Dollars from Dirt: Economy Spurs Home Garden Boom

[bridgit]

'LONG BEACH, Calif. - With the recession in full swing, many Americans are returning to their roots - literally - cultivating vegetables in their backyards to squeeze every penny out of their food budget.

Adriana Martinez works in her backyard garden in Long Beach, Calif. on Wednesday, March 11, 2009. With the recession in full swing, many Americans are returning to their roots, cultivating vegetables in their backyards to squeeze every penny out of their food budget. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)Industry surveys show double-digit growth in the number of home gardeners this year and mail-order companies report such a tremendous demand that some have run out of seeds for basic vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and peppers.

"People's home grocery budget got absolutely shredded and now we've seen just this dramatic increase in the demand for our vegetable seeds. We're selling out," said George Ball, CEO of Burpee Seeds, the largest mail-order seed company in the U.S. "I've never seen anything like it."

Gardening advocates, who have long struggled to get America grubby, have dubbed the newly planted tracts "recession gardens" and hope to shape the interest into a movement similar to the victory gardens of World War II.

Those gardens, modeled after a White House patch planted by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1943, were intended to inspire self-sufficiency, and at their peak supplied 40 percent of the nation's fresh produce, said Roger Doiron, founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International'

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/16-6

[babylonsister]

1. "modeled after a White House patch planted by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1943"...

she's probably a good role model. Very nice.

I'm sorry a recession is promoting gardening, but I'm glad it's being promoted.

[bridgit]

3. No doubt, hubby proposed a test of veggies that could be grown...

in limited spaces from pots or jugs for folks that have space available concerns like on a balcony or small areas where at least some sun passes by. The test was successful so a packet will be put together of beans, peas, peppers, tomato's, herbs and such but hey...that's food too and before long we eat and save a little money :)

[babylonsister]

5. Oh, you have to check this out!

http://www.thegrowspot.com/know/f5/rooftop-gardens-from-around-the-world-54020.html

From here about a rooftop revolution:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x190159#190165

[bridgit]

6. I am absolutely behind all such, we have several community gardens round town...

and that's always good to see, farmer's markets year round thanks for links :)

[customerserviceguy]

10. Sure would like to figure out what I could grow on our back deck

The only problem is, there's not a lot of direct sun, only for maybe a couple of hours in the late afternoon. The townhouse blocks it out for about half the day, and trees in a greenbelt behind us block it out for most of the rest of the afternoon and early evening.

[bridgit]

13. hm, reflectors? Done a lot of photography, you can make them from tin foil squeegeed...

on poster paper too with some watered down library paste, maybe gather some light passing by for a little longer :)

[customerserviceguy]

28. Even if that worked,

the condo nazis would never let me get away with it! Must keep up appearances, you know. I do appreciate the suggestion!

[bridgit]

36. Dammit! Condo Nazi'!!

Right when you think you're in the clear :rant: --------> :hi:

[customerserviceguy]

45. Yeah, no gas or charcoal grills on the deck, either

I bought a brand new Foreman electric grill at Goodwill a few months ago, going to put it out on the deck. Then, when the condo nazis smell the aroma of a finely grilled meal, I will point out that it would be perfectly legal to use inside the unit, and has no open flames.

I'm willing to make a fight over this. You gotta pick your battles!

[KakistocracyHater]

19. full sun is required for MOST veggies

try grow-lights. Half-day sun?.....Bell peppers can be easily grown from storebought bells(the seeds inside) & they grew well on the eastern side of my place, so did the tomatos. Potatos can be grown in a large pot, carrots in a long windowbox planter.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

2. Edible landscaping at the White House...

discussed last night on 60 Minutes by slow food-er Alice Waters. It's a GREAT idea -- very symbolic.

http://alice-waters.love.com/

[bridgit]

4. Yep, I know how people feel about ABC news around here but here's a vid

on the topic from a little while back http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=6970190

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. That's good to see.

I really hope the Obamas get behind this. School children were featured on the 60 Minutes episode and they really seemed to be in awe of what they were doing -- from digging in the dirt to dining on the finished product. I imagine something similar could be done at the White House with local school kids.

[babylonsister]

7. Recommend for resilience and playing in the dirt. nt

[Betsy Ross]

9. Why does Long Beach have water for gardens?

A lot of water comes from Northern California and we are on restriction. Had to give up my garden last year. Won't try anything but two tomato plants this year.

[Hekate]

25. I can't answer about Long Beach's source, but we can all use gray water for gardens...

Untold gallons of rinse water go down the drain that could be diverted, if only into a bucket.

Hekate
Central Coast

[Larkspur]

11. Yep, I'll be using my tax refund to consolidate and expand my veggie garden

this year. I'm a fan of www.gardeners.com/ .

I'll start clearing my new space in a couple weeks and hope to get seeds planted by the first week in May.

[bridgit]

27. Love It!

:)

[sammytko]

12. my tomato plants are in the ground and growing

i live in s. texas - so lots of sun. i love homegrown tomatoes

[bridgit]

14. hmm, yum, to-maters!

:9

[MazeRat7]

15. Over 50% of our produce came from the garden last year...

We are shooting for 75% this year. Its a small garden, only 225 sq ft and another 100 sq ft here and there using the "Square Foot Gardening" technique. The biggest thing we are missing are the main stay fruits. We have peaches, blackberries, and grapes. But none of the classic citrus like oranges, lemons, limes, etc. This is south central texas... so maybe its possible... we haven't tried yet. But there is only so much room on our small suburban plot.

I'm all for this. Great hobby, great stress reliever, and most importantly... great taste. I love nothing better than a freshly chilled tomato with only ground black pepper for a snack.

Peace,
MZr7

[Hekate]

26. Try dwarf citrus trees. Here's a nice article about growing citrus in Texas...

Freezing winters seems to be the main problem, but you can do things to protect them and there are some hardy varieties.

I live in coastal Santa Barbara, California, ideal for citrus of all sorts, but I have a very small yard. The Mexican lime tree came with the house and is a medium sized tree, but I've bought dwarf Meyer lemon and dwarf kumquat to save space. I think I want a nut tree next.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/citrus/citrus.html

Hekate

[sammytko]

29. i live south of san antonio

i have a meyers lemon, satsuma orange and an avocado. the avocado has not produced yet.

the citrus are in big pots and yes they have produced. during the winter i just keep them covered up.

they even survived an ice storm we had in 2007. they were under 3 layers of cotton loose weave thermal blankets. the blankets were frozen, but the trees were snug under there.

[WolverineDG]

39. Where is your a/c compressor?

My dad planted a tangerine tree a few feet from ours in 1969 & it's still going strong. Even made it through the really deep freezes in the 80's & 90's when just about everything else froze.

dg

[Manifestor_of_Light]

16. I bought plants this week!

My DH (yardman) dug 2 rows on the back acre. We didn't put it on the front part of the property b/c we don't have the place fenced in front. We're starting small. 6 foot by 12, with steel stakes and chicken wire around it.

We bought plants: Strawberries, tomatoes, bell peppers, squash.

Seeds: Green beans, zinnias, and peas.

Already growing on the back acre: Today, about four asparagus sprouts. :bounce:

The bluebonnets have taken over the south lot (Future home of Springerville) and two of my purple iris bloomed last week!!! :bounce:

[bridgit]

24. That great to hear, there are so many ways to do it and starts are, well...

A great place to start :)

[Liberty Belle]

17. We're being told to cut water use by 40% in SAn Diego-tough to grow anything!

[bridgit]

18. Understood, drip irrigation though, very little waste

http://www.dripworksusa.com/?lnk=ad-dix&gclid=CNjS0Z-ZqZkCFRFMagodoB0upQ

[NickB79]

21. Use greywater, if you can

Dirty water from your sinks and washing machine is perfectly fine for most plants: http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/greywater.html

[bridgit]

22. Without doubt thanks for the link check The Alliance too

http://greywateralliance.org/about_us.html

[Gormy Cuss]

41. That article points out the restrictiveness of CA with regard to gray water systems.

I'm hoping that the current statewide drought will propel change in the law here.

[Dover]

43. Those laws will likely change with increasing drought conditions. A more rudimentary approach

in the meantime is to place a bucket in the shower with you or plug up your tub and collect shower and bath water for use in the garden or pots.

[Gormy Cuss]

44. Also easy to reclaim water used to rinse garden vegetables and unsalted cooking water.

I have a 5 gallon bucket in the kitchen to capture this slightly used water.

[moobu2]

20. My potatoes are up and growing like mad

I also planted onions, tomatoes, okra, eggplant, bell pepper and squash.

Another good reason to grow some of your food is, is that it helps a little on reducing the fuel it takes to process and truck the produce to the grocery store, it also helps if you can buy from local growers as well. Plus it tastes much better.

[bridgit]

23. Absolutely correct, thanks for posting your progress & thoughts, moobu2...

[FedUpWithIt All]

30. We are growing...

5 types of tomatoes, 2 types of cukes, eggplant, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, 3 types of onions, leeks, turnips, parsnips, carrots, sunflowers, sweet corn, zucchini, yellow squash, luffah, cabbage, beets, peas, snow peas, green beans, pumpkin, watermelon, several types of lettuce, and 22 herbs.

We had a container garden last year and we pleasantly surprised at how much it produced. This year we decided to do a more traditional garden in the hopes of having extra food to either share, donate and/or store. We will also plant in the containers again. We figure that we might be able to significantly extend our season by bringing the plants inside in the fall.


There is something really powerful about growing food to feed your loved ones. It is a shame we moved so far away from it.

Edited to add...Although water is not an issue where we live, we are planning to try and use collected rainwater for the garden this year.

[bridgit]

31. That's a great story, thanks for posting...

:kick:

[shanti]

33. what kind of containers

do you use? i have a (small) yard, but want to squeeze as much out of it as possible.

[FedUpWithIt All]

38. We used several kinds.

Some were store bought self watering pots. They cost a bit but the maintenance is unbelievably easy and the cost, depending on what you grow is easily made up in a couple of seasons. We used these for tomatoes, peppers and cukes last year and may do the same this year. Some plants are temperamental so the self water reserve really helped. The plants ONLY get what they need. Watering is the biggest problem with container plants.

http://www.cleanairhomeproducts.com/easy-self-watering-planter.html

There is a homemade self water system that would affectively do the same thing but we found that the pails would end up costing us more since we did not have used ones available.

http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

http://www.growingedge.com/diy%E2%80%94roof-top-gardening-with-homemade-self-watering-containers

We also built wooden, off ground, boxes. We framed up 2'x 4' planter boxes. We attached a trellis to one and used these for peas, beans, zucchini and yellow squash, broccoli and eggplants. The only thing that did not do well last year was our zucchini/squash. We had a tough mold problem.

We were able to fit 6 squash, 4 cuke, 3 pepper, 3 tomatoes, 16 beans/peas,4 eggplants, 6 broccoli and 16 herbs in a 10'x 10' dog fence (we have a ton of deer).

Best of luck on your endeavors this year.

:hi:

I wanted to add... with containers you can follow sunlight and moving helps with additional insect control.

[shanti]

46. thank you SO much!

you are a wellspring of information:) i planted tomatoes in pots last year, but the yield wasn't good, so i may well go to the self-watering ones. it gets so hot here in sacramento in the summer that the plants wilt easily if they aren't tended to daily.

[tabbycat31]

32. great story

and I hope this trend catches on nationwide.

I haven't started my garden yet, probably will pretty soon. Right now I'm deciding what to grow. And I've got my eye on a blackberry and raspberry bush right now.

[ClayZ]

34. Our beds are clean and ready to plant!

Our local potato master says he plants potatoes on March 21. We are taking his advice.

We plan on several more "Square Foot Gardens". http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

I love combining Geometry and Gardening! :-) My Herb Garden is a Triangle! I have dreams about my herb garden!

[bridgit]

37. That's a cool link, thanks for posting it...

Mmmm, herbs & taters :9

[ddeclue]

35. If Dirt Were Dollars - Lyrics by Don Henley..seems apropos..

Walkin like a millionaire
Smilin like a king
He leaned his shopping cart against the wall
He said, I been a lot of places
And I seen a lot of things
But, sonny, I seen one thing that beats em all
I was flyin back from lubbock
I saw jesus on the plane
...or maybe it was elvis
You know, they kinda look the same
Hey, look out, junior, youre steppin on my bed
I said, I dont see nothin
He just glared at me and said,
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
I wouldnt worry anymore
Lookin like a beauty queen
Loyal as a wife
She raised her little voice and testified,
I am a good girl
Ive been one all my life
But her virtue was as swollen as her pride
She shouldve had the oscar
She must have been miscast
Her fifteen minutes went by so fast
I said, now, baby, have you got no shame?
She just looked at me, uncomprehendingly
Like cows at a passing train
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
I wouldnt worry anymore
We got the bully pulpit
And the poisoned pen
We got a press no better
Than the public men
This brave new world
Gone bad again
Gods finest little creatures
Looking brave and strong
Whistling past the graveyard
Nothing can go wrong
Quoting from the scriptures
With patriotic tears
We got the same old men
With the same old fears
Standing at attention
Wrapped in stars and stripes
They hear the phantom drummers
And the nonexistent pipes
These days the buck stops nowhere
No one takes the blame
But evil is still evil
In anybodys name
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
Wed all be in the black

[Dover]

40. Set up a rain collection with a drip system and voila, a first step toward self-sustained living!

There is nothing like the flavor of home grown veggies. Once you've tasted it, there's no going back.

[RedCloud]

42. A catchment system!

Then you can go after the storm waters folks and say, hey I don't use your drains! Give me my money back NOW!