In tough economic times, planting an edible landscape simply makes

sense. Jeannie Berg started Your Home Harvests with that in mind.

She spun her love of gardening, her passion for eating local and her

desire to share healthy, sustainable living practices with her friends

and neighbors into a new business.

“We want to create gardeners,” Berg said.

She is joined by fellow gardener Jennifer Gingerich. Together, the two lifetime gardeners hope to inspire new gardeners and bring vegetables to local backyards.

Berg and Gingerich offer a variety of custom packages to help the budding

gardener create an edible paradise. Their products range from initial

installation and consulting packages to full “Plant, Tend and Harvest”

packages. While they are happy to do all the work, leaving a harvest box on the doorstep once a week, they are most excited about their “Become Your Own Gardener Package.”

Choose the latter option and Berg and Gingerich will work alongside clients to plant and tend their garden, offering email and phone advice and visiting monthly to check on the garden's progress.

During World War II, amid the rationing of canned goods, Americans

were encouraged to grow victory gardens in order to ease pressure on

the public food supply. In 1943, U.S. citizens produced 40 percent of the vegetables consumed in these gardens, Berg explained. Eleanor Roosevelt

even kept a victory garden at the White House. Recently, Michelle

Obama announced that, for the first time since 1945, the White House

will have a vegetable garden.

Fresh produce prices are on the rise, and as transportation costs

continue to soar, so will the price of a tomato.

It's cheaper to grow at home, although the time investment is more substantial. That's where Your Home Harvests fits.

Berg is obsessed with local and sustainable practices, but concedes

that not everything can be grown in the Willamette Valley. She and Gingerich are committed to making sure the plants they put into garden succeed.

Many of their seeds are sourced from Wild Garden Seed in Philomath;

sourcing their seeds locally means that they are ideally suited for

growing in the Willamette Valley. In early March, the peas and beans were already sprouting and the lettuces looked luscious. They are using the garden to test varieties (including an heirloom Siberian watermelon), to make sure they are hearty enough to withstand the Northwest's damp winters and short summers.

Gingerich recently volunteered for six weeks at the “World Hunger

Relief, Inc.” organic farm in Waco, Texas, an organization committed

to ending world hunger through the practice of sustainable

agriculture, conservation and resource sharing.

Upon her return, the two crafted their mission statement: “We believe that children and adults should be able to pick a tomato off the vine and eat it without fear, so we use no chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers in our gardens."

With this in mind, Berg and Gingerich encourage their

customers to donate a portion of their bounty to local food banks.

They are happy to design a garden with high-producing crops so

there is plenty to share, and they'll also take care harvesting

and distribution on clients' behalf.

Ready to get planting? Visit Berg and Gingerich at

YourHomeHarvests.com, in addition to finding information about their

garden packages, their website is also chock full of useful gardening

resources and information about “What's Growing Now.”