Vegetable gardening trend likely to maintain momentum

According to the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report conducted by the Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) in November, more than 41 million U.S. households (38%) grew a vegetable garden in 2009. More than 19.5 million households (18%) grew an herb garden and 16.5 million households (15%) grew fruits during the same period.

Did Edibles Gardening Grow in 2009?
There was definitely a growth in edibles gardening in 2009 from both experienced gardeners and an influx of new gardeners. Among those that grew edibles gardens this year, 92% had previous experience and 7% (7.7 million households) were new to edibles gardening. One-third of the experienced gardeners reported growing more edibles in 2009 than in the previous year, while 46% reported they grew about the same as 2008, and 19% grew less than the previous year.

Will Edibles Gardening Continue to Expand in 2010?
When asked if they planned to continue their garden for 2010, 37% of households reported plans to increase their edible gardens, 29% reported they planned to plant about the same as 2009 and only 1% reported they would plant less than this year. Although a significant number (15%) remained undecided regarding their 2010 plans, the strong response for growing more edibles next year should carry the market to a new level of activity.

The main reason given for increasing or maintaining edible gardening for next year was to supplement household food supply. The most common reasons given for planting less next year were: lack of success in 2009 (14%), cost (13%), loss of interest (8%) and time involved (4%).

Consumer Information Sources
With over 7 million households becoming new edibles gardening participants in 2009, the GWAF investigated where consumers were getting their gardening information. The top response was friends, which has been the leading response in almost every past survey. Having magazines, books, retailers and newspapers in the third through sixth positions was also not a surprise. However, websites now listed as the #2 information resource were #5 as recently as March 2009. Garden blogs were used by 9% of respondents in March, but listed by 7% of respondents in November.