Posted on 02/22/2008 8:32:03 AM PST by Gabz
Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach are battling back by growing their own food.
Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies. Although the 2008 planting season is still largely in the planning stages, it appears vegetable seed sales will be up significantly from year-ago figures, said Barb Melera, president of D. Landreth Seed Co., in New Freedom, Pa.
"I just came back from the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta and we sold three- to four times the amount of seed packets we did the previous year," Melera said. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in the supermarket.' That's a 180-degree turn from the norm."
Roger Doiron, a gardener and fresh food advocate from Scarborough, Maine, said he turned $85 worth of seeds into more than six months of vegetables for his family of five.
"We're closing in on mid-February and we still have several quarts of tomato sauce, bags of mixed vegetables and ice-cube trays of pesto in the freezer; 20 heads of garlic, a five-gallon crock of sauerkraut, more homegrown hot pepper sauce than one family could comfortably eat in a year and three sorts of squash, which we make into soups, stews and bread," he said.
As founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International, a nonprofit group promoting home gardening and healthier food, Doiron pays close attention to pocketbook issues. Food prices, gasoline prices and oil prices are all up sharply compared to a year ago, making it more challenging to put a meal on the table, Doiron said.
"I see home gardens as a way of broadening and democratizing the local foods revolution which until now has been more of an upper-class phenomenon," he said by e-mail. "Home gardening allows people to have their fresh, organic salad greens and pay for them, too."
At $3.80 a gallon, whole milk cost more through November of last year than the $2.99 average for unleaded gas, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and AAA.
Egg prices were 19.5 percent higher in June of 2007 than they were the previous June, the U.S. Department of Labor said. Over that same period, the cost of whole milk rose 13.3 percent, fresh chicken was up 10 percent, apples 11.7 percent, dried beans 11.5 percent and white bread 9.6 percent.
And the worst may be yet to come. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said retail prices would continue to climb as more agricultural crops, primarily corn, are processed into biofuels. Greater demand from India and China also are contributing to what likely will be long-term food cost increases, the agency said.
Those conditions are ripe for an increase in gardening, said Rose Hayden-Smith, a garden educator and historian with the University of California-Davis.
"You always see an uptick in gardening activity in keeping with economic conditions — consumer-driven waves that emulate recession and inflation-driven economies," Hayden-Smith said.
Hayden-Smith compares the current period of market uncertainty with that of the early- to mid-20th Century when the concept of "victory gardens" became popular in the U.S, Canada and Europe.
"A lot of companies during the world wars and the Great Depression era encouraged vegetable gardening as a way of addressing layoffs, reduced wages and such," she said in a telephone interview. "Some companies, like U.S. Steel, made gardens available at the workplace. Railroads provided easements they'd rent to employees and others for gardening."
During World War II, gardens were pitched as an important part of the war effort — by war's end, the victory gardens were turning out 40 percent of the nation's produce, freeing up big farms to supply the troops. And they were important at home in a time of rising food prices and rationing, the Kitchen Gardeners' Doiron said.
"Home gardens made the difference between people being well fed and going to bed hungry," he said, adding that the gardens increased consumption of fruits and vegetables to historic highs.
Now, as then, gardeners are getting serious about what they're planting; the gardeners who Melera met at the recent trade show were not just interested in flowers or hobby plants.
"They came to me with things like, 'How can I maximize what I put into a small plot?'" she said. "They're beginning to think in the old-fashioned way about vegetable gardening not just being there for entertainment purposes. They need it to yield stuff."
Jim Gerritsen, co-owner of WoodPrairie Farm, a certified organic, family-run operation near Bridgewater, Maine, said his sales are up.
"This year, we're getting more questions tied into self-reliance," he said. "We're hearing new gardens are being prepared for the first time, former gardeners are coming back to the garden and existing gardens are being enlarged."
Weekly Gardening PING!!!!!!!!!
I can’t wait for spring! Bring it on.
I’ve started a few crops, lettuce, peas, tomatoes. It’s bit early I guess, for around here but I can start more in a couple more weeks. That way, if we get an early spring, I’m ready, and if not, the second planting will be ready just in time.
I keep sayign I’m going to, but I have to be honest -— I haven’t started a danged thing yet.
Peas and lettuce I will start directly outside, probably in about 2 weeks. The weather has just been too weird here.
But like you, I can’t wait for spring, I’m tired of wet and cold..........although I will be thankful for all the wet later on down the road.
I found some lettuce one spring when the snow melted. The snow prevented it from freezing and when it melted it just kept on growing. It was nice to have some VERY early lettuce, so I know they can handle the cool weather.
I also know peas can handle the cold fairly well and they grow just fine in early spring.
However, what I found is that the seeds take FOREVER to germinate in the cold soil. So instead of planting the seeds when the soil can be worked, I plant the plants and get about a month’s worth of waiting past. I also do plant some seeds about that time, but the plants have such a head start that I get continuous crops by the time the seeds start producing. Then the older first plants, if they’re done, can get pulled up and make room for more warm weather crops like tomatoes and zucchini.
My cabbage seedlings came up Wednesday! I’m so psyched.
This year I’m going to plant mostly open-pollinated. I just keep turning the seed packets over in my hands, like little gold pieces, WAITING FOR SPRING.
To be honest, I never thought to start peas indoors. Probably because I was always told to start them outdoors around St. Patrick’s Day (when I lived in Delaware, now I do it earlier) also, I plant a lot of them.
Yippee on your cabbage!!!!!!
You start PEAS indoors? And it works??? I've got trays and dirt (I understand the hoity-toity gardeners call it "soil") out in the garage now. Time to set it up!
Sounds good, but have y’all checked the price of fertilizer lately? It’s doubled, at least. Seeds have gone up too. OTOH, people who don’t garden are in for an even bigger shock. We’ve lived a long time with reasonable food prices. I think we’re about to see that come to a crashing halt.
Using food for fuel is a stupid idea. Sure, it’s renewable, but think about the repercussions. For once, the farmer is getting a decent price for corn and soybeans. Follow that path a little farther. Deisel is out of sight. Feed is made of protein—gained from corn and soybeans. The farmer’s costs, as always, keep going up. End result—food is going to cost more. Add the cost of fuel to that...
Any of y’all see that article last week about Hatians eating mud pies? Sad, so sad.
It takes about a week or so for them to germinate indoors. You can probably save about two weeks at least.
I start them in peat pots, though. I don’t think that they tend to transplant very well otherwise and the peat pots have less disturbance of the roots.
The advantage to starting them indoors that is that otherwise, the plants are just starting to produce as the hot weather sets in and don’t do so well.
Anyway, that works for us since it doesn’t really warm up until mid April at the earliest, and usually later, here in NY. Stuff like tomatoes can’t go in until after a the middle of May if the long range forecast looks good. Otherwise, it’s Memorial Day.
I’ve done it before. You can only try and it’ll only cost a few seeds if it doesn’t work out.
I use the peat pots I got at Wal-Mart. The square ones come in flats of 8 connected together; 2x4. I split them lengthwise so they’re 4 long and I just dug a trench and put the strip in. They were spaced perfectly.
like little gold pieces, WAITING FOR SPRING.
I know what you mean! The greenhouse is getting under way. We moved the first set of cole crops outside Mon to make room for other babies. The rooted cuttings of wave petunias and callibrachoas came in and they’re snug in their hanging baskets. I’ve got to sow flowers and herbs and another set of cole crops and tomatoes and peppers.
The weather here is DREARY! Drizzling rain and cold this am, warming up now—mid 50’s. It’s so nice to be working out in the greenhouse.
I go to our friends who have lots of rabbits, and some other animals. They have quite a manure pile. Cheapest fertilizer around. Just the cost of the gas to go get it.
I like to go to the supermarket and get the plastic buckets from the bakery dept. Their frostings and fillings come in them and they usually just throw the buckets out otherwise, so if you ask, they’ll give them to you. They do need to be cleaned out, though.
Since they are food grade containers, there’s no problem putting fresh veggies in them while you’re picking.
They’re great for hauling around the garden for weeding, using for watering, collecting crops, and the old dirty ones for hauling the manure I get.
You are preaching to the choir here, I know about the costs...........
Hubby is now seriously considering a chicken coop after the sticker shock he got hit with buying eggs yesterday. $2.09 a dozen for just plain eggs, nothing fancy or anything. And $3.75 a gallon for milk -— but no talk of a cow or goats :)
“Weekly Gardening PING!!!!!!!!!”
Hey! Can I get on that list?
Wait. I thought the CPI (Consumer Price Index) says that things are only going up 3%?
thanks for the tips, I may just try that. I’ve got my rows ready for the peas and beans out back.....thank goodness for black plastic mulch!
I bet it is!!!!!
It's raining and nasty here and only 40..........SIGH
quite a manure pile. Cheapest fertilizer around
You should see the looks on people’s faces when you tell them that “organic” means poop was used as fert! No, no, no. Organic means no pesticides. Oookkkaaayyy.
I hear you about the buckets. Not sure what my guys do with them, but good luck finding one around here! I even got a bright blue one to mop with—can I find it? LOL
We had chickens a few years ago. Eggs were great! Looking at the feed board right now—50lbs of layena is $12.30. A dozen hens will go through that in a little over a week. Start and gro, which they need to stay on til they’re 6 months old is $12.95. The math is not coming out good! OTHO, eggs have been about the same price since about...1930 or so. You don’t even want to know how much it costs to feed a cow!
I had a milk goat for awhile—much cheaper, and about the same quantity of milk. Tastes a lot different from cow’s milk and RICH. Prepare to put on weight. Love milking—just not twice a day/365. Gets old fast.
Did you ever use the pressed paper / cardboard type egg cartons for starter planters? I’ve used them to start seedlings and then plant them into larger pots later. You can just cut them into 12 or 18 pieces and they will eventually “rot” into the soil.
No, I never thought of that. That’s a great idea.
I usually put them into an old cookie sheet and keep enough water in the bottom so the seedlings don’t die and the paper stays moist. I save enough of those during the year to start most of my plants. My tomatoes should be coming up the next few days.
I really need to start grafting some fruit trees. So far, none of the buds are swelling, so may have to wait one more week. This is the weekend I will trim back the rose bushes.
You're on it!!!!!!
LOL --- tell it to my wallet :)
I wash them out well and then store bread and regular flour that we buy at Sams in the big ol' 25 lb sacks. I do the same with our rice and macaroni noodles! Handy water buckets. I also store tools in them. The lids snap shut very tight and have a sealing o-ring. They can be difficult to remove.
Don't waste your money at Lowe's or Home Depot buying a 5 gal. bucket. Get them free at your local Wal-Mart or supermarket's bakery!
A year or so ago a friend was ecouraging me to get laying hens, she said around here folks will pay $3 a dozen for those kind of fresh eggs, and that was a year ago.....
hubby is in charge of that research
Thanks both for the tip about the bakery buckets.........I know the gals that work in the bakery at my local supermarket, I bet I wouldn’t have a problem getting some from them!
OOPS.............
I have started my tomatoes and bell, cayenne, jalapeno peppers and cucumbers and zucchini in potting soil. I used an old slab of marble with two heating pads underneath to keep the flats warm and turn the pads off at night (the marble keeps and retains the heat at night). Everything is sprouting fine. The zucchini and cucumbers have really took off. They are really leggy at about 4” tall, two leaves. I am going to re-pot them. Do I re-pot them like I would a tomato plant burying the stems and just leave an inch plus the leaves above the soil?
I use the good ones for storing rolled oats that we buy in bulk.
The ones without the lids, I also use to hold my gardening tools and gloves in when I’m working outside.
That way nothing gets buried under a pile of weeds or leaves; at least in theory. I keep it in my porch and know where everything is when I get the urge to garden on the spur of the moment. It’s not as glamorous as those fancy trays in the gardening books, but hey, they only get dirty anyway and you can’t beat the price.
I don't see how it could hurt although I don't know if they "root" the way the tomatoes do as they are more vining than most tomatoes.
I think it’s a great idea. People are glad to get those buckets that cheap and you do have to pay for the labor of cleaning them out. Unless there’s some legal difficulty about selling them.
I thought that you could only do that with tomatoes because the stems actually put out roots and other plants don't.
I noticed that when I start seeds, the very first ones come up really tall and leggy. Usually I plant enough seeds that I pinch off the early tallest ones that get leggy like that cause usually they just fall over and die anyway. As soon as I can, I put them outdoors for the sun and wind during the day to harden them off.
The problem I have right now is that it's been too cold to put them out and the early planting of peas is starting to get too tall. Putting them outside slows the growth down some. My second planting will work better though. I'm planning on putting them in in another week and should be able to get them out more. The first planting may not work but if the weather had co-operated, it would have.
A homemade ‘coldframe’ is your best gardening friend.
I am going to re-pot them.
That’s fine, but be careful putting thme deep. If your soil stays too wet, the stems can rot. It’s hard to do stuff indoors—it doesn’t get enough light.
Last year, chicks were $1.25. They have to be 6 months old before they start laying. A bag of feed a week @ 24 weeks x $13.-—then a bag of feed a week for another 6 months at just a little less... :)
You’re not making any money at $3. per. You might—might—break even. LOL They were very good eggs, tho. Rhode Island Reds—brown eggs—yummy.
My wife's flower seeds have been trickling in from the various companies
Cold frames work OK when the ground is not frozen rock hard and there’s sun to help warm them. All they would do is push back the planting time a little due to frosts. The freezes we get here really make it a need to start stuff indoors.
I’ve never used a coldframe...primarily because I have yet to really understand hows and whys of one working.
But I’m all ears!!!!!
Thanks for the info...........as I said, that’s hubby’s research, as he’s the one who has kept bringing it up this week. For the past few years he’s been adamant about I could have all the ground tilled up for crops I wanted and all the outdoor cats, but he drew the line at ANY form of livestock. I took him at his word.
If he wants to look into laying hens, that’s fine by me!
What zone are you two in? I’m thinking you must be warmer than my 6a :)
I’m not sure when I’m going to plant out this year. Last year, I planted out swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, snow peas, and kohlrabi at the end of March. Unfortunately, we had an early April freeze that killed all but the spinach. I think most of those plants could have handled a slight freeze, but it went down into the teens for 4 or 5 days. It was a rare occurrence to freeze that deeply so late, but it still makes me hesitate to plant out so early again. I re-planted after the cold snap, and had a nice little crop. Kohlrabi is a really unique looking veggie.
I’m not even close to a spring mindset yet. We’ve currently got more ice, although not as bad as the last storm. I’m thinking the articles I’ve read recently about global cooling might just be accurate :)
Central NY, in the hills, just borderline 5. I make sure everything is hardy for at least that.
My hubby is the same way about livestock, or was. When I had horses he wouldn’t touch them. He’s finally given in to the fact that I will have inside dogs, and they will sleep with me. He didn’t want the hens, either—wouldn’t touch the goat’s milk. He was the one that ended up taking care of the chickens. LOL
He didn’t use to want to have anything to do with the garden—now he’s turned into Mr. Greenjeans!
How do you keep the cats out of your garden? If they don’t stay out, be careful. Sure you already know, but you can get lots of nasty diseases from cats using your garden for a litter box.
A ‘coldframe’ is merely a box with a glass (or some type of transparent) top. I found a glass storm door at the dump and built a box for the bottom. Put soil in the bottom and the storm (hinged) door on top. Open hinged door when temperature is above 60degrees outside and close at night when temp falls.
You can google ‘cold frame’ and get more detailed info on construction.
I live in East Tennessee. Gets pretty cold this time of year. I have been able to grow and keep (fall started) celery, lettuce, broccoli, brussel sprouts along with hard wood cuttings for later propagation.
Don’t know what region you live in but you could try a ‘hot frame’. a hot frame is basically the same as a cold frame but with some organic matter at the bottom of the ‘frame’. Some use fresh manure to provide the heat. Some suggest cheap dry dog food to provide the warmth. If you are really ambitious, heating elements are in order. Google to find detailed construction info.
Again, I guess if you live in a super cold region nothing will work. I am in East Tennessee.
Gosh, sure hope everyone grows corn, because the only reason corn prices have risen is ethanol — not because of ethanol-driven speculation and the $3 a gallon fuel that pushed up the prices of absolutely everything except corn. ;’)
Nothing like fresh picked sweet corn — pick it, shuck it, cook it, eat it.
Have you ever tried eating fresh sweet corn right off the plant in the garden?
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