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Giving gardening a whirl.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

Eugene resident Sarah Barton said she grew up in Los Angeles and never had the chance to try to grow her own food, but she always wanted to try.

This spring Barton, 31, will get her chance when she and her children transform part of their south Eugene lawn into a vegetable garden. They're looking forward to watching their garden grow this summer.

"It's just a fun idea to do it," Barton said. "I'm excited my kids are going to do it."

Barton is part of a nationwide surge in gardeners who plan to take rake and trowel in hand - many for the first time ever.

Her family is one of an estimated 43 million households in the United States that plan to grow their own food this year, up 19 percent from last year, according to a National Gardening Association study conducted in January.

They're doing it for a variety of reasons: better-tasting, safer food and to try to save on grocery bills.

Some are calling the home gardening trend a recession-related phenomenon. But here in the fertile Willamette Valley, residents' interest in growing their own food has been mounting over the past several years, according to local gardening experts.

Tough economic times and a slew of layoffs, including the recent loss of 2,000 jobs at RV maker Monaco Coach Corp., may have provided that extra nudge for anyone sitting on...

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