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Growing trend: Financial slump prompts gardening craze
By KATHY MELLOTT
The Tribune-Democrat

For those weary of sky-high food prices, a walk into the backyard could be the beginning of a little extra cash in the pocketbook.

The financial pinch has record numbers of people turning to seed catalogs and garden Web sites, prompting predictions that 43 million U.S. households will grow vegetables, fruit, berries or herbs this year.

That figure is up 6 percent over 2008, with 11 percent of veteran gardeners increasing the amount and variety they will grow, according to Bruce Butterfield, National Gardening Association research director.

The increased gardening interest is prompting local commercial growers and greenhouses to gear up for what promises to be a busy year.

“We’re looking at having more vegetables, fruit trees and berry bushes,” said Eric Stuver, the third-generation owner of Stuver’s Riverside Nursery Inc.

“It’s similar to the 1970s. I remember it when people were trying to be more self-sufficient.”

Pennsylvania’s own Burpee Seed Co., one of the country’s largest mail-order seed sources, is finding vegetables are taking priority over flowers.

Burpee spokeswoman Kristin Grilli said flower seed orders are flat but vegetable seed and plant sales have increased by 20 percent over last year.

“Seed and vegetable transplant sales are up. They were up last year, but they are really up this year,” she said. “We definitely think the economy is a huge part of it.”

Gas prices driving up food prices prompted last year’s hike in gardening. This year it is the economy in general and concerns over food safety issues because of the rash of food- recalls, Grilli said.

Those flower seeds showing good sales at Burpee include sunflowers, zinnias and marigolds, important for discouraging vegetable garden attacks by insects and small animals.

People with space problems are becoming more creative by planting vegetable seeds and plants at the bases of rose bushes and other ornamentals, Grilli said.

Complaints Tom Ford is hearing from residential gardeners and commercial growers about slow seed and plant orders supports national predictions. The number of questions also are on the increase.

“We’re getting more inquiries about organic gardening. More people are concerned about food safety, but there is also the economic advantage,” said Ford, the regional vegetable expert with Penn State Cooperative Extension.

With careful planning, faithful maintenance, and timely harvesting and canning, the savings with a vegetable garden over purchased vegetables can be significant, Ford said.

National estimates are that the average gardener planting a 600-square-foot plot invests $70 to get a garden in the ground.

The 300 pounds of fresh produce it yields has a value of $600 and a $530 return based on that investment, according to Butterfield.

The garden craze has even reached Pennsylvania Avenue, where first lady Michelle Obama and her staff are planting an organic garden on the south lawn of the White House.

Home gardens are even generating support from commercial growers, said William Troxell, executive director of the 900-member Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association.

“People are trying to reduce their carbon footprint. Buying locally grown produce helps that and a home garden lowers it even more,” Troxell said.

Meanwhile, the gardening craze is opening doors for community outreach, said the Rev. William Thwing of the First United Church of Christ in Ebensburg.

An avid gardner for years, Thwing said his church is looking at reaching out to help gardeners, especially the novices.

“We’re talking of having canning classes and gardening classes,” he said. “How do you garden, how do you can?”

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_102234607.html

Community gardens cropping up all over
By Dan McDonald
Mon Apr 13, 2009, 09:48 PM EDT

WESTON -

Whether it’s from the tanking economy or increased interest in locally grown produce, community gardens are blossoming throughout MetroWest.

Concord already has two of them - the 75-plot Hugh Cargill garden on Walden Street and the 25-plot Cousins garden off Prairie Street. They have yet to be tilled. The waiting lists for both run 12 to 15 deep, and there’s talk of establishing a third garden on a half acre off Old Bedford Road.

Reasons for such interest are varied, but they are underpinned by one theme, says Natural Resources director Delia Kaye.

“Localvore. It’s about living a little bit closer to the land,” she said.

In Waltham, there’s a waiting list of more than 50 people, and that’s after the Green Rows of Waltham (GROW) - located on the property of University of Massachusetts Grounds Services - expanded to 140 plots this year from 125 last year.

“Every year we find there’s interest to expand,” said Gene Burkart, GROW founder.

Burkart said more people have taken an interest in reducing their carbon footprints and now consider large factory farms that transport goods long distances.

“I think there’s a social interest in food, in growing things, how people eat. People know want to know where it comes from,” Burkart said.

Carlos Vasquez, an organizer for a community garden that attracts about 40 people each year and is located behind the prison on Framingham’s Southside, had a simpler explanation.

“Some people just want to have something to do after work,” said Vasquez, who organizes the garden.

In other communities, like Upton, the desire for a community garden has just taken root.

Resident Marcella Stasa plans to have the 12-plot garden ready by June. People are building raised beds - the rocky soil is less than accommodating - and installing fences, Stasa said.

“Ever since the economy started getting a little funky, people have had an increased interest” in gardening, Stasa said.

The installation of the garden is funded through $1,500 grant.

There is also an effort to establish a community garden in Ashland. The Community Garden Group seeks a $15,000 in Community Preservation Act money to transform tennis courts at Stone Park into 40 plots of raised beds.

Cynthia Whitty, a Community Garden Group organizer, said she hopes the project can be a unifying force in town.

“We’ve had some division in town over property taxes, the override in recent years,” Whitty said.”This is something that brings people together. It’s a very positive, upbeat thing for the town.”

Weston Community Garden, off Merriam Street, offers 55 plots for 55 gardeners. While there is not much going on now because the ground is still wet and patches of snow could still be seen last week, garden coordinator Freddie Wiss expects a cornucopia of tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, raspberries and string beans to crop up once the growing season gets rolling.

“A lot of it’s social,” Wiss said. A lot of it’s just getting away from the house. A lot of it’s just being able to dig in the dirt.”

(Dan McDonald can be reached at 508-626-4416 or dmcdonal@cnc.com.)

http://www.wickedlocal.com/weston/fun/gardening/x1931072879/Community-gardens-cropping-up-all-over

Gardening by the foot

April 10, 2009
By Carol Oneal
for the Mail Tribune

In my last column, I discussed the principles of square-foot gardening. Today, I’ll add more detail so that you can make use of this “more food in less space” method.

As mentioned, using raised beds will make vegetable growing less labor-intensive than trying to improve our native clay and decomposed granite soils. Having control over the soil in which you’re growing plants makes life a lot easier.

If I have one strong suggestion to make, it is “Don’t skimp on making good soil.” The soil you put in your raised beds will require some investment, but it truly pays off in the long run. If you want to have an enjoyable gardening experience (and perhaps the best garden on the block), you’ll need to create a soil that is loose and well-drained so oxygen and water can enter easily. A mixture of one-third good compost, one-third peat moss or aged manure, and one-third good topsoil will give you soil that drains well, yet holds moisture.

Remember that at the end of the growing season, you will need to top-dress your beds with compost, either purchased or some you’ve made.

To mark your beds into one-foot squares, you might use inexpensive wood lath, sold at home improvement centers, and literally make a framework to lay on the bed. Or, you can use string fastened to the frame of the raised bed to make one-foot squares. You also can mark the square-foot plots with flour.

Visualize your garden with full-grown plants. Extra-large plants like cabbage, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower need an entire square foot per plant. Leaf lettuce, chard, parsley or basil are “large” and can be planted four per square foot. “Mediums” such as beans, spinach, beets or kohlrabi can be planted nine per square foot. For carrots, radishes or onions, 16 per square foot will be fine.

When planting seeds, make a dent in the soil with your finger at the depth suggested on the seed packet, and drop two seeds into the hole; cover with soil. If both seeds come up, thin by clipping off the weaker one at soil level with a sharp scissors.

For tomatoes, put one plant in a three-by-three-foot square. Snap peas, cucumbers and squash will need more space, too. Constructing a framework of electrical conduit or PVC pipe and netting, wires, string or cattle fencing panels at one end of the raised bed will allow you to garden vertically with vining plants.

On April 23, I’ll be repeating the class “Rookie Gardening” (gardening for the true beginner), from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center, 569 Hanley Road in Central Point. Cost is $5. Call 776-7371 for more information.

The Jackson County Master Gardener’s Spring Fair is May 2-3 at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. It’s an excellent place to buy your seedlings and other plants, take some free classes and enjoy the many exhibits of local vendors. Don’t miss it.

Carol Oneal is a past president of the OSU Jackson County Master Gardeners Association. E-mail her at diggit1225@gmail.com.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090410/LIFE/904100316

Gardening helps character grow

Sunday, April 12, 2009 | 6:00 a.m. CDT
BY K. Kendall Mathews

Growing up in Detroit my Dad taught me the value of crop growing and gardening, a trade that was passed on to him by his father in Georgia. Every year he would require me to dig up the garden. I did not like it at all. It truly was a back-breaking experience as I turned the soil upside down. I felt alone as my only friends seemed to be the untilled garden, the steel shovel and the blistering heat of the sun.

Our backyard garden was full of yellow dandelions, trick weeds and many little rocks that needed to be removed. Today, I can still hear my daddy saying, “Now, Kim you make sure get every weed and rock, cause if you don’t the garden will die.” So, I worked vigorously to make sure that the garden soil was completely free from everything that would hinder its future growth. Although it was a hard job, it was an encouraging and practical life lesson for me as a young Christian man being raised in the big city. God desires that I recognize that He is the Master Gardener of my eternal life and salvation from sin. He is the source of all spiritual growth and blessings. John 15:1 says, “Jesus is the vine and my Father is the Gardner.”
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Major K. Kendall Mathews is the regional coordinator for The Salvation Army.

Our Christ-like character must be liberated from the unholy crabgrass and those worthless weeds of life such as, negative thinking, impure thoughts and selfish pride. Those dandelions of sin cause unproductive styles of living where Godly growth can not take root. As my dad reminded me, if all the weeds are not pulled out of the garden it would die. The same for you and me — if we do not allow the Master Garden to plow out and prune back the wild flowers of sin within us, we too will die spiritually. John 15:2 says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

The garden of our heart is where sin can take up residency and overtake the Holy vegetables (character) of Jesus Christ. Let this be your season to weed out of your life and spiritual journey the unhealthy things that cause you to sin. We have at our disposal the shovel of salvation that uproots sin, and with God as our Gardner providing spiritual rain, joyful sunshine and a rich soil full of the Holy Spirit feeding us everlasting nutrients.

Let’s not fool ourselves. We can not grow on our own, unless we are connected to Jesus Christ the true vine. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.”

Stay connected to the Jesus Christ. Abide in Him, and your Godly garden can yield a wonderful harvest filled with produce that feeds your soul and those who hunger for hope and salvation.

My dad was right when he said, “make sure you get all the weeds and rocks out of the garden, cause if you don’t they will kill garden, and no harvest will come.” The great blessing for our family was when we ate from the garden. Those turnip greens, string beans and bright red tomatoes were so good, and digging up the garden became a lost memory. The Master Gardener has in His a glorious crop and a host of spiritual fruit and Holy veggies such as, love, goodness and kindliness for us to enjoy. It’s time to partake.

Major K. Kendall Mathews is the regional coordinator for The Salvation Army.

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/04/12/clean-garden-healthy-garden/

Granholm offers vacant lots to gardeners
By Eartha Jane Melzer 4/13/09 1:04 AM

In an effort to increase access to healthy and affordable food the state is offering to lease vacant land to gardeners for $50 per year.

The new program was announced in the written version of Governor Jennifer Granholm’s State of the State message.

In his Sunday column in the Traverse City Record Eagle George Weeks compares Granholm’s moves to promote gardening with those of former Detroit mayor and Governor Hazen Pinigree (a Republican) who became nationally known for “Pinigree’s Potato Patches, ” a program that lent out Detroit’s vacant lots for farming during the lean years of the 1890’s.

Weeks writes:

So far, Granholm’s program is a low-key undertaking. But steam might build with the urban garden idea that is gaining some traction in Detroit, where vacant lots are estimated to account for about 40 square miles.

Furthermore, first lady Michelle Obama is setting an example by putting a 1,100-square-foot plot with 52 varieties of fruits and vegetables on the south lawn of the White House.

Details of the “Garden for Growth” program are available from the state Department of Energy Labor & Economic Growth.

http://michiganmessenger.com/16862/granholm-offers-vacant-lots-to-gardeners

Vegetable gardening regaining favor
By Jessica Walliser
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 11, 2009

Millions of Americans already do it, and now the Obamas are doing it, too. It’s all the rage these days, and it’s probably the only investment in today’s economy that actually will show a return. Vegetable gardening is back in vogue.

Gardening-trends research tells us that tens of thousands of new gardeners will be digging in for the first time this spring. To all you newbies: Welcome to the club. Maybe you’re hoping to whittle the grocery bill or you want to eat food that didn’t come from the other side of the world, or, maybe, you just want a bigger hand in feeding your family. Whatever your reason, know that everyone starts somewhere, and even long-time gardeners will admit that there always is more to learn. So, newbies, here are a few tips and ideas for getting started; and, old-timers, maybe you’ll glean a few good tidbits of info you can use to make this year’s garden better than ever.

Where to grow

Before you get dirty, think carefully about where you’re going to put that new vegetable garden. Most vegetable plants need at least eight to 10 hours of full sunlight to thrive and produce. Try to locate the garden away from large trees whose roots might invade and compete with crops. Also remember to put it somewhere with easy access to water. No one wants to lug a hose 300 feet to water the garden every week.

When you decide where to grow, you’ll need to decide how big to make the garden. My vegetable garden is about 30 feet by 25 feet, and it’s just right for my family of three. If you want to pickle, can, freeze and dehydrate what you can’t eat fresh, then go as big as the yard will allow; but, remember, it’s way easier to make the garden bigger every year than it is to take care of a jumbo-size garden your first year in the trenches. If you really aren’t sure whether you’re going to like this gardening thing, or how much time you’ll have to dedicate to it, start with just a few raised beds. You can purchase kits to create raised beds, or you can build your own out of untreated lumber, bricks or rocks.

Raised beds are placed on top of the lawn and then filled with soil, so there is no need to remove the existing sod, but if you plan to grow your garden in the ground, you’ll need to strip off the sod. You can do this by hand or with a sod-cutter (available from many local equipment-rental companies). I’ve done it both ways, and no matter how you do it, removing sod is hard work. The good news is, you’ll have to do it only once.

After the sod has been removed, focus on your soil. It’s probably clay (most of Western Pennsylvania’s soil is) and will benefit from being amended before you plant. Because clay is so sticky and poorly draining, mixing in lots of organic matter every year helps to build better soil by “breaking up” the clay. Find a farmer with a pile of horse or cow manure (preferably about a year old), call your municipality to see whether they give away free leaf compost (many do), buy bags of compost at the local garden center, or, better yet, have a truckload of commercially produced compost or leaf mold (also called leaf compost) delivered right to your driveway. All these different types of organic matter work to create the healthy, living soil that plants need to thrive. Add 2 to 3 inches of organic matter every year if you can. Don’t skimp on this part. There is no substitute for good soil.

Planting time

When it comes to planting your garden, timing is everything. All crops can be separated into two categories: cool-season crops and warm-season crops. Cool-season choices are those that will tolerate frosts. These crops can be planted early in the season and perform best before summer’s heat arrives. I plant my peas, lettuce, broccoli, onion sets, cabbage, radish, carrots, beets and kale in early to late April from seed or as nursery-purchased transplants. Warm-season crops don’t tolerate frosts and should be planted after May 15. These include tomatoes, peppers, melons, beans, corn, cucumbers and squash. When choosing which varieties of these veggies to plant, talk to local farmers, nurserymen and gardeners to find out which ones grow best for them. Choose disease- and pest-resistant varieties whenever possible.

After it’s planted, mulch your garden well. It not only cuts down on weeding, but also reduces the need to water and cuts down on soil-borne diseases. You can use finished compost, untreated grass clippings, straw or hay to mulch. One of my favorite techniques is to lay down newspaper 10 sheets thick (don’t use the glossy inserts), plant right through it, then cover it with a few inches of straw or grass clippings. It makes a virtually weed-proof barrier and can be turned right into the soil the following spring.

Most plants need about an inch of water per week, from Mother Nature or your garden hose. You’ll seldom need to water in the spring or fall, but during hot weather, water in the morning and try to keep the foliage dry to prevent foliar diseases. Soaker hoses are a great option for the vegetable garden, as they put water directly on the soil and can be used with a timer, but a good sprinkler works, too.

If you amended your soil right, you probably won’t need to do any extra fertilization. There are enough nutrients in one inch of compost for a full season’s plant growth. But, if you didn’t get that soil in shape, or a soil test noted a nutrient deficiency, add an organic granular fertilizer at the start of the season. Most local garden centers carry organic options that are less likely to burn plants and cause a salt buildup. My favorite brands are those that use alfalfa meal, greensand, bone meal and other natural ingredients. Read the label and use as recommended. More is not better.

No doubt there will be lots to learn this gardening season for all of us (the Obamas included). Vegetable gardening is not rocket science, but there is a learning curve. If you start off right, you’ll be picking your own fresh veggies within a few months; and, it will get better, and easier, every year. Gardening is a great teacher — so pay attention.

Horticulturist Jessica Walliser, co-author of the book “Grow Organic,” can be heard from 7-8 a.m. Sundays on KDKA Radio’s “The Organic Gardeners.” You can also find her teaching at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, where she has been a faculty member for more than 12 years.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_620124.html