Digging in Recession — Food concerns produce a bumper crop of new gardeners

Sometimes at night, Cameron Crotty goes outside with his flashlight and hunts for earwigs. Maybe they are the saboteurs in his vegetable garden. Or maybe not.

"I had no idea how many bugs there were in my backyard," said the 40-year-old, who lives in Bernal Heights. "A lot of the leaves on my plants have holes in them. It's like this horror movie."

Still, he insists the struggle is worth it, and he's far from alone in his quest. Crotty is part of a trend sweeping the country: More and more people are growing their own food.

Bruce Butterfield, research director with the National Gardening Association in Vermont, says he hasn't seen anything like it since the 1970s, when a recession and oil embargo prompted many people to take up vegetable gardening. The current economic crisis is having a similar effect.

"It's been a super-wake-up call," Butterfield said. "And California is leading it because of the value placed on fresh produce in the state."

W. Atlee Burpee, the world's largest seed company, is enjoying its biggest sales spike in 30 years, said its president, Chris Romas.

"We are confident there will be a longevity to this," Romas said from his Pennsylvania office.

Blair Randall, director of the Garden for the Environment, a San Francisco nonprofit, said, "The taste of something coming from your own garden is noticeably different. And there's the sublime process of taking it from seed to fruit."

The National Gardening Association released a study in March indicating that 37 percent of U.S. households will grow vegetables, fruit, herbs or berries this year — a 19 percent increase from 2008. And 21 percent of food gardeners are first-timers.

Motivated by recession

Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said they were motivated by the recession. It's no wonder: An average investment of $70 can yield 300 pounds of fresh produce worth $600, according to the study.

People also cited better flavor, higher quality and safer produce as reasons to garden. In the Bay Area, the fervor has been fed by the sustainable-food movement, the books of Michael Pollan and last year's Victory Garden near San Francisco City Hall, said Hilary Gordon, who teaches classes at Garden for the Environment.