Friday, March 20, 2009

Time to Get Growing

Due to the tough economy and rising food prices, more people are turning to gardening as a major food source. I want this economic slump to end as much as anybody, but I'm happy to see a silver lining: more Americans will be eating fresh, local (as local as it gets!) food - good for our budgets, our waistlines, and our taste buds, too.

According to this article, flower seed sales are down, but vegetable seed sales are way up, and the National Gardening Association predicts that there will be 40% more homes with vegetable gardens this summer than there were two years ago.

Even the White House is getting its own vegetable garden (for the first time since World War II): an 1100-square-foot plot will host 55 varieties of plants, including spinach, chard, collards, kale, lettuces, hot peppers, tomatillos, berries, and herbs. The total cost for seeds, mulch, etc: $200.

Are you planning a garden this year? What will you grow?

3 comments:

A_and_N said...

We'd LOVE to grow our own veggies...well at least some of them...but unfortuantely we live in an apartment with not a lot of space. But that wont deter us :) We're working on getting some small flower pots and then take a shot at growing some basic herbs. that should be a good starting point I guess :) Its a pity that flower seeds' sales ahve gone down though...they are also nature's delight :)

Anonymous said...

I wish. One of the things Zach and I always talk about with the move to Texas is getting a balcony apartment so I can grow jalapeƱos and peppers.

Sarah said...

We're in the same boat. Our apartment is on the third floor and we don't have a deck or a balcony. I'm going to grow some potted herbs this spring. Our landlord (who lives in the building) has a huge vegetable garden and says we can take what we like, which is really nice!