A historic turn, I hope. Joel
At 08:36 PM 6/11/08 -0400, you wrote: >Well, well. Here it comes. And not a moment too soon, I'd say. > >Jon > >================================================================== > >The New York Times >June 11, 2008 >Banking on Gardening >By MARIAN BURROS > >CASSANDRA FEELEY prefers organic ingredients, especially for her >baby, but she finds it hard to manage on her husband's salary as >an Army sergeant. So this year she did something she has wanted to >do for a long time: she planted vegetables in her yard to save >money. > >"One organic cucumber is $3 and I can produce it for pennies," she >said. > >For her first garden, Ms. Feeley has gone whole hog, hand-tilling >a quarter acre in the backyard of her house near the Fort Campbell >Army base in Kentucky. She has put in 15 tomato plants, five rows >of corn, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, peas, watermelon, >green beans. An old barn on the property has been converted to a >chicken coop, its residents arriving next month; the goats will be >arriving next year. > >"I spent $100 on it and I know I will save at least $75 a month on >food," she said. > >She is one of the growing number of Americans who, driven by >higher grocery costs and a stumbling economy, have taken up >vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the >size of their existing gardens. > >Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the rampant >inflation of the 1970s has there been such an uptick in interest >in growing food at home. Space in community gardens across the >country has been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex., >some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list. > >George C. Ball Jr., owner of the W. Atlee Burpee Company, said >sales of vegetable and herb seeds and plants are up by 40 percent >over last year, double the annual growth for the last five >years. "You don't see this kind of thing but once in a career," he >said. Mr. Ball offers half a dozen reasons for the phenomenon, >some of which have been building for the last few years, like >taste, health and food safety, plus concern, especially among >young people, about global warming. > >But, Mr. Ball said, "The big one is the price spike." The striking >rise in the cost of staples like bread and milk has been >accompanied by increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. > >"Food prices have spiked because of fuel prices and they redounded >to the benefit of the garden," Mr. Ball said. "People are driving >less, taking fewer vacations, so there is more time to garden." > >Each spring for the last five years, the Garden Writers >Association has had TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, a polling >firm, conduct a national consumer telephone survey asking >gardeners what makes up the greatest share of their garden >budgets. "The historic priorities are lawns, annuals, perennials, >then vegetables, followed by trees and shrubs," said Robert >LaGasse, executive director of the association. This year, >vegetables went from fourth place to second, which Mr. LaGasse >called "an enormous attitude shift." > >People like Rita Gartin of Ames, Iowa, are part of that >shift. Last year she kept a small garden. This year it has tripled >in size into a five-by-seven-foot plot because, Ms. Gartin said, >"The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a >few pounds, too; so it's a win-win situation all around." > >Ms. Gartin, who fits gardening into her 12-hour workday as an >interior designer and property manager, is not intimidated by the >20 kinds of vegetables she has planted: she was raised on a farm >with a giant garden. A fence has been erected to keep the deer and >people out, and it's where the pole beans and snap peas are >already climbing. > >She is ready to take a stab at canning, but reserves the right to >freeze everything instead, she said. > >"I probably spent maybe $50 for everything and that's less than a >week's cost of groceries or the price of a gym," she said. > >Seed companies and garden centers say they didn't see the rush >coming. There wasn't any buildup last year, said Barbara Melera, >the co-owner of the D. Landreth Seed Company in New Freedom, Pa., >who takes the pulse of gardeners at the 13 garden shows she >attends around the country each year. > >"We pack for all the shows and bring 16 different beans, 10 >packets for each kind," Ms. Melera said. In earlier years, by the >time the shows end in March, she said, "we are lucky if we have >sold two of the 10 packets." > >"This year," she said, "we sold out the first show and literally >sold hundreds. We never sell any corn; this year we sold out of >corn by the end of the season. We saw the same thing in the mail >order business." > >She said the greatest demand was for what she calls "survival >vegetables": peas, beans, corn, beets, carrots, broccoli, kale, >spinach and the lettuces. "It was so different from what it has >been in prior years," she added. > >Randy Martell, one of the owners of the Garden Factory in >Rochester, says it isn't just vegetables. "The potted fruit trees >were sold out by the first week of May," he said. "Blueberries, >raspberries and grapes are sold out. I think those sales have >doubled. Overall sales are up about 30 percent." > >Dottie Wright, greenhouse manager at one of the Dammann's Lawn, >Garden and Landscaping Centers in Indianapolis, said she talks to >people every day who are starting their first vegetable >garden. "If they don't have a yard they try containers for >tomatoes and herbs. We can't keep the herbs in this year." > >Thrilled as gardening experts are about this phenomenon, they know >that many first timers don't have any idea how much sweat equity >is involved. > >"Many people I sold seeds to have never gardened before," >Ms. Melera said, "and we have to find a way to educate them so the >experience is successful. They have got to be taught." > >Mr. Ball of Burpee knows some of the new gardeners won't stick >with gardening beyond the first year. "Some people can't get with >the idea of digging a hole; getting buggy, sticky and hot," he >said. "Gardening is an active hobby; it's a commitment." > >Doreen G. Howard, a former garden editor for Woman's Day and now a >writer for The American Gardener, is one of the committed. She has >had a vegetable garden for most of the last 25 years. This year >she has quadrupled the size of her vegetable plot in Roscoe, Ill., >because of the economy and because she thinks the quality of >store-bought produce has deteriorated. Once vegetables were just 5 >percent of her garden; now they are 20 percent. > >"Food prices have gotten to the point where we are seeing the >difference," she said. "It's pushing our budget and we are a >two-income family. It was never a concern before." Ms. Howard said >her grocery bill for two went from $100 a week to $140 a week this >year. > >She has chosen many vegetables that freeze well, investing in a >secondhand freezer to store the bounty. She plans to dry the herbs >that grow on the back porch next to boxes of mesclun, and to make >pickles from the cucumbers and raisins from the grapes -- her >newest addition. And she is looking forward to a cellar full of >Peruvian blue potatoes. > >Some of Ms. Howard's increased harvest will also go to food >pantries through an organization called Plant a Row for the >Hungry, which encourages gardeners to plant extra vegetables to >share with the poor. > >"I'm hoping to take $20 a week off my grocery bill," she >said. This is in the low range, according to Mr. Ball, who says a >$100 investment will produce $1,000 to $1,700 worth of vegetables. > >Ms. Gartin, now in her second year, says gardening is worth the >effort. > >"I got soft calluses from hoeing and digging," she said, adding >cheerfully, "but my fingernails are still pretty -- long and not >chipped. I probably spent 30 hours putting the garden in, and when >I'd come into the house I'd be covered in sweat. But now it's >pretty easy because of all the rain we've had." > >And the vegetables, she said, are "awesome." "It's a totally >different flavor from what you buy in the store. It's exciting to >go out and pick the fruits of your labor." > > >_______________________________________________ >For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, >please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > >RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >[email protected] >http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
