There was a great article called Echoes of Victory in the LA Times on Saturday about how more Americans are planting Victory Gardens. It discussed how people grow these gardens to save money on their grocery bill, reduce pollution and nurture a sense of community and how this new trend is becoming increasing popular across all demographics.
YES!
In the article, the National Garden Association is quoted as saying that there was a 10% rise in food gardening in 2008 and they expect a much stronger growth this year. Burpee Seeds had a 40% increase in sales this past year. And in 2008, many seed companies actually ran out of seeds faster than ever before. (Note: We should order our seeds NOW!) And the Los Angeles County UC Cooperative Extension Program has seen the applications triple for their “Master Gardener” programs.
So what does all this mean to us? Yippee!!
People are catching on, digging in the dirt and planting veggies. Of course, as gardeners, you probably already knew about this new trend. Right? We read about it in places like Red White and Grew, Eat The View, Victory Grower and Kitchen Gardener International (to name just a few). But it is nice to see the trend mentioned in the LA Times so that others will catch on as well. It is bound to get more people climbing on board the veggie train.
About the Author
Theresa Loe blogs here about taking the garden full circle while striving for a more local, fresh-from-the-garden lifestyle. She is a TV producer, video host, freelance garden writer and a wrangler of chickens and children. (Not necessarily in that order.) For more information on these topics, you can subscribe to her free monthly newsletter.
Theresa Loe is the award- winning Co-Executive Producer & Canning Expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She blogs here about Living Homegrown®, local and fresh-from-the-garden. 
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Well how nice of the paper. I have no faith in newspapers at all right now. I can only imagine what the personal gardeners are going to be growing that is edible with the way things are headed. Great post.
I’m glad to hear that more people are growing food; I adore flowers, honestly, but it always boggles me when people that grow tons of flowers never grow their own food.
We’ve been making picks in our Johnny’s and Territorial catalogs. Can’t wait for the spring!