What do all think about gardening's popularity in 2010? Is it more common to garden now than say 50 years ago?
I don't think it's more common, but what is grown is widely different. 50 years ago I would say that 90% of what was grown was edible. More people lived where they could have larger gardens and prerved what they grew for winter usage. Now gardening space is a lot smaller and the majority is for flowers and shrubs etc. Not many people preserv here in the states any more. It's too easy to go to the grocery and buy it.
I agree with everything CK has said although more people here are renting allotments nowadays to grow their own fruit and veg as their gardens are too small.
There are a lot more people growing their own food than you would think, I don't preserve but I do fill my freezer from what I grow or get from the farmer's market. With the economy what it is now there is a reason people are going back to growing a garden. But, I've always had a garden, a thing learned from childhood. Most people I know have gardens. I'd rather eat fresh or what I've frozen than the stuff you buy full of additives, etc. dooley
I think most people who are growing produce are older people, say 40 or older. Younger people for the most part don't have the time or the desire.
I like fresh veggies in season but I don't put anything in th freezer or can anymore. Most of the younger generation don't know how to can fruit and veggies.wannabe
About 35-40 years ago most people had a veggie patch, potatoes, fruit, berries, herbs etc. around here. But when the housing communities were laid out the size of area shrunk, and most people made a lawn, planted a privacy hedge or put up a fence, got a few berry bushes and a few hardy perennials and left it at that. After all they were working long days and had little time for growing anything. That sort of belonged on the farms and smallholdings which they had left. Nowadays the jams and preserves are inexpensive and only a few know how to make preserves any more, so the ones that actually do grow edibles eat them fresh. I can see the reasoning but have to admit that my own jam and preserves taste a lot better than the store bought ones. The flower gardens are coming back, though. I can see as I walk around in the neighbourhood that more and more people make borders where there once was lawn. I also read a life style article about growing your own veggies etc., and it seems it's a rising trend. We're trendy, folks. The times they are a-changing.
In this country allotments, or volkstuinen, as we call them here have been around a long time. I think the first one was rented back in the early 1800's. From then until perhaps sometime in the '70's or '80's folks began growing a few flowers....but they have always been primarily for veg. I see that I am beginning to get a bit historical, so let me stop waffling and say this: Gardening has never been what one would call "popular", it has always been something more like a necessity, especially just after WWII. There simply was no room or time for flowers. I can remember my grandma's garden--all veg and two rows of flowers only. Revolutionary for the time, but then they were farmers and planted the hectars with sellable crops, so she felt that a couple of short rows of cutting flowers would be Oké, I suppose. Only recently do folks grow flowers and experiment with veg as well has do hobbies on their rented parcels. The old-timers still scoff at all the bloomery and say," That's not a REAL volkstuin". I have seen time and time again where people would come to our gardening complex and try their hand at gardening for 'popular reasons'...and they usually never last the first year. It looks to me that the numbers of people renting gardening plots are about the same, but the things that are grown on these plots have changed and are changing. Gardening outside houses is and has always been common here, although some people cover over their front yards with stone or gravel for low-maintanice. That all seems about the same to me.
I'm not so sure gardening is more popular...I am the only one in my group of friends that grows vegetables or flower gardens. They may purchase a planter or hanging basket but that is about the extent of it. Everyone says they are too busy to take care of gardens.
The common theme in these posts seems to be that a lot of people just don't have the time to garden anymore. Quite sad really.
i think the popularity of gardening is growing big time here in the states, especially out of necessity as someone else has mentioned. one can see by all the seed catalogs whose sales are out of sight, trippling plus the last two years and they expect even more to be sold this year. i've noticed that the catalogs are also combining their regular seed offers with bulk seeds as more and more gardeners are purchasing more heavily. several of the catalogs i receive are doing this. that shows popularity...or necessity...right there! every single day, here in the states, we're reading or hearing about another 'processed' food that is not good for us, causing sickness and cancer and dis-ease. just yesterday i was reading about how Russia will not accept any more imports of chicken from America because it's tainted by bleach... http://hawaiipoliticalinfo.org/?q=node/2327 then there's the GMO production. 85 plus percent of our soybean crops are genetically modified. and corn and some rice are not far behind, including beets. there have not been enough tests on these products to see how they affect the human organs and such. they should be not in the market till they are adequately tested. this scare is also helping the push for people to garden for themselves or look for food from other gardeners and farmers. as far as the youth generation, i see them getting more involved in food every day. there are many many programs being set up for the youth to take part in gardens and the cooking of the yields all over our country. a couple examples are the White House garden that included the children, Jamie Oliver's travels showing people how to cook with healthy local food, and Alice Waters' 'The Edible Schoolyard' where kids not only learn to garden, but how to cook what they've grown... http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/ another fun and growing thing is the container gardening on balconies in the cities where people have no allotments or land. check out what Novella Carpenter did in the city on a small lot... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/books/12book.html there are also many many programs going on to eat locally, within a hundred mile radius. these programs make it easier for people to find gardeners, farmers and farmers markets for food. they are also strengthening and encouraging gardening and farming in the communities. so, all the signs show to me that gardening is becoming more popular today, even if it is out of necessity, as in the past.
In our area with bad economy. It is increasing. Folks plant in the flower pots if they have to .Tomatoes. Yep me an most of my friends garden veggies an flowers galore. More than before. Around here, they try to outdo each other to see who has the most flowers an veggies. And who has the best garden. I am on a small farm an the neighbors are rural next to us. Got a hunk of land to rais stuff. Fruit also. Thats Pennsylvania.
My family always had large gardens.I myself have had large ones until my legs got so bad I couldn't but they seem a little better for the past few days and I have been planing on a small one this year.Texas has problems with the heat and droughts. I think gardening has for the most part increased.
I'm way over 40, and I don't feel old. Okay, maybe my knees do.... Fifty years ago, I was trailing behind my grandmother as she worked in her garden. I'd say it was popular then. Then it seemed to go out of vogue. People would pick up frozen entrees or fast food. Then, when environmental concerns began to become more important and people started really thinking about what they put into their mouths -- and their kids' mouths -- they started wanting fresh, organic produce. The best way to get that was to plant it yourself. The Recession gave gardening a shot in the arm, even while it was draining the life out of everything else. "Victory" gardens are more common. People garden not just to get fresh, nontainted produce, but also simply to save money on their grocery bill. I garden partially because I remember helping my grandmother in her garden. I wanted to get some of that back. But I also want fresh, cheap, organic produce. Also, I like the wide variety of vegetables and fruits you can get if you plant your own. Yellow carrots, purple Brussels sprouts, and orange cauliflower. I'm even thinking of tearing the juniper bushes out of my front yard and planting edibles instead.
