What’s trending in gardening
The trends are here
Every now and then it’s fun to look at what kind of gardening books are selling at Amazon. Gives a bit of insight into what people are looking for when it comes to their gardens. The last time we did this was September 2011. Let’s look at the top ten sellers and see if there is a theme (there is).
#1 Home Preserving
#2 Mini-farms, Self sufficiency on a ¼ acre
#3 The Foragers Harvest
#4 Marijuana Horticulutre
#5 Back to Basics
#6 The Farmers Almanac
#7 The Encyclopedia of Country Living
#8 All New Square Foot Gardening
#9 Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
# 10 Sunset Western Garden Book
Looks to me like it’s all about using the garden to feed, and sustain. The appearance of the two foraging books is an interesting addition. The marijuana book shows up perennially on the top 10 list. Number 11 is Aquaponics, a method for raising fish and plants together. We talked about in my last post.
Take away what you will from this. If you’re a garden center, it’s this kind of knowledge that can help you better understand your customer’s needs. Maybe landscaping books and other ornamental books will one day return to the list, but for now it’s all about “growing you own”.
Can’t say I mind the focus on sustainability, but I think things will swing the other direction too. One of my aunts used to grow amazing strawberries every year and when she made up strawberry shortcake she would take the utmost care to artfully arrange the plate. Her favorite saying was always, “The eyes have to eat too.”
Kat,
Within these macro trends there exist many micro-trends. I think what you describe could be part of the “slow food” trend. People taking time to enjoy the whole process of food preparation. Growing, harvesting, preparing, arranging, and the enjoying it are all part of the process of “connection” people are desiring in their world. Not just the end result, but the process to get there is increasingly important.