Many people are raising their own food to save

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Unfazed by losing her vegetable crop to a freeze last year, Debbie McNeill is more than just gearing up.

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The 49-year-old Haslet, Texas, housewife is upping the stakes, putting down twice as many tomato, onion and jalapeno plants in a 15-by-15-foot raised garden at her mother's home "because it's fun and because of the economy."

McNeill is not alone.

From seed producers and greenhouse growers to retailers, all are reporting booming sales. All attribute it largely to family financial issues.

"This happens every time we have a downturn in the economy," said Rick Archie, the third-generation owner of Archie's Gardenland on the west side of Fort Worth, Texas, founded during in 1934. He estimates that vegetable plant sales have increased 20 to 25 percent so far this year.

At Russell Feed in Haltom City, Texas, manager Carl Cathey reports that his vegetable plant sales have soared 50 to 60 percent this year.

"Of course, a lot of it are replacements for people who got frosted out and came back for more," Cathey conceded. "But all in all, people seem just hungry to grow vegetables. Seeds are just now starting to move, but they're up about 20 percent in the last couple of weeks."

Seed companies recognized the market demand.

Park Seeds of South Carolina rushed out multiseed packets called Victory Garden, lifting the name from successful federal programs during World Wars I and II that boosted home garden production.

W. Atlee Burpee Co., the Pennsylvania-based pioneer in the mail-order seed business, which also supplies major chains, matched Park Seeds with Money Garden. The latter is also priced at $9.95 for a packet that will grow six vegetables.

If weather doesn't get in the way, Burpee estimates that the modest investment could yield an edible bounty that would have cost $650 at a supermarket.

WHAT IT MEANS

George Ball, Burpee's chairman, is cautious about the success of Money Garden, telling the Star-Telegram that past consumer behavior tells him that some backyard gardeners, or wannabes, will pass up the packet if it includes a single veggie he or she does not eat. Money Garden includes seeds for tomatoes, red peppers, Bibb lettuce, carrots, snap peas and beans, while Park's Victory Garden offers yellow squash, red-tipped lettuce, baby cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and green peppers.

But sales of vegetable seeds generally at Burpee "are exploding across the board," Ball said.

During the last week of February, orders were up about 25 percent over the same period in 2008, far more than the seed producer expected.

"Last year, we saw increases of 15 to 20 percent because of the (salmonella) food scare over tomatoes and peppers," he said. "And we thought we'd see a back-off, not an uptick.

"We never anticipated the mortgage crisis and the effect on people's 401(k) retirement accounts. And we haven't seen produce prices back down when fuel prices dropped last fall," Ball said, rattling off reasons why more folks might be planting vegetables.

NEWFOUND INTEREST

The vast majority of calls in recent weeks to the master gardener hot line at the Tarrant County Horticulture Office of the Texas' AgriLIFE Extension service have been about vegetable gardening, many from first-timers, extension agent Steve Chaney said. The same was true at two recent home and garden shows, he said.

A lot of people are cutting back on entertainment spending and skipping a movie to plant a garden together as a relatively inexpensive family activity, Chaney said. Aside from the pride of production, the homegrown vegetables will likely taste better because they are picked after naturally ripening, unlike some store-bought varieties bred for long-transit times and often harvested early, then ripened with gas, he said.

TRICKY WEATHER

Whether the new wave of backyard sodbusters saves any money depends on many factors, including a lucky break from tricky weather.

But residents can better the odds by trying the old-fashioned way, Chaney says, starting with relatively cheap seed packets rather than young vegetable plants sold in small pots.

Even certified master gardeners like Frank Durda of Fort Worth, a retired Texas Department of Transportation engineer, can suffer at the hands of the fickle weather gods.

In 2007, he produced enough backyard tomatoes to can 68 pints worth.

Last year?

"Zero," he said. "The heavens opened and drowned everything."

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How much can you save?

Tomatoes

One plant can yield 40 to 50 medium to large fruit per season. With fertilizer and other costs factored in, that $3 or $4 packet of 25 seeds could easily produce $125 to $250 worth of tomatoes or more, according to W. Atlee Burpee & Co.

Red bell pepper

A plant can produce an average of 15 peppers that would cost about $1.50 each in a supermarket, or $22.50 _ or $225.00 from a 10-seed packet costing $3, Burpee said.

Hint: Some stores, like Russell Feed, sell bulk seeds by the scoop, which works out cheaper than packets, but varieties are limited.

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NEED ADVICE?

Extension agent Steve Chaney recommends:

"Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew

"The Vegetable Book: A Texan's Guide to Gardening" by Sam Cotner

"The Old Farmer's Almanac"

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© 2009, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.