Home Gardeners Can Reap Huge Financial Rewards Growing Veggies

WARMINSTER, Pa., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently completed cost-analysis by
America's leading home gardening company reveals major savings for people who
grow their own vegetables.

According to W. Atlee Burpee & Co. (www.Burpee.com), a well-planned garden
will result in a 1 to 25 cost-savings ratio, meaning $50 in seeds and
fertilizer can produce $1,250 worth of groceries purchased at a supermarket.
"And all you need is a small, sunny plot to enjoy these big savings," says
Burpee Chairman, George Ball.

For the coming year, 2009, Burpee is planning a new seed packet offer,
appropriately termed, The Money Garden. Each Money Garden packet will contain
packages of six easy-to-grow varieties capable of producing $650 worth of
vegetables. The Money Garden will have a special $10 price and will be
available on the company website
(http://www.burpee.com/product/id/112011.do?KickerID=100535&KICKER )
exclusively.

The Money Garden packet will include the following varieties: Bell Peppers,
Beefsteak Tomatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, French Green Beans, Butterhead Lettuces
and large Nantes-type carrots. If purchased individually, the six items would
retail for $20.

Crucial to attaining enormous savings is succession planting, Mr. Ball says.
"Too often home gardeners plant an item such as lettuce early in the season
and then leave the site fallow after harvesting a month later." Much of the
success in The Money Garden results from extending the season from early
planting to late harvesting, according to Mr. Ball. Burpee will help
gardeners learn "staggered sowing" and the best vegetables to plant in
succession in their locale and when to start for maximum results. Also, which
varieties actually do better in colder weather. The Money Garden can be
cultivated in a relatively small garden of approximately 200-225 square feet.

To make it easier for home gardeners to plant The Money Garden, Burpee plans
to post information on the company website, www.Burpee.com. A toll free Money
Garden hotline has been established, 1-800-333-5808, to answer questions
customers may have about planting their Money Garden.

It should also be noted, Mr. Ball points out, that in addition to cost savings
the taste of homegrown vegetables is vastly superior to store-bought and their
nutritional value far exceeds vegetables that line the shelves of supermarkets
a week or more after being picked.

To arrive at the 1 to 25 ratio, Burpee planted a series of test gardens during
2008 at its main research facility, Fordhook Farm, in Bucks County, PA. "A
hundred dollars will produce $2,500 in groceries", Mr. Ball concludes, "that's
$2,400 a family can save in five months."

For more information, or to request high-resolution images,
please contact: Kristin Grilli
kgrilli@burpee.com
724-263-0363

SOURCE W. Atlee Burpee & Co.

Kristin Grilli, W. Atlee Burpee & Co., kgrilli@burpee.com, +1-724-263-0363