The Yardstead

With the economy getting worse seemingly everyday, home vegetable gardens are becoming more popular.  Agriculture industry analysts have noticed an increase in gardening related sales.  Agriculture Extention agents nationwide have also reported increased interest in home vegetable gardening.  Interest in vegetable gardening has spiked overall, due to tighter budgets and several other factors.  Food sanitation and safety is another big concern for Americans as contaminated food imported from other countries sickens thousands of people.  American farmers are also getting hit hard and suffering from contaminated food issues. 
Seed companies are seeing large increases in sales as more people become interested in gardening.  Ferry-Morse Seed Co.  has seen a 30 percent increase in sales this year, with increased interest over the last several years in their organic product line.  Hardware stores are also reporting increased sales of gardening equipment such as tillers.  The National Gardening Association statistics for 2007 show 22 percent of American households maintain a garden.  That is about 25 million gardens nationwide.  This year the number is expected to increase.