With the skyrocketing interest in growing food at home these days, I think if Fresh from the Garden (the show I did for three years on the DIY Network) were rolling out this year instead of 2003, it would be their top rated series of the year. High gas prices combined with a tighter economy and the desire to live a more environmentally responsible lifestyle are driving this surge in new home vegetable gardeners.
In addition, nurseries across the country are seeing a huge increase in the number of young, first-time gardeners. They’re looking to serve their young family fresh homegrown veggies that are not only delicious but also free of all the chemical pesticides so prevalent in store bought produce. But price is the biggest motivating factor in growing their own. Purchasing organic food is prohibitively expensive for many families today and the commercial cost of growing and bringing organically grown food to market isn’t coming down any time soon.
Yet if this back door approach is what hooks young parents and children on gardening and doing so organically, I’m all for that. We know that parents aren’t gardening nearly as much as our parents did. Consequently, our children and grandchildren aren’t being introduced to it either. The time is ripe for spreading the gospel of gardening and growing your own. Full classes and long waiting lists are common across the country these days for programs such as Portland’s nonprofit Growing Gardens that teaches gardeners of all ages how to build raised beds and grow food in any available space. You hear that DIY Network? Fresh from the Garden needs an updated series with a green theme.
Although the main driver today may be economic, the benefits of this explosion of interest in home gardening are many; parents are children getting outside—together, exposure to delicious and nutritious home-grown food, and I’m sure many new lifetime gardeners will blossom from this experience, just to name a few. When life throws you lemons, make lemon-aid…or at least plant the seeds.
JL