With the United States in arecession, more andmore people are looking for ways to spend less money and get abetter bargain at the same time. In a time where prices are higher,’recession gardens’ are becoming increasingly popular, echoing thevictory gardenswhich were planted during World War I andWorld War II whichhelped to reduce the stress and pressure of food shortages.

“There is more interest in vegetable gardens similar to thevictory gardens. Because of the economy, they are being calledrecession gardens,” said a master gardener who volunteers atOhio StateUniversity‘s Extension Service office, Fred Hanacek.

The new fad recently caught on in Iowa wherefamilies have began to plant the recession gardens to save money inthe produce sections of supermarkets, especially organic fruits andvegetables. Public News Service quotes the National GardeningAssociation (NGA) as saying that they expect a nearly 20% increasein personal home garden across the U.S.. Some of the increase isalso due to people wanting to know what goes onto their vegetablesand in their foods.

“I do believe you’ll find there’s an extra expense in actuallyproducing your own food, but the food quality you get is far betterthan what you can purchase in a store,” said Beverly Bernhard aveteran gardener from Iowa.

The new trend has also gotten the attention of U.S. presidentBarack Obama whorecently stated that he plans to plant a vegetable garden at theWhite House. It willbe the first vegetable garden to be planted at the White House inover 20 years. The last time a garden of this kind was planted atthe White House was in World War II when EleanorRoosevelt planted her Victory Garden. In 1800, former U.S.president John Adams isreported to have planted the first White House garden. Andrew Jacksonwent a bit further, building a greenhouse.

Michelle Obama, the FirstLady of the United States, broke ground on the new garden withthe fifth grade class at Bancroft Elementary located in Washington,D.C. on March 20. The garden, which will be 1,100 square feetand an ‘L’ shape, will be located on the White House’s SouthLawn and the Obamas plan to grow over 55 varieties ofvegetables.

“Let’s hear it for vegetables. Let’s hear it for fruits,” yelledMrs. Obama as they broke ground on the garden. “I’ve been able tohave my kids eat so many different things that they would havenever touched if we had bought them at a store,” she added. Mrs.Obama also said that it will be the entire family’s responsibilityto maintain the garden, including the U.S. president.

Many vegetables grow easily, without having to do a lot of workto maintain them. Some examples are lettuce and zucchini. The NGAsays at least 9 million Americans will grow vegetable gardens forthe first time ever in 2009. An estimated 43 million Americans willplant their own personal vegetable gardens this year.