Doris Richardson once told me that my yard was too plain. Now, Doris is a real sweet lady and you have to understand that she didn’t say it in a derogatory manner. She simply meant that my yard just needed more color.

And she was right. I did just enough yard work to keep the code enforcement people off my back. I just cut the grass and killed the weeds. That’s it.

But Ms. Richardson’s yard looked straight out of Alice in Wonderland. She had lots of colorful flowers all over her yard and on the side of her house. Wildlife enjoyed its beauty. Cats played there. The squirrels ate the little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she made for them right out of her hand.

Ms. Richardson moved out of my neighborhood a year ago. Before she left she planted a planting bug in me. She even gave me many starter plants for my own yard and would often drive by to see how they were doing and give me some tips on how to take care of them.

This summer I spent more money on plants than I ever have at any time in my life. I even planted a vegetable garden.

I still don’t know what I’m doing. When all the stuff comes up that I planted, my yard might resemble a horticulturist’s nightmare. It may look like what it is — a green flowing mass of flowers that were planted too close together to serve as any true landscaping efforts. Same with my vegetable garden.

No one told me that cucumber plants spread all over the place. They’re overgrowing the tomato plants. And when you plant spinach and collards, you’d also need lots of space.

With all the stuff planted close together, my garden is beginning to look like a miniature forest. It’s become home for rabbits and other wildlife.

In fact, I think I saw a coyote run out from a den behind my tomato plants the other night.

Who knows if we’ll eat fresh vegetables or enjoy pretty flowers in our yard this summer. It’s a coin flip between being a Garden of Eden or a code violation.

Apparently, lots of other people are growing gardens for the first time this year. Many are growing their own vegetables out of necessity rather than as a hobby.

A recent article in The Washington Post told about how the D. Landreth Seed Co. in Philadelphia, one of the oldest surviving corporations in the country, has seen its sales go up tremendously.

“(Sales at Landreth are) up 75 percent this year,” said Barbara Melera, owner of the seed company in the article. She added that the seeds for many dinner time staples such as potatoes, lettuce and beans sell out quickly.

“What I would call survival food,” she said.

A report from the National Gardening Association said that 34 percent of food gardening this year is propelled by the economic recession. Another reason has to do with a concern for food safety.

Outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella have fueled a desire in people to have more control over how their food is processed.

The Washington Post article ended by asking the question of how long the gardening boom would last. Ms. Melera predicted that half of the new gardeners would give up by late summer.

“I think we may have one more year, but I’ll be surprised if by 2011 we will be seeing the same level of activity we are now,” she said.

Disaster or bounty, I plan to keep on planting.

Alonzo Weston can be reached at alonzow@npgco.com.