What 7 million Americans are doing to deal with the economic crisis.

Weather Report: “What 7 million more Americans are doing this year over last to deal with the economic crisis” or –“Gardening“– and A Helping Hand

‘7 million more’ are Gardening: A little over a week ago an EnergyBulletin (energybulletin.net) post in it’s Food & Agriculture section pulled some of our thoughts together on American’s, and others around the world, facing the current economic crisis and taking action at the home and family level. That March 17, 2009 post included “The Economist on victory gardens” from The Economist, subtitled “Digging their way out of recession-Allotments by any other name“ Here’s some of the key elements of the post:

“Margaret Lloyd, a researcher on victory gardens at the University of California at Davis, finds many reasons for this national trend. The recession is one, but people are also worried about food safety, want to eat more healthily, and are bothered about climate change. This may be a way to make a difference.’

A second article in this section is also very valuable. “Recession spurs millions of new gardeners” by Jeff Ishee, News Leader ( Central Shenandoah valley, Virginia).

Here are some of the high points from a National Gardening Association Survey:

• U.S. vegetable gardening increased by 7 million kitchen gardeners over 2008 with 43 million households planning to grow gardens in 2009
• 11 million households already growing gardens plan to increase both the quantity and variety of vegetables they will grow in 2009
• 58% of gardeners grow for better tasting food
• 54% grow to save money
• 51% grow for better quality food
• 48 % grow for better food safety

Note: Two more articles of interest spoke to the economy as a driving force for the increased interest in home gardening: “Dollars from dirt: Economy spurs home garden boom” by Gillian Flaccus (AP writer) at news.yahoo.com/ March 15, 2009 (thanks to Stephen McGehee, a friend and sometime contributor) and a Star-Telegram.com article “Many people are raising their own food to save” by Barry Shlacter (thanks to survivalblog.com of 3/10/09).

Both articles mention estimates of food production from a few packets of packets of vegetable seeds to range as high as the hundreds of dollars. Of course a few extra dollars would be required for gardening supplies (est. $50).

A Helping Hand: A helping hand requires five strong fingers in order to grasp securely. Here are the five fingers we suggest for a strong helping hand to effect a productive and sustainable home vegetable garden. They are in a general order of need.

• How to Grow More Vegetables
  by John Jeavons
• All New Square Foot Gardening
  by Mel Bartholomew
• The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Contro
  by Barbara Ellis & Fern Marshall-Bradley
• Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
  by Suzanne Ashworth & Kent Whealy (about seed saving & using)
• Carrots Love Tomatoes
  by Louise Riotte (companion planting for greater yields)

Until the week’s end, keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.