More people getting their hands dirty to grow their own food
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Roxanne Washington
Plain Dealer Reporter
It looks like it’s going to be another fruitful summer for vegetable gardening.
“Our vegetable plant and seed sales are double over last year,” says Alan Hirt, owner of Hirt’s Gardens in Granger Township, sounding like he barely can believe it himself. “I have never seen a demand for vegetable plants and seeds like this, and we aren’t even at peak gardening season. I’ve had to build two new greenhouses this year specifically for the increased demand for vegetables.”
Hirt’s is a local snapshot of what’s happening with vegetable gardening nationally. In 2008, the number of people growing vegetables increased 10 percentfrom 2007, according to the National Gardening Association, or NGA, based in Burlington, Vt. That number is expected to increase by 20 percent in 2009.
Explanations for why vegetable-garden ventures abound.
The economy.
More Americans looking to cut their food bill are growing their own vegetables and fruit. According to a survey by the NGA, a $70 investment in home food gardening can yield, on average, a $600 return. Some are even comparing the growing interest in home-grown vegetables to the Victory Gardens many Americans grew during World War II, when money was tight.
“These numbers are based on a $2-per-pound in-season market price of produce grown in a national average garden size of 600 square feet with typical yields from the most popular vegetables,” says Bruce Butterfield, NGA director of research.
Brent Ridge bought a farm in upstate New York two years ago and since has started a project to encourage more people to grow their own veggies.
“We bought our farm two years ago, when we knew nothing about farming,” he says via e-mail. “Last year we installed our first vegetable garden — 52 raised beds — and planted them with heirloom vegetables.”
“Last summer, our grocery bill for two people was less than $30 per week. We canned, froze and preserved, and the grocery bill for winter has been less than $100 per week.”
Ridge is so excited about his new garden-to-table diet that he launched an online “Garden Party” so that visitors can weigh in with tips and even win a prize if their tip is voted the best. The Web site is beekman1802.com/GardenPartyHome.html.
Healthful eating.
Americans are worried about herbicides and pesticides sprayed on some commercially grown produce. What better way to ensure that vegetables are chemical-free than to grow them yourself?
The environment.
Commercial produce transported across the country requires energy use. With homegrown vegetables, the only energy that’s burned is your own: planting, maintaining, harvesting and toting the vegetables from the garden to your table.
Sense of community.
Community gardens have been springing up around the country during the past few summers. Neighbors take over an abandoned plot, clean it up and maintain their own beds. Some grow vegetables for their families. Others donate the fresh vegetables to hunger centers. Some do both.
Nearly 200 community gardens dot Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs. They are tended by hundreds of neighbors and friends. Greens, tomatoes, onions, peppers, squash, berries and a bounty of other vegetables and fruits grow in places one might never expect, like once-abandoned lots.
Children - and adults - love to grow things.
Home-gardening advocates see working in the yard, whether it’s growing vegetables or flowers, as a great way to connect with your children and enhance their natural curiosity about seeing their labors come to fruition.
Vegetable-gardening advocates hardly could believe their good fortune when first lady Michelle Obama announced that a patch of the White House South Lawn would become a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden. The garden will serve to educate schoolchildren about healthful, locally grown veggies.
The garden will include red romaine lettuce, spinach, cilantro, hot peppers and more. There will not be beets, however, because President Barack Obama doesn’t like them.
On a lighter note, some advocates take exception to the decision not to include beets in the White House garden. Ohioans Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser, authors of “Grow Organic - Over 250 Tips and Ideas for Growing Flowers, Veggies, Lawns and More” (St. Lynns Press) have a video on YouTube called “Give Beets a Chance,” changing the words of the song “Give Peace a Chance.” That video is at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheOrganicGardeners.
Michael Loos, formerly of the Ohio State University Cuyahoga County Extension, also thinks President Obama doesn’t know what he’s missing.
“Fresh beets are so much better than canned,” Loos says. “It’s such an amazing flavor difference. If Obama doesn’t like beets, he hasn’t had fresh ones.”
Sense of accomplishment.
There’s nothing like seeing the fruits - and vegetables - of one’s own labor.
“It’s wonderful to produce your own fresh vegetables and herbs,” says Hirt. “It really gives you a feeling of independence.”
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
rwashington@plaind.com, 216-999-4427
“Our vegetable plant and seed sales are double over last year,” says Alan Hirt, owner of Hirt’s Gardens in Granger Township, sounding like he barely can believe it himself. “I have never seen a demand for vegetable plants and seeds like this, and we aren’t even at peak gardening season. I’ve had to build two new greenhouses this year specifically for the increased demand for vegetables.”<<<
Wonderful news, it gives me hope for the future.