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digitS'
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Have You seen the Average American Gardener?

Well, have you seen this study on such a person :wink: ?

[url=https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/infographic-home-gardening-in-the-us?hpt=hp_bn11]the Average American Gardener[/url]

Source: National Gardening Association. I have no idea about the accuracy of the data.

There is quite a discussion about the Beginning Gardener and $$ saved. I was just encouraged by what is said about the "average" gardener.

Steve
I did a search but didn't find this study mentioned. it has been out for a few days.

pickupguy07
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Nice info..
you are right.... it does go well with the other discussion.

NooraK
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Thank you for sharing!

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Gary350
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Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

Great information.

I guess I am not the average gardener I never grow cucumbers.

Red Swiss Chard is one of the best things in the garden but few people know that.

I wish I could learn to grow onions and potatoes.
Last edited by Gary350 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 12:05 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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rainbowgardener
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I definitely am, totally fit the profile!!

But how come swiss chard isn't on the list of popular things to grow? I keep telling everyone who will listen that it is the best thing to grow in your garden!

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digitS'
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I was hoping that there was an actual average gardener around here!

Personally, I can be faulted for being dang close to unaverage!

Rainbowgardener, I can go on and on about growin' greens with true missionary zeal! Which reminds me - now that the bok choy is beginning to thin out, I'm going to have to find that perpetual spinach seed . . .

Steve

mansgirl
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The average garden size is 600 square feet?! That seems enormous! I thought I had a big garden.. :?

Very interesting though! It was fun to see where I fit in. Seems I'm a little unaverage. :wink:

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TheWaterbug
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mansgirl wrote:The average garden size is 600 square feet?! That seems enormous! I thought I had a big garden.. :?
But the median is only 96 sf, which is more in line with what I'd expect. It just means that a small number of ginormous gardens are skewing the average.

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lorax
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Hugely unaverage here, but then again, also not American....

600 square feet is small when you actually start trying to garden on it.

pickupguy07
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lorax wrote:600 square feet is small when you actually start trying to garden on it.
Yeah my garden is almost 600 square feet.. needs to be bigger (but it's my first go-round
Next year I think I'll make it 5 feet wider, and about 10 feet longer.. that'll bump me up to about 850
Also think I do my 'verticle' gardening
I'm growing squash, cucumbers, watermellon, and canaloupe.. lots and lots of vines, takes up lots and lots of space.

shadowsmom
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Gee, I never knew I was so average. :lol: I do have to add that I personally don't know many people who plant a veggie garden anymore. A few barely plant a tomato in a pot. They all claim they can't be bothered anymore.

That's why I try and hang out with you all. :wink:

cynthia_h
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I think it's pretty funny that the median-sized garden is 96 sq.ft. That's what I've got in my raised beds + a little bit by the street! 96 sq.ft.!

The mean is 600 sq.ft., as mentioned above.

Lots and LOTS of container/balcony growing going on, to judge from these two numbers alone. The median (96 sq.ft.) is the halfway point: half of the gardens are less than 96 sq.ft. and half are greater than 96 sq.ft.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

johnny123
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I guess he doesn't grow pumpkins.
One Atlantic Giant pumpkin plant will use all of 600 square feet and them some.

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TheWaterbug
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lorax wrote:600 square feet is small when you actually start trying to garden on it.
Then again a master gardener will probably get more out of 96 sf than I will out of 4,000 :D

pickupguy07
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TheWaterbug wrote:
lorax wrote:600 square feet is small when you actually start trying to garden on it.
Then again a master gardener will probably get more out of 96 sf than I will out of 4,000 :D
I HEAR ya.. same for me too

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lorax
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Location: Ecuador, USDA Zone 13, at 10,000' of altitude

I garden on about 50 sq meters (538 sq ft), and I pull enough off of it to feed my family, my neighbours, and a couple of friends besides. It still seems small, because growing up we had about 150 sq meters in terraces (with which we fed most of the block), and I compare all gardens to that one.

My planting scheme is fairly intensive, too, although about 10 sq meters are devoted to bananas and plantains (5 mats of plants), which are less space-efficient.

nosta
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johnny123 wrote:I guess he doesn't grow pumpkins.
One Atlantic Giant pumpkin plant will use all of 600 square feet and them some.
Really? I have never grown pumpkins, but I put in a few seeds this year to save a few bucks on carving jack-o-lanterns. I only have about a 1000 sq ft. and have only about 200 sq ft of that dedicated to the pumpkins. Will that be enough?

2cents
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I am coming from a Real Estate perspective.......If you don't mind
Avg is 600 SF mean <100 SF

Arguments in US over avg size lot 1/5 to 1/3 acre or these are approximations
9,000 sf site vs 13,000 sf site
Lets say it is 1/4 acre or 11,000 sf site
and avg home is well over 2,000 sf
deduct 2,000 sf for house and garage
we are left with 9,000 sf
1/2 of which is front and side yards(most home gardeners garden in the back yard){I know many of us use side n fonts to augment or are the main veggie areas} but please humor me

The area left for potential gardening is 4.500 sf
Therefore since we are dealing in avg and not the mean size lot/site, we use more than 10% of our usable space for the garden
Many have a shed 8x12= again approx 100 sf,,,,, compost another 100 sf including area around the pile

4,500 - 600 - 100 -100 = 3,700 sf

Seems to me the avg American gardener is spending alot of time mowing grass

I am that avg Amer. Food Gardener I think its time to plant some fruit trees or start up the tiller... :D

petalfuzz
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Neat graphic! I'm younger than the average gardener, but the other stats fit. I was surprised so many gardeners grow their own onions and carrots. They're cheap enough in the store still for me to not bother. Well, I've tried to grow carrots and failed several times. I also can't grow beans or corn. haven't tried cucumbers.

I agree swiss chard should have been on there. It's super easy to grow and makes plenty of vege with a small number of plants.

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digitS'
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Ah, but onions and carrots can be so sweet - fresh from the garden!

And, what about potatoes? I will be harvesting some spuds in the next few weeks. They might have some at the soopermarket but I'll have new potatoes! Five different varieties, too!

I suppose that alone makes me unaverage. I wonder if I could be the mode or median gardener . . . no, probably not.

Mowing versus Gardening? My neighbor directly to the west does neither in his backyard. The three car garage takes up most of the space and what is left is covered with gravel. He rolls a vehicle over every square foot of it if he wants to :roll: .

Steve

gardenbean
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Way I look at it who wants to be the "average gardener"? Not I.

And next year I am going to grow some potatoes-because home grown potatoes are awesome and the varieties you can grow is large.



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