Compost Confidential

Home Vegetable Gardening Explodes Reports Latest Survey

It is no secret that I love to communicate great ‘gardening’ information.  Along with a full speaking schedule at flower & garden shows across the country, I had the pleasure of going to Marysville, Ohio yesterday to host the 5th Annual Garden Writers Webinar co-sponsored by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company and the Garden Writers Association.

I always look forward to this event but for me, this time the highlight was the breaking information released by The National Gardening Association (NGA). The report revealed their latest findings from a recent survey; The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America.

 Indications are that 7 million more households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs or berries in 2009.  This is up 19 percent from 2008 and anticipated to nearly double the 10 percent growth already seen in this area from 2007 to 2008.

Although the full report will be released to the public in March, here’s a peek at a few interesting statistics from the survey:

• “43 million U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries in 2009, up 19 percent from 36 million households in 2008
”

• “21 percent of households said they plan to start a food garden in 2009”
• “11 percent of households already active in food gardening plan to increase both the amount and variety of vegetables they will grow in 2009”
• “10 percent also said they will spend more time food gardening this year
”
• Reasons cited for the increased interest in food gardening:
• 58 percent said for better-tasting food
• 
54 percent said to save money on food bills
• 
51 percent said for better quality food


• 48 percent said to grow food they know is safe

According to NGA estimates, a well-maintained food garden yields a $500 average return per garden.
"As in previous recessions, we've seen increased participation in and spending on food gardening as people look for ways to economize," explained Bruce Butterfield, research director for the NGA. "That said, these results suggest the interest in food gardening may continue to increase, even after the economy improves."
The complete results will be published in early March and available on the National Gardening Association's Web site, www.gardenresearch.com and on the Scotts Miracle-Gro Web site, www.scottsmiraclegro.com.

A Conversation with Duane Kelly, the Man Behind the NW & SF Flower & Garden Show

This past Friday, while preparing to give a presentation to a growing crowd at the Southeastern Flower Show, my cell phone suddenly started going nuts, with emails, text messages and phone calls. It was no coincidence that they were all related. News that the Northwest and San Francisco Flower and Garden Show were closing their doors after this year had just hit the news wire.

These were not the first flower shows to close their doors in recent months after long and successful runs. But in spite of the other notable and respected shows making similar announcements in recent weeks, this news still came as a huge surprise. These are the second and third largest shows in the country, only behind the infamous Philadelphia Flower Show. Steadily decreasing attendance, fewer corporate sponsorships and a smaller pool of exhibitors contributed to the shows owner and founder, Duane Kelly’s decision to call it quits after a 20 year run.

I caught up with Duane today for a recorded telephone interview that will air on my next podcast episode of Growing a Greener World this Sunday, February 8th. I wanted a chance to hear Duane’s perspective on the state of gardening shows in general and also to hear his viewpoint from a man I greatly respect and who is well connected. The truth is, it seems every day we’re hearing about another gardening related ‘death’, at a time when the public is craving more access to gardening media and events than ever.

In Duane’s defense, he’s been at this a long time. He’s tired and not as willing to take on the inherent stress that goes with producing shows of this magnitude in such economic times as this. In addition, he wants to spend more time with his wife and concentrate on his other love of writing plays. Sadly, as he looks for a buyer (no firm offers yet although he remains upbeat), a company that was worth close to 10 million dollars a decade ago is struggling to find a buyer at a fraction of that today.

Personally, it is concerning. I’ve spoken at both of these great shows for five consecutive years and will do so again in just a few weeks. I know many share the same thoughts I do about these shows; they are consistently the finest in the country. We talked a lot about that today and how he is able to routinely produce such great shows. If the best shows in the country are throwing in the towel, without a buyer willing to offer a fair price, as gardening enthusiasts, we all need to be concerned. I’m trying very hard lately to not sound so negative but it’s getting harder and harder by the day. As Duane said today, gardening is not the only industry being hit hard right now, and in many ways, we’re fairing better than others. I know he’s right about that but this is the industry I’m paying the most attention to and I don’t like what I’m seeing.

In my next post, I’ll share my personal observations about the NW and SF Flower Shows as a presenter and attendee and why I consider them to be the gold standard. I’ll say this now; I never tire of either show and always look forward to them, even when I fly across country to present and attend and catch a red eye home the next day. It’s always worth it!

Gardening needs a face lift

With Christmas behind us, I’m ready to move on. We can shelve the standard holiday topics for a while: forcing bulbs, turning poinsettias red again, taking care of live Christmas trees and which is greener…real or artificial trees? I’ve written about all of these at least once including some within the past few weeks. Even the topic of which Christmas tree is more eco-friendly was a popular topic. I certainly weighed in on this one with podcast interviews, articles and blog posts. I even saw a YouTube video on it. It’s interesting to note that we must be making some progress on the environmental front since this was a topic I had not seen until recently.

Now it’s on to topics such as how to buy seeds from a catalog and starting them indoors for an early start to your spring garden. Don’t get me wrong. Although I say this with a tad of sarcasm, when you’ve been writing gardening articles for a long time, you’re looking for new material. Yet in the dead of winter, there’s only so much timely material on gardening.

So for me, in 2009 and beyond, I’ll look to push the envelope with this blog and in my other forums as a gardening communicator. There is no shortage of how-to articles out there on any subject you can imagine, especially gardening. It’s time to add a new dimension.  There’s a lot more to gardening than how to dig the proper hole or when to prune your azaleas. In the light of a shrinking media platform that is devoting the airways and print space to the virtues of gardening, we’ll do it here in the blogosphere and elsewhere on the World Wide Web. I’m excited about being a part of where you come to stay in touch and in the know.

Thank you for your past and continued support and I welcome your comments on what you’d like to see get more coverage in the upcoming months. Cheers.

JL

NPR "Talking Plants"? Hardly, Now That One of Their Best is Laid Off

I could start this post off by asking the question “What is going on?!?” However, being in the business of making it my business to know about trends in gardening and horticulture, I think I know. This weekend I checked in on some of my favorite heroes of the gardening blogosphere and saw a new post from Ketzel Levine from her Talking Plants Blog. Her latest post was titled “Talking Unemployment”. I assumed she was touching on a common topic these days; the fate of the nursery industry feeling the pinch of this economy, or something to that effect. But I had no idea the words I was about to read were in reference to her own personal situation.

As a senior correspondent, Levine’s history with NPR dates back nearly 30 years with assignments covering everything from sports to interviews with high-profile celebrities. Yet the only Ketzel I knew was the one who in more recent years covered stories that brought critical attention to horticulture and climate change in a highly entertaining and insightful way. Not surprising when you learn that in 1990 she turned in her NPR staff ID (temporarily) to study horticulture and landscape design.

It was just last year that she added her own NPR blog, “Talking Plants” giving us all, one more opportunity to enjoy her one-of-a-kind style.  Even a visit to her NPR bio describes her blog as a place “where her trademark wit and irreverence – and her passion for plants – have free reign”.  Unfortunately, as of January 12, 2009, that won’t happen at NPR. She’s been laid off. It’s very sad to know that media considers gardening and horticulture such a dispensable topic. In its wake, we are losing yet another very talented and public voice on behalf of the subjects we consider so important. I guess not everyone sees it the same way. Such a shame!

JL

p.s. Ketzel Levine will certainly land on both feet and hit the ground running, and we all have that to look forward to. And Ketzel, if you happen to read this, I’d love to post a follow up on where we can find you.  In the mean time, thank you for all you’ve done on behalf of your listeners and readers everywhere. We’ll be waiting.

Keeping the “G” in HGTV – Why that’s not so E Z

Well it’s been an interesting few days with my post entitled; The Future of Gardening; Dead or Alive? It prompted some interesting replies and I found that this is a topic that’s pretty hot all over the blogosphere. In particular, what’s up with all the networks that used to carry great gardening shows?

The comments led me to write an article yesterday for my syndicated column with Scripps Howard News Service. It was entitled; Keep the “G” in HGTV Please. Essentially it was an observation on what the networks think about gardening TV. As I started to write this column, it occurred to me that my employer for this weekly revenue stream is the same company that owns HGTV and DIY Network, which just happens to be where I got my start in television. Consequently, I found myself second-guessing if I was headed down a perilous road with this topic.

As I thought through want I wanted to communicate, I realized I had no disparaging remarks against the networks. In fact, it was quite an unemotional analysis of why we are seeing less and less gardening shows on the for-profit networks these days. My seven years now as host of gardening shows on DIY and PBS has allowed me a unique perspective as both a serious gardener and one involved in the television side of the business. Although my role in TV hardly gets me into the inner circle, I have learned a lot about how they make their money.

Just to be sure I wasn’t off base with my assessment as reported, I contacted my friend and former producer of my show on DIY. She also happens to hold claim as the Producer of several other successful shows on HGTV and DIY. She read my article and indeed confirmed my analysis as “right on target”. (You can read it too, here).

She went on to offer the following comment; “Gardening shows do not bring in the ratings. But, landscaping shows do. While not a lot of people "garden", they do landscape. Meaning while they might not be out there planting vegetable gardens they are renovating their yards. If they do garden it is to incorporate an herb garden or blueberry bushes into the landscape. And landscaping shows do bring in the ratings, especially if they have drama”.

Ironically, she went on to say that my article was very timely for her personally.  Today is her very last day of production of a landscape makeover show on HGTV that has been in production for 10 years! In her words, “this was a great run for a landscaping show, or any show. So it proves there is an audience out there for landscaping. We got cancelled mainly because they have a huge inventory now and it is an expensive show to produce”. Fortunately, it was a landscaping show. I wonder what the run would have been if this show had started out in the ‘gardening’ category?

So here’s my question to you; Now that you have a bit more insight into how the networks think when deciding what shows to air, how do we get good gardening programming back on TV, and where it’s not treated like the red-headed stepchild? Any ideas? I’m all ears.
JL

Here’s the link to the complete article as submitted to the news wire. Click here to read now.

The Future of Gardening; Dead or Alive?

Any reader of the great garden blog, Garden Rant, likely saw a recent post by the well loved and respected Allan Armitage. Entitled; Gardening is a four-letter word; the education of a plant guy, he expressed some concerns about it’s current popularity. In the end, he gave hope and encouragement to the future of plants and gardening.  

I too have some of the same concerns, and like Allan, feel that gardening is too important to simply fade into the sunset. Unfortunately, I feel we have our work cut out for us to keep it higher on people’s priority list, at least for the near future. As a full-time gardening communicator, this is made apparent to me everyday.  I responded to his post with a few observations of my own. Take a moment to read what I said and let us know what you think.

“Hi Allan and you sure picked a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Is gardening dead? No, but you'd never know that by trying to find a gardening show on television. Or, even trying to read up on a few gardening columns in your local paper. Many newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal had a dedicated, weekly section for "Home and Garden", now relegated to just a few pages within another section.

Unfortunately, many of the television networks, i.e. HGTV and DIY, have all but dropped gardening for two reasons. According to an HGTV exec-producer friend of mine, "gardening" isn't on any network's radar anymore. Landscaping maybe, but only if it's a makeover show. Please not another one of those! The young network execs, don't relate to "gardening" and their advertising-driven clients don't see us as a lucrative target audience for their product.

Similarly, those same big money advertisers don't seem to want television hosts over 30 hosting "their" shows since the viewers they want to attract are late teens to mid 20's; sadly, a group not yet viewed as a target demographic for gardening, too busy to do it themselves and who doesn't identify with "more mature" experts.

When I was picked to host Fresh from the Garden on DIY Network, they were looking for a "Real"gardener between 35 and 45. Perfect, and it made sense. Now, 25 is pushing the upper limits! Just ask former "mature" TV Gardening hosts Joe Washington, Erica Glasener, Rebecca Kolls and most recently, Paul James. Not only did I learn a lot by watching these and other shows, they made me want to garden. Sadly, we have less of those opportunities than ever. And Allan, even the show you were a part of on PBS, was too short-lived and the one I host, constantly struggles with funding support. Advertisers we've relied on for years aren't putting the money towards gardening.

So, maybe my perspective is a bit different, but I'm out there as much as anybody and I can tell you, although gardening is not a four letter word, we are having to work harder than ever to convince people of that. As avid gardeners, educators, and communicators, I believe we all need to cast a spotlight on the "importance of gardening". We already know what it does for us mentally and physically, but done properly, it helps the environment, promotes nutrition and health, teaches our children, unites strangers and nurtures our souls”.

What do you think? Is gardening alive and well, or are we losing ground to a world of increasing demands for our time and resources?
JL