Increase in new gardeners in 2020

LaurieLovesLearning

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/pandemic-gardens-572748041.html?utm_source=salesforce&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=COVIDBriefing

@Marjory Wildcraft this article might give you some insight into who the new gardeners are in 2020.

I think that it was interesting that many are highly educated & many don't have kids. I think, however that there may be many more who don't hold degrees (and have children) who were missed in the survey sweep.

I can see the new gardeners holding higher levels of education, as most likely they couldn't be bothered before the virus hit mainstream & affected livelihoods. They also might have found that they had more time on their hands & with no kids to keep them busy and no travelling allowed, what were they to do?

silvertipgrizz

I am not a new gardener, but this season taught me so much that I didin't know so a great opportunity for learning new things and how to improve on old techniques!

Torey

I certainly hope the trend continues after the fears of our current situation have subsided. Food security was an issue for many before COVID-19 and the more we all can do to protect our food security, the better off we will all be.

Tave

The events of this year have shaken a lot of people out of complacency. My landlord actually asked me to grow more plants and to help his family with a garden.

LaurieLovesLearning

@Tave That is positive!

Lisa K

@silvertipgrizz same here!

Suburban Pioneer

Three's a local park where I regularly walk our dog, and I've noticed that several of the many homes with back yards bordering the park added raised beds and planted veggies this year. This is a nice, somewhat upper middle class neighborhood, showing that people who were currently unconcerned about food issues are now paying attention and taking action. One home also has a backyard coop with two chickens. That's something that one would have not seen in such an area even five years ago!

Monek Marie

I helped people locally put in gardens and shared seeds to help keep their gardening costs down. It was amazing to watch them grow as gardeners and people.

Many of these people had never had a garden and were quite stressed by this. I told them I have killed many plants while gardening and would kill many more. Don't worry about that, just enjoy what you are doing and learn.

Just about all ther people I worked with will have gardens again. Many were so happy and impressed they could grow. And yes, they did have some issues but we all learned from these problems.

I hope the new gardeners continue to grow and enjoy. I know the one familes children really got into growing and loved picking veggies and planting seeds.