Oregon gardens getting their day in the sun
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Eugene resident Sarah Barton said she grew up in Los Angeles and never had the chance to try to grow her own food, but she always wanted to try.
This spring Barton, 31, will get her chance when she and her children transform part of their south Eugene lawn into a vegetable garden. They're looking forward to watching their garden grow this summer.
"It's just a fun idea to do it," Barton said. "I'm excited my kids are going to do it."
Her family is one of an estimated 43 million households in the United States that plan to grow their own food this year, up 19 percent from last year, according to a National Gardening Association study conducted in January.
They're doing it for a variety of reasons, including better-tasting, safer food and grocery bill savings.
Some are calling the home gardening trend a recession-related phenomenon. But here in the fertile Willamette Valley, residents' interest in growing their own food has been mounting over the past several years, according to local gardening experts.
Tough economic times and a slew of layoffs, including the recent loss of 2,000 jobs at RV maker Monaco Coach Corp., may have provided that extra nudge for anyone sitting on the garden fence.
It's still early in the season — many Lane County vegetable gardeners don't start planting until May. But interest in vegetable gardening is growing, according to area garden centers, local seed producer Territorial Seed Co., the coordinator of Eugene's community gardens program, and the Oregon State University Extension Service, which freely distributes gardening advice.
In a typical year, more than 12,000 people call and 30,000 people drop by the extension service office near the Lane County Fairgrounds with gardening questions — mostly about vegetables, said Ross Penhallegon, horticulture agent for the service.
"This year our numbers are off the chart," he said.
Because of the economy, people are now more interested in how to grow and preserve food, Penhallegon said, adding that an uptick in inquiries began in January, and "each day there seems to be more and more calls coming through."
Many of the callers say they want to learn how to plant a garden, or they've started one and need some help, he said.
Orders started to pick up last year at Territorial Seed in Cottage Grove, "when things first started going south with the economy," said Julie Johns, who owns the business with her husband, Tom. That surge has continued this year, with sales up 20 percent from last year.
Food garden suppliers are ecstatic that the oft-neglected vegetable patch finally is getting its day in the sun. Territorial, as well as other seed suppliers, "waited and waited" through the economic expansion for people to realize that they can grow their own food, Johns said. "All of the seed companies have suffered through the good times, and now it's our turn."
Some of Territorial's top sellers are seeds for salad greens and tomatoes, which "people find easy enough to do," Johns said. "A lot of people can just put a tomato plant on their porch."
Bloomer's Nursery in north Eugene plans to offer customers an easy entry into food gardening with a "salad bowl container garden" — a $15 to $20 terra cotta pot with several types of lettuces and chives or bunching onions and a pansy or two for color, manager Stephanie Johnson said.
The nursery has offered these in the past with limited success, she said. But she said she thinks this year will be different because of people's renewed interest in growing their own food.
Concern about food safety is another strong motivator for gardening at home.
Last summer's outbreak of salmonella in certain types of tomatoes and in Mexican-grown raw peppers, and earlier outbreaks of E. coli in lettuce, spinach and melons, have heightened some shoppers' desire to know where and how their produce is grown.
People feel they have more control when they grow their own produce, Johns said.
"They can get some seed, dig up some ground, and help feed themselves," she said.
That was among the reasons why Kristen and Daniel Miller of Eugene have enlisted help from the local Victory Gardens for All project to turn much of their backyard into a vegetable garden.
"I think we've gotten pretty far removed from the reality of where things come from, so to be able to get out there and work with my hands and have some sort of involvement (with) where the food comes from is pretty exciting," Kristen Miller said.
Anticipating a surge in new and returning gardeners, Vern Johnson, owner of Johnson Bros. Greenhouses in Eugene, said he's looking forward to a 15 percent to 20 percent rise in sales this year. In his business, even a 5 percent to 10 percent increase is considered good, he said, so these are extraordinary times.
Johnson Bros., which sells seeds, starts and other supplies — mostly to home gardeners — has already sold out of, and restocked seeds for beans, corn, peas and pumpkins, he said.
Those are easier, bigger seeds "that are great to go right into the ground with," Johnson said. That may be a sign that more first-time gardeners are getting in the dirt, he said.
Johnson said he also has noticed a return of people who used to garden.
"The reason a lot of people don't do it is it's work, and it's dirty work and time," he said.
"In these (economic) times, they're saying, 'I don't care about that. I want to know what I'm putting in my body, save a little money, and get some exercise to boot.'"
Barton, the south Eugene resident who will be planting her first garden this spring, said it would be great if the fledgling garden could put a dent in her grocery bill this year. But she isn't counting on it.
"It's a thought, but it's not the motivation this year," she said. "I'm trying not to overwhelm myself."
This spring Barton, 31, will get her chance when she and her children transform part of their south Eugene lawn into a vegetable garden. They're looking forward to watching their garden grow this summer.
"It's just a fun idea to do it," Barton said. "I'm excited my kids are going to do it."
Her family is one of an estimated 43 million households in the United States that plan to grow their own food this year, up 19 percent from last year, according to a National Gardening Association study conducted in January.
They're doing it for a variety of reasons, including better-tasting, safer food and grocery bill savings.
Some are calling the home gardening trend a recession-related phenomenon. But here in the fertile Willamette Valley, residents' interest in growing their own food has been mounting over the past several years, according to local gardening experts.
Tough economic times and a slew of layoffs, including the recent loss of 2,000 jobs at RV maker Monaco Coach Corp., may have provided that extra nudge for anyone sitting on the garden fence.
It's still early in the season — many Lane County vegetable gardeners don't start planting until May. But interest in vegetable gardening is growing, according to area garden centers, local seed producer Territorial Seed Co., the coordinator of Eugene's community gardens program, and the Oregon State University Extension Service, which freely distributes gardening advice.
In a typical year, more than 12,000 people call and 30,000 people drop by the extension service office near the Lane County Fairgrounds with gardening questions — mostly about vegetables, said Ross Penhallegon, horticulture agent for the service.
"This year our numbers are off the chart," he said.
Because of the economy, people are now more interested in how to grow and preserve food, Penhallegon said, adding that an uptick in inquiries began in January, and "each day there seems to be more and more calls coming through."
Many of the callers say they want to learn how to plant a garden, or they've started one and need some help, he said.
Orders started to pick up last year at Territorial Seed in Cottage Grove, "when things first started going south with the economy," said Julie Johns, who owns the business with her husband, Tom. That surge has continued this year, with sales up 20 percent from last year.
Food garden suppliers are ecstatic that the oft-neglected vegetable patch finally is getting its day in the sun. Territorial, as well as other seed suppliers, "waited and waited" through the economic expansion for people to realize that they can grow their own food, Johns said. "All of the seed companies have suffered through the good times, and now it's our turn."
Some of Territorial's top sellers are seeds for salad greens and tomatoes, which "people find easy enough to do," Johns said. "A lot of people can just put a tomato plant on their porch."
Bloomer's Nursery in north Eugene plans to offer customers an easy entry into food gardening with a "salad bowl container garden" — a $15 to $20 terra cotta pot with several types of lettuces and chives or bunching onions and a pansy or two for color, manager Stephanie Johnson said.
The nursery has offered these in the past with limited success, she said. But she said she thinks this year will be different because of people's renewed interest in growing their own food.
Concern about food safety is another strong motivator for gardening at home.
Last summer's outbreak of salmonella in certain types of tomatoes and in Mexican-grown raw peppers, and earlier outbreaks of E. coli in lettuce, spinach and melons, have heightened some shoppers' desire to know where and how their produce is grown.
People feel they have more control when they grow their own produce, Johns said.
"They can get some seed, dig up some ground, and help feed themselves," she said.
That was among the reasons why Kristen and Daniel Miller of Eugene have enlisted help from the local Victory Gardens for All project to turn much of their backyard into a vegetable garden.
"I think we've gotten pretty far removed from the reality of where things come from, so to be able to get out there and work with my hands and have some sort of involvement (with) where the food comes from is pretty exciting," Kristen Miller said.
Anticipating a surge in new and returning gardeners, Vern Johnson, owner of Johnson Bros. Greenhouses in Eugene, said he's looking forward to a 15 percent to 20 percent rise in sales this year. In his business, even a 5 percent to 10 percent increase is considered good, he said, so these are extraordinary times.
Johnson Bros., which sells seeds, starts and other supplies — mostly to home gardeners — has already sold out of, and restocked seeds for beans, corn, peas and pumpkins, he said.
Those are easier, bigger seeds "that are great to go right into the ground with," Johnson said. That may be a sign that more first-time gardeners are getting in the dirt, he said.
Johnson said he also has noticed a return of people who used to garden.
"The reason a lot of people don't do it is it's work, and it's dirty work and time," he said.
"In these (economic) times, they're saying, 'I don't care about that. I want to know what I'm putting in my body, save a little money, and get some exercise to boot.'"
Barton, the south Eugene resident who will be planting her first garden this spring, said it would be great if the fledgling garden could put a dent in her grocery bill this year. But she isn't counting on it.
"It's a thought, but it's not the motivation this year," she said. "I'm trying not to overwhelm myself."