Gardens: A growing trend

Sales of fruit and vegetable plants are going up, according to a national survey conducted last month.

The 2008 Early Spring Gardening Trends Research Report released by the Garden Writers Association Foundation indicates that 39 percent of gardeners were planning to purchase fruit and vegetable plants in spring 2008, compared with 32 percent last spring.

This new enthusiasm for growing food plants is probably caused by the rapidly rising prices in grocery stores. Gardeners are looking for ways to save on the family food bill more than they are looking for aerobic exercise and a new hobby.

A home garden can definitely save you money, if everything works as expected. Last year, as an example, I planted $8 worth of Yukon Gold seed potatoes and harvested $100 worth of potatoes. On the other hand, I also planted 120 lettuce plants, which were immediately devoured by rodents.

Fruits are planted as early in spring as possible, and frost is not a concern. Vegetables are planted every month from March to December. Some of them need frost-free conditions, and others do not. Some of their seeds germinate in cool soil and others require warm soil.

Berry plants will produce a few berries in their first year of growth, but most of their bounty will be ready to pick in subsequent years. Peach and sour cherry trees will begin to bear fruit the year after planting, while apple and pear trees take much longer to begin fruiting.

Vegetables are ready to pick a few weeks or months after planting, except for asparagus. It is a long-lived perennial vegetable, and no harvesting is done until the second or third year after planting.

Fruit gardens are established by setting out plants, while most vegetables and herbs are started from seeds. Some exceptions are tomato, pepper, eggplant, cabbage and broccoli; These crops are started by setting out transplants.

Transplants are also the thing to plant if you want to grow rosemary and thyme, but not dill or cilantro. The $1.99 you would spend on one potted dill or cilantro plant is better spent on a packet of seeds. The same money spent on seeds will yield dozens of plants.

Here are a few of the fruit and vegetable varieties recommended for Central Virginia:
-- Apple — Liberty, Winesap
-- Blueberry — Duke, Elliott
-- Cherry — Balaton, Montmorency
-- Peach — Redhaven, Georgia Belle
-- Pear — Moonglow, Kieffer
-- Raspberry — Heritage, Autumn Britten
-- Strawberry — Earliglow, Surecrop
-- Asparagus — Jersey Knight
-- Bean — Jade, Slenderette
-- Cabbage — Stonehead, Early Jersey Wakefield
-- Cucumber — Raider, Fanfare, Diva
-- Tomato — Juliet, Big Beef, Supersonic

Garden accessories, books, baked goods and more than 1,000 potted plants will be sold at Lynchburg’s Festival of Gardening May 3 at the Aviary building in Miller Park. The event is sponsored by the Hill City Master Gardener Association to raise funds and educate the community. Sales begin at 8:30 a.m., with gardening seminars starting an hour later. The event is free; all are welcome.