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Edible Gardens and Less Lawn Are Top Garden Trends in 2010

January 19, 2010
By Melody Parker
Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

There’s a great deal of pride in being able to say, “I grew it myself.”

Apparently, more Americans want to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of uttering that phrase because edible gardens are “in.” The National Gardening Association reports a nearly 20% increase in urban edible gardens in the past year.

Grow your own vegetables

Photo: Growing your own groceries promises to be a popular project in the garden for 2010.

The Garden Media Group’s 2010 trends report cites several reasons for the increase, including a practical response to economic uncertainty, a return to small-town values, a desire for locally grown produce and a rising demand for organic foods.

GMG President Susan McCoy points to American’s inherent “can-do” spirit and desire for self-sufficiency that is “defined more by nostalgia rather than geography” as part of the shifting priorities.

Edible gardens are no longer banished to the backyard, either. Enthusiastic gardeners are tearing up front lawns and installing vegetable beds or planting cottage gardens where tomatoes, peppers, beans and other plants happily grow alongside perennials, roses, herbs and annual flowers. Container gardening continues to be a sensible option for people with limited space and time or physical limitations.

Other “ins and outs” for 2010 from the GMG:

• Slow gardening is in. Instant gratification is out. Seed sales are up 30 to 50%, according to Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability, and home canning increased by 45%. Fruits and berries are on the must-grow list, too, particularly raspberries.

• Eco-boosting is in. Chemical-dependent gardens are out. People want earth-friendly over scorched-earth products, including fertilizers, animal and insect repellents, potting soil, etc.

• Multi-tasking is in. Single-purpose gardening is out. A greater range of plants and uses, such as cottage gardens, rain gardens, wildlife habitats, house plant collections, etc., will be popular.

• Perennials and shrubs are in. Divas are out. Translate this into selecting native perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs, as well as creating low-maintenance gardens and sustainable landscapes and choosing drought-tolerant and pest-resistant plants.

• Mindfulness is in. Bling is out. Gardeners want value, price and performance.

http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/dn/free/304941853956520.php

Tire Garden

February 10, 2009
Earth First

Photo: Flickr user of a tire garden iamterris)

Gardening is regaining popularity as a pastime for all types of people across the world, with gardens popping up in the most unexpected places. While the traditional image of a garden may not exactly fit into the reality of most urban environments, the fact is you can grow your own food whether you live on a rural farm or in a tiny Manhattan apartment. Urban gardening is all about using space wisely to regain a closer connection with your food and beautify your home or neighborhood.

Manure More Precious Than Gold
by Gene Logsdon

I half-jokingly suggested about a year ago that animal manure— used livestock, horse, and chicken bedding— was going to be the hottest commodity on the Chicago Board of Trade. There are indications now that such a seemingly absurd prediction might not be so absurd after all. Last year the prices of some farm fertilizers shot up to over a thousand dollars a ton. Ammonium polyphosphate is still nearly that high. Deposits of potash in Canada, a main source of our potassium fertilizers, are declining. Natural gas, from which commercial nitrogen fertilizer is manufactured, is rising in cost as other uses compete for it. Long term, there are reasons to believe that the era of abundant manufactured fertilizers is passing.

Manure Compost

There is nothing funny about that prediction. Nor should organic farmers feel vindicated. If we run out of commercial fertilizers, there would be no way we could avoid a precipitous decline in crop yields while farmers switched to all-organic methods. It has taken us a couple hundred years to reduce the organic matter content in our soils to the low levels of today and experts say it might take at least half that long to build them back up again. Getting enough manure and other organic wastes to make up for a shortage of commercial fertilizer would be an enormous challenge requiring changes not only in agricultural attitudes but cultural attitudes as well.

May 28, 2008
Alexandra Marks and Patrik Jonsson
Christian Science Monitor

Think of it as a modern-day Victory Garden. With gasoline prices soaring and food costs not far behind, the number of Americans planning to grow their own backyard vegetables this year is up sharply.

Gardening organizations, seed wholesalers and nurseries all are reporting increases in the number of people buying vegetable seeds and starter plants.

The trend started slowly several years ago, spurred by concerns about food safety, food quality and global warming, garden mavens say. This year’s gasoline and food price spikes have had what could be called a “Miracle-Gro” effect on the backyard garden movement.

This year, 39 percent of people with back yards told the Garden Writers Association they planned to grow vegetables this year. That’s up 5 percent from last year, after remaining relatively stable with just small increases for much of the past decade.

“This is evolving into a perfect storm for vegetable gardening,” says Charlie Nardozzi, senior horticulturist at the National Gardening Association in Burlington, Vt. “A lot of the economic things happening, and concerns are rising about global warming and carbon footprints, and so are worries about the quality of food, its price, and freshness – it’s all come to a head.”

Gardening has become a hot topic lately at my workplace. More and more people are discussing what they are planting and how they are going to do it. With rising food costs and scares about tainted food, we are seeing a growing interest in gardening.

:B

Victory Gardens Sprout Up Again

People are borrowing an old wartime concept to lessen the need for mass-produced food, reduce pollution, form communities and save on grocery bills.

January 9, 2009
By Mary MacVean
Los Angeles Times

Victory Garden

These days, digging some holes and planting a little lettuce or a few beets is a political act. Just ask Julie Stern, who shares a backyard organic garden with her neighbor in Topanga Canyon. Stern worked at the polls on election day. “There’s a feeling you had,” she said. “You saw your neighbors, and you felt good about what you did.” Growing food, she added, “I sort of do feel the same way.”

Or ask Sandra Young, who put two raised beds in the neatly kept front yard of her Westside house.

“For me, it’s much more a political question than a gardening question,” Young said, adding that when her family moved to the house 10 years ago, she asked: “What are we doing with all this grass?” Though she claimed she had too little time to be a top-notch gardener, last month beets, carrots, lettuces, basil and parsley were growing steps from her front door. Gardening, she said, is one thing she can do, “a step in the right direction.”