Feb. 17, 2010 – According to the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report conducted by the Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) in November, over 41 million U.S. households (38 per cent) grew a vegetable garden in 2009, a trend that's likely to continue.
According to the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report conducted by the Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) in November, over 41 million U.S. households (38 per cent) grew a vegetable garden in 2009. More than 19.5 million households (18 per cent) grew an herb garden and 16.5 million households (15 per cent) 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 per cent had previous experience and 7 per cent (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 per cent reported they grew about the same as 2008, and 19 per cent 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 per cent of households reported plans to increase their edible gardens, 29 per cent reported they planned to plant about the same as 2009 and only 1 per cent reported they would plant less than this year. Although a significant number (15 per cent) 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 per cent), cost (13 per cent), loss of interest (8 per cent) and time involved (4 per cent).
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 are now listed as the #2 information resource but were #5 as recently as March 2009.
Other Interesting Data
- Households doing vegetable gardening were highest in the South and lowest in the West.
- Vegetable gardening was also highest with the 25-44 age group and lowest with the 18- 24 age group.
- First-time edibles gardeners came mostly from the South and least from the Northeast.
- The more experienced edibles gardeners came mostly from the South and least from the West.
- Consumers who planned to grow more edible plants in 2010 were mostly in the West and least in the Northeast.
- Using the Internet for gardening information was most popular in the South and least popular in the Northeast.
Click here to view the 2009 Edibles Gardening Trends Research Report.
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