http://environment.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2052949,00.htmlDuring the second world war the government famously urged every able man and woman in Britain to "dig for victory" - to grub up their flower beds and tear up their lawns to grow vegetables to avoid widespread hunger. Today, a new British land army of gardeners appears to be doing the same to avoid eating industrially-produced foods.
New figures from the Horticultural trades association show a 31% increase in the sales of vegetable seed to householders, and a corresponding 32% decline in the sale of flower seeds. We are also buying nearly twice as many seedlings and young edible plants like tomatoes and marrows, and are growing far more herbs than ever before.
Confirmation that the worm is turning away from flower growing to vegetables comes from the Royal Horticultural Society and seed companies, which say that vegetable seeds sales are now outstripping flower seeds for the first time since the second world war.
Suttons, which sells nearly a third of all household vegetable seeds in the UK, said this week that there had been a massive increase in vegetable growing in Britain. "We are seeing a big move away from flower seeds to vegetables. There has been a dramatic rise in things like sales of onions and potatoes. Spuds in particular are nearly 60% up on last year, which was 20%-30% up on the year before," a spokesman said. This year the company expects a 30% increase in its sales of UK vegetable seeds.
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