Re: home food gardening trends/vegetable gardening

**Mary Henry m*@mac.com**

Congratulations Margaret! You've stumped Google! What are the  
"bedegaurs" created on the suckers of your climbing rose?
Mary Henry

On Jul 5, 2006, at 1:56 PM, gardenwriters-request@lists.ibiblio.org  
wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. home food gardening trends (Roger Doiron)
>    2. Re: home food gardening trends (miranda@tagoresmith.com)
>    3. Re: home food gardening trends (Jeff Ball)
>    4. Re: home food gardening trends (Yvonne Cunnington)
>    5. Re: home food gardening trends (Margaret Lauterbach)
>    6. Re: home food gardening trends (miranda@tagoresmith.com)
>    7. Re: home food gardening trends (Margaret Lauterbach)
>    8. Re: home food gardening trends (permafrog@riseup.net)
>    9. vegetable gardening (GeraldB571@aol.com)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 12:19:37 -0400
> From: "Roger Doiron" <roger@kitchengardeners.org>
> Subject: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: "'Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum'"
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <200607051619.k65GJdwZ073507@socrates.thinkhost.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"
>
> Are the home-grown food habits of farmers indicative of a larger  
> gardening
> trend? If so, then the recently published 2005 statistics from the  
> USDA show
> home-gardening at its lowest point (per capita) in US history, down  
> 15% from
> 2004.
>
> The data is available here:
> http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/ 
> table2.htm
>
> As garden writers and media specialists, how do we draw attention  
> to the
> endangered species known as the family vegetable patch?
>
> How low does the home gardening data have to go before it becomes a  
> news
> story and not a garden story?
>
> Or, am I just out of touch?  I'd love to have someone tell me that  
> home food
> production is in a better state than I can see in my area or in the  
> USDA
> stats.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roger
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 11:34:38 -0500 (CDT)
> From: miranda@tagoresmith.com
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <1106.65.35.5.115.1152117278.squirrel@charliecompany.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Sorry, I think you can believe the numbers. I keep hoping against hope
> that people will wake up and realize the benefits of growing food, but
> they don't seem to be doing a whole lot of it.
>
> Miranda Smith
>
> Roger Dorion wrote:
>
>> Are the home-grown food habits of farmers indicative of a larger  
>> gardening
>> trend? If so, then the recently published 2005 statistics from the  
>> USDA
>> show
>> home-gardening at its lowest point (per capita) in US history,  
>> down 15%
>> from
>> 2004.
>>
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 12:47:03 -0400
> From: Jeff Ball <jeffball@usol.com>
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <4C2183CA-2051-4F66-AF8B-09198F70BA1E@usol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> I can't imagine how the vegetable seed side of the seed business can
> not be in dire condition.  I even question why my own garden is so
> big.  I think two things have happened to cause veggie growing to
> collapse.  First the growth of organic vegetables available in
> grocery stores.  You can now even get fruit and vegetables out of
> season and still organic.  Then the growth of farmer's markets.
> There are six within driving range of my house and three of them are
> very large and complete in terms of choice; they all have very fair
> prices.  We eat a lot of vegetables but not much is from our garden;
> most is from the vegetable stands and farmer's market especially as
> the summer progresses.  We will always grow tomatoes and I suspect
> the growing of tomatoes has not made much of a dip down.
>
> Jeff Ball
> jeffball@usol.com
> 810-724-8581
> Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
> Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com
>
>
>
> On Jul 5, 2006, at 12:19 PM, Roger Doiron wrote:
>
> Are the home-grown food habits of farmers indicative of a larger
> gardening
> trend? If so, then the recently published 2005 statistics from the
> USDA show
> home-gardening at its lowest point (per capita) in US history, down
> 15% from
> 2004.
>
> The data is available here:
> http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/ 
> table2.htm
>
> As garden writers and media specialists, how do we draw attention  
> to the
> endangered species known as the family vegetable patch?
>
> How low does the home gardening data have to go before it becomes a  
> news
> story and not a garden story?
>
> Or, am I just out of touch?  I'd love to have someone tell me that
> home food
> production is in a better state than I can see in my area or in the  
> USDA
> stats.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roger
>
>
>
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>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 13:09:46 -0400
> From: "Yvonne Cunnington" <ycunnington@ispnet.ca>
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <009e01c6a055$d183add0$6401a8c0@yvonne>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=original
>
> Veggie gardening is a lot of work. People don't have time, and  
> nowadays they
> don't have the skills. Furthermore, they don't ask anything of  
> their kids.
> My childhood summers were spent (grudgingly) helping out in my  
> parents' huge
> vegetable patch, weeding and harvesting and then preping and  
> preserving
> (usually getting things ready for the freezer). This was the way my  
> family
> fed six kids cheaply.
>
> I would rather have been at the beach or the pool, (anywhere else  
> actually).
> But I learned how to grow veggies. As a kid, I complained a lot and  
> wasn't
> popular with my parents. These days parents don't dare be unpopular  
> with
> their kids.
>
> Anyway, fast forward to the summer of 2006: after growing veggies  
> myself for
> at least a decade,  I'm giving it up too, in favor of supporting a  
> bunch of
> young idealists who started a local organic farm seven years ago. They
> deliver fresh produce to the house. I will keep space for a few tomato
> plants and my asparagus patch will continue to serve us for a few more
> years, but I'm simply tired of being a slave to my garden, and I'm  
> cutting
> back where I can.
>
> In my early fits of enthusiasm when we moved to our farm (10 acres in
> southern Ontario), I had a huge patch for squash and pumpkins, plus a
> veggie/cutting garden 25x50 feet. We grassed that in last year in  
> favor of 2
> small patches that are 8x15 feet. This fall that will be grassed in  
> too.
>
> Yes, I'll miss my fresh-from-the-garden fare, but I won't miss the  
> time it
> took. And I'm liking having local organic produce delivered to my  
> door. As
> for the idealist young folk with their organic farm, I hope they  
> continue to
> make a go of it. They haven't chosen an easy way to make a living.
> Interestingly enough, they are all city kids, who were not raised  
> growing
> veggies.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 11:45:23 -0600
> From: Margaret Lauterbach <melauter@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20060705113345.038c6b70@earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> At 11:09 AM 7/5/2006, you wrote:
>> Veggie gardening is a lot of work. People don't have time, and  
>> nowadays they
>> don't have the skills. Furthermore, they don't ask anything of  
>> their kids.
>
> I was just thinking earlier this morning how easy veggie gardening is
> when you're properly set up.  I have 14 raised beds, garden from the
> seat of an electric scooter because my right leg prosthesis is not
> conducive to gardening.  I topped each bed with strewn alfalfa meal
> and about 1-1 and 1/2" of finished compost.  I started tomatoes from
> seed, and have 37 plants of 37 different varieties planted, and
> mulched with grass clippings, so no weeding.  Lettuces, salsify,
> Asian turnips and some cole crops are under row cover.  Occasional
> weeds pop up where the bed is not mulched with grass clippings or the
> soil level shaded by plants, but I can weed the whole garden in an
> hour, not have to do that again for weeks.  Apart from the tomatoes,
> the other beds comprise about 272 s.f.  Each bed has its own faucet,
> sending water through soaker hoses.  Haven't seen a tomato hornworm
> for about 8 years, co-exist with wasps in search of larvae with which
> to provision their egg cells, and have beneficial insects well
> established in the vicinity of the veggie garden.  The only real
> problem I've had with malevolent critters is squash bugs (not yet,
> thank God),  and slugs.  I could ring the beds with copper, but
> there's already a crop of slugs in the beds.
>
> Ditzy teenagers have told me they don't want food that's grown in
> DIRT, they'll just go to the supermarket to get their food.  I'm
> still in such shock over that "revelation" that I delighted in
> showing my grand-nephews my garden two nights ago, and encouraged
> them to find and eat sugar peas.  They had a wonderful time, asked
> intelligent questions, and were even interested in seeing the
> bedegaurs created on the suckers of my climbing rose at the entrance
> to the garden.  At least they know where food comes from.  Margaret  
> Lauterbach
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 13:10:18 -0500 (CDT)
> From: miranda@tagoresmith.com
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <1174.65.35.5.115.1152123018.squirrel@charliecompany.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Margaret wrote:
>> I was just thinking earlier this morning how easy veggie gardening is
>> when you're properly set up.
>
> How nice to read your response! I agree that it's not much work  
> once you
> get things organized. Composting can be a lot of work, but if you're
> willing to forego a bit of quality for convenience, even that is  
> easy. And
> growing food is fun--trialing different cultivars, saving seeds,  
> working
> out different planting schemes and schedules--it's endlessly  
> fascinating.
>
> Also, over the years, I have taught a lot of "city kids" how to  
> farm. It's
> gratifying to watch them go through the various stages necessary to  
> become
> real farmers. Along the way, they transform in many ways--it goes  
> beyond
> learning how to work hard, although that is a major step. They  
> learn how
> to observe, draw conclusions, and take actions that are based on their
> judgements as well as gain a deep understanding of the  
> interconnectedness
> of natural elements.
>
> Frankly, I think that learning to garden is an important educational
> tool--it changes people in significant ways.
>
> Miranda Smith
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:20:34 -0600
> From: Margaret Lauterbach <melauter@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20060705121801.038d3da0@earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> At 12:10 PM 7/5/2006, you wrote:
>> Margaret wrote:
>>> I was just thinking earlier this morning how easy veggie  
>>> gardening is
>>> when you're properly set up.
>>
>> How nice to read your response! I agree that it's not much work  
>> once you
>> get things organized. Composting can be a lot of work, but if you're
>> willing to forego a bit of quality for convenience, even that is  
>> easy. And
>> growing food is fun--trialing different cultivars, saving seeds,  
>> working
>> out different planting schemes and schedules--it's endlessly  
>> fascinating.
>>
>> Miranda Smith
>
> I've grown veggie gardens for 35 years, and each year I try something
> new, mainly to see how it grows.  This year, the major experiment is
> chickpeas.  I thought pods weren't setting until I gently raised a
> branch, and they're all hanging beneath the branch.  Saving seeds is
> important too.  I've been a member of Seed Savers' Exchange for ten
> years or so, should have joined much earlier.  Margaret Lauterbach
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 14:45:12 -0400 (EDT)
> From: permafrog@riseup.net
> Subject: Re: [GWL] home food gardening trends
> To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum"
> 	<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Message-ID: <3574.permafrog.1152125112.squirrel@mail.riseup.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
>
>> Margaret wrote:
>>> I was just thinking earlier this morning how easy veggie  
>>> gardening is
>>> when you're properly set up.
>
> I agree, good design reduces labour. Gardening is an ideal way to  
> teach
> chidlren many things, math,history,biology,botany, group work,
> communications and so on... Gardening and especially growing food,  
> needs
> to be part of a school's curriculum so chidlren can get  real hands on
> learning experience.
>
> Bob
>
>>
>
>
> Bob Ewing: Urban Permaculture Design
> http://www.communityrenewal.ca
> Bookstore:
> http://www.powells.com/ppbs/30156.html
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 16:56:29 EDT
> From: GeraldB571@aol.com
> Subject: [GWL] vegetable gardening
> To: gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
> Message-ID: <424.587943f.31dd817d@aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> All good points on gardening from Margaret L. but I'm pleased that I'm
> seeing what I consider an increase in interest on the part of kids  
> in primary  and
> middle schools in gardening. I judge at local flower shows each  
> spring, and
> it appears to me that there are concentrated efforts on the part of  
> teachers to
>  get some gardening interests going with kids. Each year the  
> entries by kids
> has  been greater, both in art related to gardening and in entries in
> vegetable and  flower gardening.
>
> It's far more than I've seen in the 30 years or so that I've been  
> at  this.
>
> And this, as Margaret (a one-time Riverside resident) knows is in  
> an area
> that isn't great for gardening except in the winter. In Southern  
> California in
> the Riverside-San Bernardino-Redlands-Ontario-Chino area temps are  
> 90 to 100
> plus for much of the summer, starting as early as May and  
> continuing into
> early  October. That discourages even the committed gardener,  
> although many of us
> still  continue.
>
> And in my particular neighborhood, the Canyon Crest area near UC  
> Riverside,
> I see more and more annual and perennial flowers being grown, and  
> an increase
> in  vegetable container gardening. I switched from containers this  
> year to
> raised  beds, which does help the harvester (my wife) to bring in  
> the produce.
>
> But I would have to agree that there isn't a major trend toward more
> gardening, although gasoline prices may help to get  more people  
> out into  the
> garden. And UC Riverside has abandoned its community garden so  
> more  structures can
> be built--bad idea, many of us think.
>
> Gerald Burke
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of gardenwriters Digest, Vol 42, Issue 4
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