Comments on: Why I Hate the Whole “Recession Gardening” Thing

By: Recession Gardening

Recession Gardening — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:55:06 +0000

[...] was reading an interesting perspective on recession gardening recently and I’ll have to say I agree with the perspective. For many, growing a garden is a [...]

By: Seed Catalogs in June? : My Garden

Seed Catalogs in June? : My Garden — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:11:10 +0000

[...] we garden our way to food safety and security? Like some of my fellow garden bloggers, I’m dubious that people are turning to gardening out of fear of the economy or food-borne [...]

By: Seed Catalogs in June? « My Northern Garden

Seed Catalogs in June? « My Northern Garden — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:19:39 +0000

[...] we garden our way to food safety and security? Like some of my fellow garden bloggers, I’m dubious that people are turning to gardening out of fear of the economy or food-borne [...]

By: Dani in NC

Dani in NC — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:32:13 +0000

Although the term “recession garden” wasn’t being bandied about when I started my first garden last year, I have to admit that I started gardening with that mindset. Tomatoes went up to $4/lb in my area and my husband refused to buy them, so I decided I need to grow my own. I was lucky in that I didn’t do very much preparation beyond throwing the seeds out there and watering them, yet I had a pretty good harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and basil. This year’s garden isn’t going so well, but I’ve been bitten by the bug. I always thought that people were exaggerating when they said that homegrown tastes better, but now I’m a believer!

As for the term “Victory Garden”, I like it. I think of it as victory for my family. Even my kid who hates veggies is looking forward to the green bean harvest. The term also hearkens back to a time when everyone was in pretty much the same situation and they were pulling together. Our family has been having its own personal recession for the past three years, so now I feel like everyone has caught up to my state of mind .

By: susan harris

susan harris — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:28:37 +0000

I’m with you. And I SO glad Michelle O calls her garden a kitchen garden, not Victory. Ugh. Sadly, there’s a new nonprofit group in my county called Victory Garden Montgomery that I’ve agreed to help, and I wasn’t able to talk them out of that awful name, and image. Sigh.

By: Blue Ridge Gardener » Another view on “recession gardens” | from the mountains of WNC

Wed, 20 May 2009 13:49:13 +0000

[...] Why I Hate the Whole “Recession Gardening” Thing [...]

By: Colleen Vanderlinden

Colleen Vanderlinden — Thu, 14 May 2009 10:32:14 +0000

Thanks for all of your comments! I wasn’t sure when I wrote this post whether anyone would agree with me. I definitely hope that, as a few of you pointed out, at least some of the new gardeners who start out as “recession gardeners” will fall inlove with it and become lifelong gardeners.

Julie–See, that’s the perfect example: I can’t imagine complaining about having to buy plants!

Sheila–I definitely hope so!

Lisa–I’m absolutely with you about self-sufficiency. It’s empowering and makes life more fun (I think so, anyway!) And you’re right—we’re seeing a lot of “the sky is falling” chaos right now. Thanks for stopping by!

Country Gardener–Thank you. I was trying to figure out what I meant for a while before I realized “fad” was the right word for it

Sande–That is probably the world’s best reason to start gardening. It means you’re already a bit of a plant geek Thanks for commenting!

entangled–That’s what bugs me, too–that so many of these new gardeners will become discouraged and decide that gardening sucks. Gardening is not a guarantee, and even when we do everything right, we can still have a dud year. It’s a process, and I think many of the “recession gardeners” probably don’t have that mindset.

Chiot’s Run–Me too!

Katie–Thank you, my friend I hope so, too!

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 14 May 2009 02:33:32 +0000

God I am so glad you did not quit blogging. I agree with you 100%. I am hoping that this “fad” will attract some folks who are in it for the long run.

By: Chiot's Run

Chiot's Run — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:00:59 +0000

So true. I am happy that more people are interested in gardening. I really hope that they find true joy and stick with it, instead of just growing some veg to get by. I started doing it mainly to have healthier local food, and I fell in love.

By: entangled

entangled — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:48:21 +0000

A very thoughtful and thought-provoking post. I hope that Sheila and Lisa are right and that new gardeners who came to gardening out of “necessity” will continue once the necessity is over. I fear there will be a wave of discouragement in newcomers once the inevitable battles with weather, critters, and insects begin.

But before the gardening fad of the 2000s was the gardening fad of the 1970s. Some of us who were drawn to that fad are still around.