Recession garden

The current economic recession has not really affected me personally, fortunately. A few weeks ago I first heard the term "Recession Garden" when the new first lady broke ground on what is to be an 1,100 square foot garden somewhere on her front lawn. The term "Victory Garden" was mentioned as well, referring to the vegetable gardens that were abundant during WWI and WWII, and helped to stave off food shortages. Now, with so many people unemployed, or afraid they might soon be unemployed, or simply trying to cut back on their spending, recession gardens are popping up all over the place apparently. Nine million American households are expected to plant a garden for the first time this year, and the seed company Burpee has seen an unprecedented rise in sales.

Apparently people have realized that with a little bit of money spent on seeds and supplies, and some good, earnest labor, they can grow their own vegetables! Produce makes up a large chunk of my grocery bill, and so I decided last winter that I would try to grow some of my own vegetables. In my usual all-or-nothing mentality of doing things I planted the first seeds about two months ago (a little too early for this latitude) in a mini plastic greenhouse on the windowsill. When the first green seedlings popped up I was ecstatic, and fueled by this success my attempt at gardening has taken over the back of the dining room, and is now spilling over into the living room.

This is how I start all seeds out. Little peat/soil pellets that are soaked in water and put into a plastic greenhouse (plastic tray with clear domed lid, about $3-4 at your home improvement store).

My garden as of a week ago.

One of my latest additions: large plants (zucchini, watermelon, squash)

Overall I am growing about 35 different vegetables (well, tomatoes are technically a fruit) and herbs, and I added my very first (real) fruit today: strawberries. I cheated and bought four little strawberry plants, but only because I couldn't find strawberry seeds.

My garden population currently includes the following, spread over seven planters/pots:
cilantro
hot Portugal peppers
sweet Cayenne peppers
Santiago hybrid peppers
sweet pepper mix (yellow, red, purple)
red rubin basil
dark opal purple basil
sweet basil
oregano
lettuce leaf basil
parsley
spinach
microgreens
hot shot spicy green mix (I swear, that's what the package says)
black beauty eggplant
rosa bianca eggplant
sweet reba acorn
black OP zucchini
rocky ford muskmelon
moon & stars watermelon
cantaloupe
artichoke
yellow perfection tomatoes
yellow pear tomatoes
early girl hybrid tomatoes
jubilee tomatoes
green zebra tomato (I kid you not)
jelly bean hybrid tomatoes
rainbow heirloom tomatoes (supposedly includes Omars Lebanese, Dutchman, Golden Sunburst, Black Russian, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Djena Lee's Golden Girl)
red cherry tomatoes
tomatillos
sage (it's growing like a weed, and I have NO idea what to do with it... anyone?)
rosemary (is holding on to dear life as we speak)
summerlong basil
lemon lime basil
brussel sprouts

I really have no idea what some of these plants will look like, or how large they will get. My future yard is small, and I will use whatever space I can to grow as many of these to fruition as possible. I don't know how much it will cost to water these come summer, or how much labor will be necessary to maintain, weed and pick all of these. I'm not too sure how much money this garden will save me, but so far I've spent somewhere around $160 on seeds, soil and planters. About $40 of that was for planters, which are reusable. Plus, I gave some seeds to some friends of mine, since I cannot possibly grow all my seeds into plants.