Will this current interest in growing vegetables and fruit's continue once people realize the work involved? Doug Green has a post on the subject here. His take in a nutshell is the interest in vegetable gardening is fueled by current affair's. ie. fuel prices, mortgage meltdown, etc. Once folks realize the work involved in growing your own the interest will diminish once current affairs change. He's seen it before and so have I. That's OK. Though, as it's important for people to understand just how much work is involved in bringing food to table.

Vegetable gardening is entering a new phase of interest. While the majority of people may loose interest in the long run, there are plenty of people who find growing their own a fun pursuit. It's about being outside, getting exercise, fresh food, and the feeling of self-sufficiency that comes with the knowledge that you can grow your own food. It's also becoming something of a status symbol. Who has the time and money to grow the very best?

As a nursery person I enjoy working with people who take a ongoing interest in their garden as opposed to folks who install a “landscape” and then move on to the next project. People working in the garden visit the nursery more often, their purchases are smaller but more frequent throughout the year.

Things are a bit different here than the rest of the country but our sales of bat guano, alfalfa meal, kelp meal and other obscure fertilizers are better than ever before. Starting this week we will carry Indonesian bat guano, Mexican bat guano, as well as Jamaican bat guano. I would have never though we would have needed these fertilizers. Did you know that some bat guanos are high in nitrogen while others are high in phosphorus? I didn't, but apparently some of my customers do.