As strange as the title of this article might sound to some people, it is, in fact, true. Millennials are gardening more than you’d expect. We all know the stereotype that millennials are technology addicts who have no interest in going out, not even to meet people, let alone engage in gardening. In fact, this is just that, a stereotype. The 2016 National Gardening Survey shows how out of the six million people who started gardening in 2015, five million were millennials.
Does this data intrigue you? Today, we’re going to explore more of what different surveys show, including millennials’ favorite activities in the garden. Then, we’re also going to provide you with some popular gardening blogs for millennials you should keep an eye on.
Millennials Are Gardening: What Does the Data Show?
Millennials Like to Save Money
One of the main reasons why people start gardening is because they want to save money. Growing your own vegetables, herbs, and fruits can help you pay less when going to the supermarket. Even if the effects might not be immediately noticeable, in time, you’ll realize you’ve managed to save quite a bit of money by relying on gardening.
Millennials are one of the groups most intent on saving money. According to a survey conducted by TD Ameritrade, 72 percent of millennials are putting money aside for retirement purposes, 80 percent of them have a budget, and 51 percent have already created an emergency fund. All of this data shows that millennials are conscientious when it comes to dealing with money. Then, it should come as no surprise that they prefer gardening over buying their fruits and vegetables from the supermarket.
Millennials Care About the Environment
Another reason why millennials are gardening more and more is that they’re aware of the fact that buying products that have been shipped from faraway places is damaging to the environment. According to a Nielsen study, millennials are looking for ways they can personally help create a healthier environment. Moreover, they’re concerned with “food miles” (how long a food item has traveled on its way from the producer to the consumer). This means that they want to shrink this distance as much as possible. Growing your own plants definitely will accomplish that.
Millennials Like to Experiment with Food
A Barkley survey shows that 65 percent of millennials adore cooking. Moreover, a whopping 75 percent like eating food coming from other cultures. This means millennials are gardening because they enjoy the challenge this poses. They’re both adventurous eaters and adventurous cooks. That’s why gardening is the perfect outlet for them to express their creativity. They can try growing new and exotic things, see how they develop, and later use them for cooking purposes.
What Do Millennials Like to Do in the Garden?
1. Be Creative
Since a lot of millennials don’t live in houses with a garden, but they still want to engage in the practice of gardening, they’re forced to come up with all sorts of creative ways of doing so. For instance, they use their balconies to grow plants, or they create vertical gardens between buildings. Containers are also great places to grow plants for young people who don’t have a lot of space to use for gardening purposes. All in all, millennials aren’t afraid to experiment when it comes to building their own garden, no matter how small it is. This is what makes the practice more enjoyable and motivates them to use gardening as a hobby.
2. Socialize
It’s no secret that millennials are huge fans of socializing. While most people think millennials only socialize online, the truth is that they also enjoy meeting their friends and family members in person to catch up. One of the best settings for this is the garden. Planting a garden with someone can be something extremely meaningful, whether that person is a friend, a child, a significant other, and so on. Not only does it provide you with a common goal. It also helps you spend time together and develop a deeper relationship.
3. Use Technology to Help Them
The fact that most millennials are so technology-savvy can be of great help in the garden. Whenever millennials are gardening, they can use online resources to find out how to take care of plants, what to stay away from in the garden, and what are some of the best recipes to cook with the plants they want to grow. They have access to articles, videos, tutorials, and so on, which makes the gardening experience much easier.
4. Have a Purpose
You’ve probably noticed that millennials need to feel like everything they do has a well-established purpose. Well, gardening makes no exception. If you ask a millennial why he or she is gardening, you’ll definitely get a clear answer. Whether that answer is that they want to help the environment, eat healthier, save money, spend more time outside, or all of them combined, millennials tend not to do things just for the sake of doing it.
5. Grow Superfoods
As we’ve already mentioned, some millennials are gardening with the purpose of eating healthier. What better way to eat healthier than to grow superfoods? If you’re not familiar with what superfoods are, we’re here to tell you. Superfoods are those foods that come packed with health benefits. Some examples would be blueberries, beans, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, ginger, and so on. Since millennials are interested in nutrition, diet, and health, they tend to grow more superfoods than other groups.
6. Grow Plants for Smoothies and Juices
Yet another trend when it comes to millennials and gardening involves growing plants that they can later use to make delicious juices, cocktails, and smoothies. Perhaps you’ve noticed how much young people are into drinking their meals or snacks whenever possible. That’s because they’re constantly on the run, and they’re looking for quick and healthy fixes.
7. Grow Succulents
Since we’ve already mentioned what millennials enjoy growing in the garden in terms of vegetables, herbs, and fruits, we thought we’d also take a look at what kind of decorative plants they’re most likely to grow. The answer is succulents. They’re cute, tiny, and easy to take care of. That means they meet all the characteristics millennials look for in a plant. They don’t take up a lot of space, they look great in any home and picture, and you don’t have to waste a lot of time taking care of them. You can purchase a Unique Succulent Collection right here.
4 Popular Gardening Blogs for Millennials
If you’re a millennial yourself, or if you know millennials who are interested in gardening, this list of 4 of the most popular gardening blogs for millennials is perfect for you.
1. The Millennial Gardener
As you can tell from its name, this gardening blog is entirely dedicated to millennials who want to garden. It’s designed to make this practice easier for them, by providing them with all sorts of tips and tricks. For instance, some of the topics approached on this blog are: how not to take plants for granted, how to take care of plants without spending a lot of money, or how to care for plants in the cold season.
2. The 20-30 Something Garden Guide
Again, a pretty self-explanatory gardening blog, this one is targeted to people of 20 something or 30 something years, age groups where all millennials fit. There are many things that you can learn from browsing through this blog, such as how to create a vegetable garden in the fall, how to grow glass gem corn, how to buy seeds and cold frames, and more.
3. Sky Gardens
The reason why we also wanted to include the Sky Gardens blog here is that it’s focused on gardening which is environmentally friendly. Since we’ve already established millennials share this interest, they’re also probably going to like this blog. The blog looks mostly at green roof architecture, which is a practice more and more people are starting to look into since it targets individuals who don’t own an actual garden. Sky Gardens provides people with information on rooftop gardening, all the while focusing on exchanging ideas and inspiration.
4. Get Busy Gardening
Finally, the last gardening blog for millennials we wanted to mention is Get Busy Gardening, which is actually a blog targeted to people who are beginner gardeners and don’t have a lot of money to invest in this practice. This makes it a great resource for millennials. You can find tips and tricks on growing food, maintenance, DIYs, pests, and so on. It will make gardening less intimidating of an endeavor and motivate you to spend more time in the garden.
Summing It All Up
One thing’s for sure: millennials are gardening more and more, and they’re doing it for all the right reasons. They want to eat healthier, help preserve the environment, save money, bond with loved ones while tending to the garden and grow plants that look good. If we consider the impressive statistics showing the high numbers of millennials who are gardening, we can only assume that in the future, even more young people will become interested in growing their own food and spending time around plants.
