Posted on 04/12/2008 10:50:55 AM PDT by Graybeard58
NEW HARTFORD -- Courtney Ieronimo is eager to fight back against the rising price of food by raising vegetables for the first time.
"If you are savvy, you can save the seeds and freeze or can what you don't use right away," said Ieronimo, who has a leg up on other gardening novices as a sales associate at White Flower Farm in Litchfield. She already knows how to grow flowers, so she's hoping vegetables will be an easy next step.
In addition to saving money, Ieronimo also wants to know for sure the food she puts on the table is pesticide free and locally grown, with less of a carbon footprint than potatoes shipped from Maine, or tomatoes from Florida. She's looking forward to the stress relief of digging in the soil.
Ieronimo isn't alone. The popularity of gardening, as a pastime, a money saver and a lifestyle choice, is expected to grow. A particular attraction for newcomers this year is the rising cost of food.
"There is a 20 percent increase in the number of people buying vegetable seeds this year," said Agriventures Agway Manager Colleen Grady in Torrington. "There is a lot more interest in gardening, in knowing where your food is coming from."
Next door at Blue Seal Feeds, Bob Hedus said seed potatoes were flying out the door Friday, a day after they arrived. At the Super Stop & Shop down the road, tomato seed packets were sold out.
At Gresczyk Farms in New Hartford, Bruce Gresczyk removed his glasses and eyeballed soil in thumb-sized plastic cells. He poked gently at a light soil covering tiny seeds planted three days earlier inside one of several greenhouses along Route 202. He's busy planting tender vegetables now -- six to eight weeks before the last frost and the traditional start of the growing season, Memorial Day.
"There is life," Gresczyk said, poking at the sesame-sized seed for Bravo Cabbage that will grow into basketball sized heads perfect for sauerkraut. Each of the thousands of tiny plants will be transplanted into bigger pots, and nurtured until they are ready for sale and transplanting to gardeners who opt against doing it from seed themselves. "We're bumping up production," Gresczyk said. "I have a hunch, based on anecdotal information. A lot of people are looking for someone to rototill their gardens, and you can beat the prices in the store."
No two gardeners or growing seasons are alike, so it's difficult to compare prices. A tomato planted in a recycled milk carton in a sunny window and fed kitchen compost after it is transplanted in a garden can produce 50 pounds of tomatoes inexpensively. Or, you can build and heat a greenhouse, buy potting soil and fertilizer. Gresczyk invests $600 a day on oil to heat several greenhouses, but demand for locally grown produce made the investment profitable even before food prices increased by 10 percent or more.
At the UConn Home and Garden Education Center at Storrs, Carol Quish said the number one topic people call about is still lawns. But that's changing.
"We're getting more calls about how to use a patch of land for vegetables," she said.
White Flower Farm's Propogation Supervisor Allison Brown is busy nurturing more peppers and tomatoes and an expanded offering of vegetable plants than last year. The upscale nursery that specializes in flower and landscape plants last year sold 8,000 tomato plants during an annual tomato festival in June. Many are heirloom varieties which offer flavor abandoned by commercial growers because they don't ship well, and are inspiring newcomers to gardening.
Urban dwellers are not exempt from the trend.
"I am getting calls from a lot of people interested in getting hooked up with a garden for the first time," said Cordali Benoit of New Haven, president of the Connecticut Community Gardening Association, a clearing house for 80 community gardening projects statewide. Two-thirds of the projects are vegetable gardens on private and municipal lots, many now with waiting lists. "There are people who do it for the social aspect, or because they don't know how to do it and want to learn from others how to grow a tomato that tastes like heaven compared to the pale pink ones you get in some salads."
Others are nostalgic about their grandparents' victory gardens, grown during war years, Benoit said. "It's only in the past couple of generations that we have moved away from home-grown produce," she said.
At Moscarillo's Garden Shop in Torrington, Carmen Brochu said a heightened interest in raising vegetables to save money is prompting many to ask questions now. It takes work, she cautions. You can't just plunk a tomato plant in the ground and reap a catalog perfect bumper crop. With a willingness to learn, the reward of a vine-ripened tomato is within reach. Even the best gardener needs good luck in the form of good weather.
"Do the best you can to learn the most you can about the variables you can control," Quish said.
When I first started gardening at this house (5 years ago) I bought lumber for raised beds, mushroom compost, hours building the beds ..... see where this is going? I raised 30 dollar a pound tomatoes that first year. I'm probably down to 10 bucks a pound now. (and round up took care of the zuchinni)
But oh my .... that first tomatoe of the season ... that first small batch of tender asparagus .... that first mess of green beans.....I tell you is better than S.E. _ ... no never mind ... I won't go that far. I'm just an old tired Master Gardener on the twelve step program. "Hi .. I'm Ned and I am "sniff sniff" ..... a plantaholic ...sigh"
We planted some asparagus a few years ago but havan;t gotten more than a spear or two. Any advice?
I haven't laughed that hard in quite awhile because you just described my place perfectly. In fact the tv dish company told me to forget it, keep your cable. LOL
I tried 3 big pot tomatoes last year with somewhat success until the oak leaves decided to stop the growth.
I am fortunate though since I live next to a farm, Stritesorchard.com, and they have all the good stuff available year round.
The most fun though is to go to the Amish Markets around here. They are a few miles away but worth it. My favoriate is, Rootsmarket.com. I go every Tuesday.
I figure by doing business with the locals I am accomplishing many good things.
Yum ...
Hiram..... baby.....
Knock on my door... I will answer in a heartbeat! I have learned to take *anything* from anybody if I ever want more. I have been given stuff that needed to be eaten soon that I didn’t get to. So, my compost pile loved it. But my friend was happy that he gave away his excess, and I was happy with what I did get to, so every body wins.
Now, as to why I have a compost pile when I don’t garden... that’s a really good question.
I agree with you about amish markets. They have really good produce and I didn’t have to grow it.
I have an organic farm that I have purchased from for a few years. They send out an email on Sunday night and tell you what is available. You order what you want and they deliver to central spots where we pick it up. It is wonderful to have produce that was just picked.
Chuckle, chuckle...
My dear one ... for you I’ll do anything! “Back that truck up Larry, we’ve got zuchinni, maters and spargus to unload ...!”
OK ..I’ll bite ...why do you have a compost pile? lol
For me it is obvious .. I generate 10 yds of “blackgold” yearly
Due to lack-o-time, I am turning over a portion of the garden to Husband to do with what he will. He’s going to put in scads of asparagus, because we only have a small bed now, and it’s his favorite veggie.
We’ll be adding about 60 crowns, so we’ll have plenty for us and pretty much everyone in our COUNTY in a few years, LOL!
I’ll still grow the tomatoes, peppers, herbs, flowers and chickens. I’ll MAKE time for those! :)
New baby chicks are arriving this week. 50 of them. A mixed bag of brown egg layers and some lah-di-dah “Partridge Couchins” I’m raising for a girlfriend.
When I can figure out a way to raise more than 50 chicks at a time, I’m going big time with specialty breeds. They’ll sell like hotcakes around here.
Nice to see ya, BTW. What did you catch, and how quickly can you ship some to me? LOL!
Thanks Grammy. I fished for several days here on Norris Lake with some friends visiting from Ohio, but we only caught a few bass. This lake is the top in the TVA chain, and this time of year the water levels are rising rapidly. It’s almost at full pool, and once there, things will stabilize and fishing will get better.
Things have been hectic here, and I haven’t been feeling well. Today is the first time I’ve been on FR in a while.
I’ll freepmail you later, going to hit the bed early tonight.
As I said, why I have a compost pile is a good question! I am not sure I know the answer.
I started it when I *thought* I was going to be gardening.... before the deer started decimating even the hostas. Now it is just a nice thing to do with veggie parings.... it saves stinky garbage and if’n I get a hankering to kill something in a pot I don’t have to go buy potting soil to try.
Did I mention I am also a very *bad* gardener? It took me a few years to finally admit it. That is why I make flowers in sugar for wedding cakes. You can’t kill them and you can eat your mistakes.
I love zuchinni!!!!! Have you ever had zuchinni soup? It is the Italian version of a Jewish mother’s chicken soup... good for what ails ya.
I think they raise "cut-n-run" gardens. ;-)
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