food gardening

It is estimated that more than 33 million households have a garden in their garden, 2 million more grow at the home of a friend, neighbor or relative. There are also 1 million households that farm in a community garden plot. That’s a lot of vegetables being grown. The number one reason given by most horticulturists is that they grow for the fun of it, followed by saving money, better quality food, and finally food safety. There seems to be a direct correlation between the economic health of the nation and the number of households that grow vegetables at home. When the economy is bad, it is estimated that there are 20% more households growing gardens. This is not surprising since the average backyard lawn installation costs about $80.00 and returns just over $500.00 worth of products better than 5 times the cost.

Food gardening is big business and is one of the biggest outdoor activities for most Americans. Gardening in general is considered the number one leisure activity. So it’s no wonder so many people are enjoying the fruits of their gardening endeavors. On average, the typical home gardener has been growing his own vegetables for 12 years. It’s an activity that seems to continue for the long haul and for good reason, especially if you’ve ever tasted a ripe red tomato fresh off the vine on a summer afternoon.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a garden of your own, it really isn’t too difficult and will pay you back many times the amount of effort you’ll need to put into it. On average, the typical home gardener spends about 5 hours a week tending to the family garden. Considering the number of people who spend at least this amount of time every day watching TV, you can see that this isn’t much of a waste of his spare time.

The average size garden is 20 feet by 10 feet and can produce enough fresh vegetables to supply a household with 6 months of fresh vegetables. If you can or do keep some of your products, you can even extend the quantity of products to 8 or 9 months. The best part is that you know where this food comes from and that it is free of chemicals and pesticides. As a bonus, you’re helping to reduce the amount of pollution and greenhouse gases produced by transporting food you’d buy at the local store that would have been shipped from over 500 miles away.

These are just some of the facts about growing your own, but it’s interesting to see how many Americans are actually involved in producing their own fresh food for themselves and their families.