Who Gardens?

As conditions in the world worsen,
it makes more and more sense to
grow your own food.

In my grandparents day, there was never a question about whether or not to garden. Gardening was a way of life. You grew your own food, ate it, canned it, and largely supplemented your food intake through your efforts.

This was especially true in the Great Depression where growing your own food insured you'd get to eat, and during world wars when Victory Gardens made up for lack of supply.

Okay, it was popular back then, but who gardens now?

More and more people. In a 2009 survey conducted by Edibles Gardening Trends, it was reported that 41 million Americans grew gardens (which is roughly 38% of the population of the US.) Of those 41 million Americans who garden, the largest age group doing that gardening is the 25-44 age group.

(I'd venture to say that gardening is even more popular in many other countries struggling to get by, but I don't know any of their statistics.)

Growing your own vegetables is quickly becoming the thing to do. This is fueled by many reasons:

Concern over chemicals and the genetic altering of food
Decrease in wages
Increase in fuel and expenses (which raises the cost of purchasing food)
A return to 'old-fashioned' ways with a D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) mentality
Growing trend to buy and eat local
Growing desire for people to become more self-sustainable
People are sticking around home more these days to save money,
so they're around to do gardening
Homegrown food TASTES better and is BETTER FOR YOU

In addition to the 38% of Americans that are growing vegetables, 19.5 million are also growing herbs, and 16.5 million are growing their own fruit.

According to seed companies, seed sales are up 40% or more. They're having a hard time keeping seeds on their shelves (which is a good reason to learn how to save your own seeds).

Join the Growing Trend!

More and more people are jumping into gardening. It's fun, saves money, gives you an excuse to exercise, tastes better than you can buy, and makes you feel good at the end of the day. Who can argue with that?

The National Gardening Association says that the average family spends around $70 for their garden and yields around $600 worth of produce.

Be prepared for some work, though. A garden doesn't grow itself. It needs to be tended, weeded, watered, kept safe from bugs, and harvested. Think of it as your own backyard gym (with free monthly membership). You'll get in shape as you save money on your groceries. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

So, who gardens? Why not you? Why not start this year? If you need help figuring out where to start, here's some pages that might benefit you:

Starting a Vegetable Garden

Preparing Your Soil for Gardening

Straw Bale Gardening

Layout for a Vegetable Garden

How To Start Seedlings Indoors