Recession Garden?

I always perk up a little bit when I see mainstream media covering gardening news. I think in my heart, I still want to fit in on the playground, so it makes me feel better when I see that other folks are also starting to get back into gardening. So when I saw CNN covering the savings that a new gardener can expect from a new plot, I was heartened, and then disheartened. Disheartened because the article mentioned that not all new gardeners are going to save money because they simply don't know what to plant and when and how to do it for the cheapest possible.

So I thought I'd help with that a little. My favorite online places for gardening info and how to tips are rather varied, but there are a few that stand out.

GardenWeb Forums are fabulous for asking questions, searching for other questions, and generally gaining knowledge from a huge community of avid gardeners. It's like having a whole virtual neighborhood of gardeners at your fingertips.

National Gardening Association has tons of how to, getting started, find your zone, figure out what to plant when information. Not just food information either, there's lots of good info for the other parts of your yard here.

Vegetable Gardener is a new favorite for me. Timely posts, lots of how to tips, and all from people who have used all of those techniques in their own yards and gardens.

So are you planting your own Recession Garden this year? (Victory Garden? Vegetable Garden? Kitchen Garden? Just plain Garden?)

Just Eat It!

Hooray!! It's official! The Obama's will "Eat the View"!! For those of you who haven't been following the politics of homegrown food over the past year, Kitchen Gardener's International, led by Roger Dorian, has been running a campaign to get our new president to plant a vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House. From a small ground swell of support to interviews with major media outlets, the Eat the View Campaign has had a long road since Roger first suggested via On Day One that the next first family plant a victory garden. Tree Hugger had a short article on Wednesday about an Oprah interview with Michelle Obama. And then today, I just got word from the man himself, Roger Dorian. And then I saw the article on Yahoo.

I highly reccomend spending a few minutes cruising around the Eat the View website. You can read all about the campaign, press releases, and the history of gardens at the White House. This lawn really is your lawn!

I'll be honest, I've never signed a petition before that actually effected change. I love the fact that we live in a country where the voices of the people can be heard. It's very cool that our new president is going to lead the nation not just in terms of his job, but hopefully also in the example of a healthy lifestyle.

If the Obamas, arguably the busiest family in the nation, can find the time and energy to help plan and put in a vegetble garden, can't you? So, what are you waiting for? Get some great info on how to plan and start a vegge garden at Revive the Victory Gardens and at Weekend Gardener. In the futre, I'll write a post about front yard landscape vegetable gardens. But here's a peak at the Time article that inspired my own plans.