Save On Produce By Planting Your Own

 Dehydrated Bell PepperPITTSBURGH -- Gas and food prices are sky-high and according to the USDA, foodprices are expected to go up 6 percent this year. Those high prices may be creating thousands of new gardeners. The Burpee seed company has sold twice as many seeds this year thanlast. The company said half of the increase is from new customers. Joan Brenckle, owner of Brenckle's Farm and Greenhouse, said she'sseeing more first-time gardeners this year than ever before.Brenckle said, "They want to grow it instead of paying the highprices at the grocery store." Pat Beall was shopping for vegetable plants at Brenckle's. She'sgrown vegetables for years, mostly because she believes home growntastes better and it's a fun hobby, but this year she's growingvegetables for another reason. Beall said, "You save a lot of money. I think it's ridiculous. Theprices are very high." She had just been at the supermarket and couldn't believe what someproduce cost. "Today, for a very small packet of little greenonions it was 50 cents. I don't think there were more than fivelittle green onions in there." So just how much money can a consumer save by growing their ownproduce? According to the USDA, for about $3 you can get $60 worthof tomatoes. Brenckle says pepper plants are another good deal. "A bell pepperwill give you a good dozen peppers off it throughout the summer. Itcosts 79 cents." Doug Oster is host of the Organic Gardner radio show and agardening columnist for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He says don'tworry if you've never grown anything before. "As long as you canfind a spot that has sun that you can dig up, you're going to be OK," Oster said. Besides sun, soil is important. Oster says, "Remember to feed the soil instead of feeding theplant. If you get organic matter into the soil, which meanscompost, mushroom manure, dehydrated manure, you get that into thesoil and work that in, that's what gives you the automatic greenthumb." If you don't have a spot in the yard to plant a garden, don'tworry. You don't need a lot of room to grow enough vegetables foryour family. "A lot of people will grow six tomatoes right along the garage. Youcan grow just about anything that you would grow in a vegetablegarden in a container. The real trick is picking the rightcontainer for the right plant," Oster said. For tomatoes you need at least a 5-gallon container, but bigger isbetter for tomatoes. The bigger the container, the less watering you'll need to do. Tomatoes are heavy feeders, so they can sap the nutrients out of asmall container quickly. That means you will have to keep wateringand fertilizing the plant. Anything can be a container for a plant as long as it has holes inthe bottom. Water needs to be able to drain out of the pot. Growing organic can also save money because chemical fertilizersand herbicides are petroleum-based and the price of those has alsoincreased dramatically. While saving money is one reason to grow your own vegetables, it'snot the only one. Oster says, "It's a great hobby because it's so therapeutic. Mykids are 19, 21, and 23, so I know the therapeutic nature ofgardening."