Extra: Many starting veggie gardens

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A quest for cheap, safe food is fueling a "grow your own" trend in Minnesota.

"My grandma used to have three gardens in her yard," gardener Sharon Pew said while planting another row of seedlings in her Belle Plaine garden. "She was great."

Sharon has Grandma Millie to thank for her green thumb.

Joel Karstan has the same training from his grandma.

"Her name was Josephine. She was a very good gardener," Joel said. "There's all kinds of things that she taught us."

Today both Sharon and Joel are avid gardeners. Joel's gotten so good he now teaches a class on how to raise vegetables on top of straw bales.

Click here to visit Joel's straw bale gardening website.

Click here to see a full report on straw bale gardening.

And every summer, Sharon and her husband Ted Pew plant dozens of varieties and harvest hundreds of pounds of produce.

Click here to read a Northern Gardener magazine's story on the Pews.

"The flavor is amazing," Sharon said of the food.

"Vegetable gardening is a real treat because you can eat the fruits of your labor," Ted said.

"I want to know where my food comes from," Sharon added. "The value of having it freshly picked out of the garden. You really can't put a price on that."

Judging by the numbers, many Americans agree with Sharon and Ted.

One National Gardening Association report says seven million more people in 2008 plan to put in a backyard garden. Even the first family is digging into one at the White House.

"We have had so many calls about growing seeds and putting in early vegetables then we ever had before," Hermes Floral Garden Center Manager Audrey Matson said.

So many calls that Hermes in St. Paul has added 50 percent more of the little packets that promise big savings.

"If you're willing to go from seed especially, you can definitely save money," Audrey added.

The National Gardening Association says in 2008 green thumbs spent a total of $2.5 billion on supplies for home grown goods. All indications are we'll spend even more this year in the quest for cheap, safe food. There are a lot of factors that can affect the productivity of a garden. But according to the National Gardening Association, a well-maintained food garden can yield at least a $500 return.

"This is definitely a money-saver. If you buy the organic baby greens, salad greens, that kind of gourmet stuff, this is definitely a much cheaper way to do it," Audrey said.

If you're among the masses who've never gone from seed to salad, here's some important information from Millie and Josephine's grandkids, starting with soil.

"Your soil that you're working with is essential," Joel said. "Just because you're buying soil that the color is black, doesn't mean you're getting good quality soil. What you're better of doing is starting with your virgin soil and then making soil modifications."

In his community education classes Joel suggests mixing in some form of compost or a bag of peat moss.

"You want it to be able to break apart like that," Ted said while holding a handful of soil from his garden.

With the soil set, it's on to seeds.

"Big seeds equal easy gardening," I asked Audrey.

"And faster gardening," she said. "The bigger the seed the faster it grows."

And the easier they are to plant. For the smaller seeds?

"Just cut all the way around the roll," Joel said while driving a knife through a roll a toilet paper.

For smaller seeds, Joel uses Grandma Josephine's toilet paper trick.

"Very difficult to see if you put them in regular soil, versus if you put them in the toilet paper you can see how many seeds you have," Joel said while spreading carrot seeds.

"Things like radish, carrot, any tiny little vegetable seed. Simply cover that seedbed surface with the soil from your garden. She would use this toilet paper technique and she'd get her seed spacing exactly right," Joel said.

And according to these veggie vets getting that spacing right is an important part of the gardening process. They say a well-spaced garden will have better air circulation and give you the best bang for your buck.

"Absolutely. And location. Make sure you have plenty of sunlight and airflow. That makes the best garden. Good soil, good air, good sun," Sharon added.

And, so you don't have to wonder when to water, Joel has a flowery fix.

"What my grandma always used to do is plant impatiens," he said. "Impatiens are what we call an indicator plant. They're the first plant to tell you when your garden is becoming dry and needs water."

Make sure it's watered and--

"Don't let the weeds get ahead of you," Sharon said.

Pick the right soil and seeds. Keep it watered and weeded. These grandkids say you'll end up with a backyard garden that would make Josephine and Millie smile.

Click here to link to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's gardening information.

By Jeff Olsen, KARE 11 News   Read Jeff's Blog

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