life, I'm baffled that I once didn't know what any of these vegetable plants looked like. A year ago, if you'd asked me what a zucchini plant looked like, I wouldn't have had the slightest clue. Society has drifted so far from the food chain that, to kids like me, vegetables might as well sprout from thin air. I was oblivious to the sheer effort it takes just to get a meal on the table. I used to think cooking was time-intensive, but that's only half the story. Hours of labor and life go into the ingredients on those counters. Each vegetable represents not only a caregiver's hard work but also the effort of the plant that bore it. This newfound awareness of how challenging it is to cultivate food has shown me how vulnerable we are. We trust grocery stores will always have enough for everyone. Growing your own food? That's the ultimate freedom.