Recession Gardens

Food gardening has exploded in popularity, driven by the bad economy and the demand for healthy, fresh food.

A little goes a long way - one seed company study says $50 in gardening supplies can yield $600-$1200 worth of food.

It's something our grandparents used to do during the war, but now we're trying it, planting so-called “recession gardens”.

Business is booming at area garden centers because vegetable gardening is way up in this country.

In fact, the National Gardening Association expects a 19% increase in food gardening this year alone, with an estimated 43 million people digging in.

So, what's behind the trend?

The preference of fresh food, worries over food contamination and of course, the economy.

This is nothing new though, during WWII, folks called them “victory gardens”. Americans supplemented their food with vegetables grown at home.

“This was helping the war effort. By you not putting a demand on the food supply, then you were helping win the war,” says Purdue Extension educator Phil Sutton.

From a fresh herb garden to a half acre of sweet corn, there's a definite increase in the amount of people gardening. Experts say no matter what you try, you can count on a lot of work but also big rewards.

Sutton says, “Do what you like first of all and sort of get your feet wet. I would think everybody could start with tomatoes, a few peppers, you could do lettuce. Lettuce comes up real fast early in the season ... and then take it from there.”

Vegetable garden themes are popular, such as a pizza garden, with tomatoes and herbs or a salsa garden featuring tomatoes and peppers.

Sutton says gardening goes beyond what's growing, it's the feeling that goes with it. “I would like to say it's an empowerment garden - you're making your own, you're choosing what you want to do.”

There's a green movement sprouting up in backyards all over the country - so-called "recession gardens" are helping families stretch their food dollars.

When First Lady Michelle Obama dug in to the south lawn of the White House, she joined a growing group of gardening fans around this country eager to grow their own fruits and veggies to save money and eat healthy.

But if you don't have that kind of space or the White House staff to help you out, you can still start a garden.

In Part 2 of our special feature, we take a look at how you can start one at your own home.



First things first, you need to find a sunny location to put the garden.

"What the garden needs is sunlight, six to eight hours of direct sunlight. If you've got a shady yard, a vegetable garden is not for you." says Purdue Extension educator Phil Sutton.

You could dig right in and till a section of soil or you could build a frame for a raised bed.

Master Gardener Neil Seufert prefers this method for a number of reasons. "It makes it easy to do weeding because you're only reaching part-way in from all the way around."

"The idea is to build the soil, keep adding to it, not walking on it, not compacting the soil, making it nice and loose for the plants to grow and the roots to dig deep into the ground and confine your nutrients."

But for some folks, a patch of garden is impossible because they just don't have the room.

Here's a remedy: a container garden. It could be a big flower pot or a garden kit.

Greg Leyes from Ginger Valley says, "If you don't have a big space in your yard for a garden, you can grow it in this little box here. This can go on the patio, if you're an apartment dweller it can even go on your balcony of your apartment."

No matter what you try, beginners are advised to dream big but start small.

"You don't want to turn yourself off to gardening, you don't want to make it unenjoyable by biting off more than you want to chew," says Sutton.
Here's another way to get fresh veggies without digging up your backyard: just plant a few vegetable plants right in your flower beds. They blend right in and they're pretty too.