A Literary Life

By Kate Jonuska

Whether with a plot in the yard, a few pots on the patio or a windowsill herb garden, more Americans are choosing to forgo the supermarket in favor of growing their own vegetables and other edibles at home.
Part culinary adventure, part environmentalism and a great deal of penny pinching, the motivations behind the trend vary. But the results of increased sales of edibles are certainly offering local nurseries and garden centers a shot in the arm during otherwise troubled economic times.

“Any kind of edible, vegetables and herbs, both in seed sales of people starting their own and plant sales were up 25 percent last year,” says Wayne Fisher, owner of Good Earth Garden Center at 1330 N. Walnut St. In fact, had their suppliers not run out of product last season due to an underestimation of demand, Fisher believes that number could easily have been higher.

“We expect at least that increase again this year,” he continues. “It’s not even comparable. It is so far outpacing other products.”

“We’ve dropped a lot of our annual color and dropped our numbers in trees and shrubs, with the exception of fruit trees, which we’ve increased,” says Mark Phelan, co-owner of Phelan Gardens at 4955 Austin Bluffs Parkway, who notes that vegetable sales are up over last year for April and he expects May’s numbers to be even higher. “As far as tomatoes go, we’ve almost doubled the number of tomatoes we’ll sell this year.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the May 17, 2009 Gazette.