Ron Berezan has been encouraging people to grow their own food for years, but it's only lately he's noticed "a real buzz" around the idea from a wider cross-section.
Berezan, also known as the Urban Farmer, has been asked to do more than 40 workshops this year for the public and private groups -- so many that he's doing less landscaping work because he just doesn't have time.
"There's this desire for a reconnection with food, for more of a relationship with food that I think people -- pardon the pun -- are hungry for," says Berezan. "It's a dovetail with the whole 'local food' movement, definitely."
People are concerned not only about where their food is coming from and how it is grown, but also the environmental cost of getting it here, he says. Large-scale food production uses a lot of energy, as does the transportation of food across great distances.
"Growing some of your own food is one of the most effective ways that one can shrink one's environmental footprint," he adds.
Financial uncertainty is also fuelling the trend, not only because home gardens save money, but because they impart a small sense of self-sufficiency for people who have been rocked by the recession, says Berezan.
With concerns over cash at the forefront for many people, they're also more likely to opt for "staycations" this summer, in which they stay home for their holidays and enjoy their gardens, says Deb Sirman of Greenland Garden Centre, where vegetable-growing classes have been particularly popular this year.
In addition to vegetables, she expects to see a run on fruit-bearing plants such as strawberries, raspberries and even dwarf apple trees.
For many of us, backyard gardens were always the domain of our parents or grandparents, she adds. Now that generation is downsizing or moving into seniors homes, leaving their baby boom kids without that traditional source of fresh produce.
"It was like it was going to be a dying art, and it's revived, and that's what's so exciting, because our new generations now will hopefully learn how to garden, but in a different way than we may have."
The biggest difference is time, she says. The new breed of vegetable-growers don't want to spend countless hours weeding, watering and nurturing their gardens. That's why both she and Berezan recommend starting small to foster success. There's always next year to expand and experiment further.
"Don't go full bore on planting all this stuff, because it gets overwhelming, and by July, there's so many weeds that you just want to till the whole thing over because you don't have time," cautions Sirman.
For those pressed for both time and space, a newer product called the Earth Box is ideal. The plastic planter comes complete with fertilizer and growing material and can hold up to three, full-sized tomato plants.
While most containers require watering virtually every day, the design of the Earth Box makes it self-watering and self-fertilizing for up to a week at a time. And because it has wheels, it can be moved around to get maximum sunlight. Greenland plans to stock them again this year, and they're available online (www.earthbox.com).
Sirman also suggests choosing to plant what you would most enjoy to eat. For example, some people think potatoes take up too much room and aren't worth the trouble, while still others look forward to that first harvest of baby potatoes all summer long, she says.
When mixing plants in containers, be sure to pick ones that have similar needs for sun and water, she adds. And choose the right size of pot for the crop you're growing.
While growing your own food takes time, there are ways to make it less labour intensive, says Berezan. He advocates growing more perennial foods, like berries, rhubarb and edible perennial greens. Even large garden plots should be planted intensively to cut down on weeding, watering and fertilizing.
"It's about setting it up so it works for you," agrees Berezan. "It's a big continuum. It's everything from somebody in a condo growing some herbs and salad greens on their balcony to people that I know in Edmonton who are really interested in growing as much of their food as they can in their backyard and front yard, and everything in between."
Large or small, the joy is in the growing, he adds.
For more information and tips on growing your own food, check out Greenland's website at greenlandgarden.com and Berezan's website at theurbanfarmer.ca.
-- Canwest News Service
