Published: May 11, 2008 11:34 pm            

Backyard gardens curb food costs

As pain at the gas pump translates into higher costs at the supermarket, now might be a good time to look to the earth for some relief.

A backyard vegetable garden is a terrific way to curb the cost of fresh vegetables. With a little home canning and freezing, putting the extras away will extend savings into the winter, produce experts and local gardeners agree.

Commercial vegetable farmers are battling higher costs to produce lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans and even turnips. But a state leader in produce production says growers are losing the war.

“There have been a lot of increases for growers,” said William Troxell, executive director of the 900-member Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association.

“Fertilizer and fuel costs have gone up, and that put pressure on the cost of vegetables – and pressure on the whole food system,” Troxell said.

Vegetable gardening may have been the way of our grandfathers, but growing one’s own produce is seeing a revival among 20-somethings as they buy homes and settle down.

“A lot of older people grew up in the country with big gardens. But we’re noticing a lot of young people are doing it now,” said Kimi Justinus of Ray’s Nurseries in Riverside.

There is still plenty of time to get cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi and other mild-temperature crops into the ground, Justinus said.

It’s also a good time to sow beet and carrot seeds, corn, onion plants, radishes, peas and turnips, said Michael Orzolek, a Penn State professor of vegetable crops.

Plan to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, cantaloupe, cucumbers and watermelon plants the third week of May or later, he said.

“May 20 will be a full moon, and that means the last chance of frost,” Orzolek said.

John Drahnak of Cambria Township, a gardener for most of his 70 years, said the savings from a garden can be significant.

But, he added, the true incentive is the quality of a just-picked ear of corn or a ripe tomato plucked from the vine.

“The flavor of the vegetables will be a lot more pleasing to people,” he said.

“People will taste the difference. What they buy just doesn’t compare with what they grow.”

Drahnak operates a small commercial greenhouse at his home but is best known as coordinator of Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardener Program in Cambria County.

“I tell people, if they don’t have property, find a place with some sunshine, get a container and put in some vegetable plants,” he said.

Drahnak also coordinates the Community Garden Plot, a county-owned tract near Ebensburg.

For a $10 fee, the county makes available a 75-by-25-foot tract for gardening.

For nearly a decade, county employee Mike Mandichak, along with four others, has planted three of the 17 plots available at the site.

Last year, the group grew 130 tomato plants, squash weighing 60 pounds, all kinds of hot peppers and a variety of other vegetables.

“We use a lot,” Mandichak said of the 80 quarts of tomato juice he preserved for winter use. “We give a lot away.”

For avid gardeners like the Rev. William Thwing, the community plot is just one of three places he and his wife garden.

The Thwings also keep a small salad garden next to their house, the parsonage for the First United Church of Christ in Ebensburg, and plant larger crops in the backyard.

“We grow squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers. We just like growing them,” he said.

“There is a benefit to getting your feet in the dirt, bending your back in the sun.”

While a garden may sound enticing in the spring, Orzolek said it’s important to realize that weeds have to be controlled and rain seldom provides adequate moisture.

“Do it, but you have to follow through,” he said.



• Get a soil test kit from Cooperative Extension Offices in Cambria or Somerset counties. Make soil adjustments according to the test results.

• Work the soil good, removing weeds and stones.

• Make provisions for watering – a drip irrigation system or other method.

• Use black plastic, grass clippings or straw for weed control.

• Plant onions, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, most lettuces and spinach now.

• Plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, bell and hot peppers after May 20, the date of the last full moon when a frost is expected.



Best from seed

• Carrots

• Beets

• Turnips

• Radishes

• Sweet corn

• Green beans

• Peas

• Lima beans



Best from seedlings

• Eggplant

• Tomatoes

• Peppers

• Cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Cantaloupes

        

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