Vegetable Seeds Outselling Flower Seeds for the First Time!

I just read an article where a well-known seed company, a household name for flower and vegetable seeds, wrote that over the past year they have sold more vegetable seeds than flower seeds for the first time since they started business in 1876.

The demand for vegetable seeds in 2010 is up 25% from last year. People all over the world are planting more vegetable gardens than ever before. The reason for this, the company states, is the poor economic times. Flower seed sales are flat to down, but vegetable seed sales are soaring.

Many apartment and condo dwellers with very little space to grow vegetables have resorted to growing dangling crops from homemade or commercial planters. They are growing vegetables overhead!

By now most of us have all heard of the Topsy Turvey tomato planter advertised on television. This is a wonderful invention but costly. Many people are making their own planters with the same idea in mind-- growing an upside-down garden.

One way to do this is to use new or recycled five-gallon plastic buckets and cut two inch holes in the bottom of each one. Then thread small vegetable plants carefully through the holes and tuck sphagnum moss around each plant to keep dirt from falling out and to keep the little plants in place. Then fill each bucket with a good potting soil/compost mix and hang securely from a hook. Putting mulch or more sphagnum moss on the top of the bucket of soil will help retain moisture.

There are countless advantages of upside-down gardening; the number one reason being
saving space. Also, pests and fungus do not invade the plants, weeds don't grow, the containers are easier to water and fertilize and the gravity effect saves water. Sunlight and air can freely get to the plants, the containers can easily be moved to a sunnier or shadier location as needed and the homemade container are cost effective.

Any vegetable than can be grown in a pot can be grown in an upside down container. Experiment with a variety of things and good luck with a successful garden.

Source: Doreen K. Satter, RN