I came across something I hope to put to good use (maybe next year) when I'm laying out my next vegetable garden. Visit plangarden.com for a free 45 day trial version of their software to help you plan, lay out and manage your garden. I was just saying earlier this evening that I could have been so happy to have lived my adult life back in the forties and fifties. Who am I kidding? I absolutely love the web for stuff like Plangarden.com's handy, newly released Grow Your Own Vegetables - Value Calculator. It estimates the value of produce from your vegetable garden in supermarket, farmer's market, and organic produce dollars. This can help calculate how much can be saved on groceries as more families are being squeezed in this economic downturn. Variables, such as vegetable costs, can be modified.

According to a new survey by the National Gardening Association’s (NGA), food gardening in the United States is on the rise as 7 million more households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs or berries in 2009, up 19 percent from 2008. This anticipated increase is nearly double the 10 percent growth in vegetable gardening activity from 2007 to 2008 as more food gardeners emerge this year. More Americans are recognizing the benefits of growing their own produce, including improved quality, taste and cost savings. According to NGA estimates, a well-maintained food garden yields a $500 average return per garden when considering a typical gardener’s investment and the market price of produce.

Other findings in the survey include:

* 43 million U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs and berries in 2009, up 19 percent from 36 million households in 2008

* 21 percent of households said they plan to start a food garden in 2009

* 11 percent of households already active in food gardening plan to increase both the amount and variety of vegetables they will grow in 2009; 10 percent also said they will spend more time food gardening this year