If you've thought about growing a few of your own vegetables this summer, you are not alone. The National Gardening Association says sales of seeds are expected to jump 20 percent in 2009. In addition, the number of homes growing vegetables will jump by more than 40 percent this year compared with two years ago.

Erin Heidelberger, has grown her own vegetables for several years nowisn't surprised to see gardening grow as the economy wilts.

"That's a huge part of it," Erin says. "People are very interested in scaling back and being able to provide for their families, very nutritious and wholesome food, but being able to do that a lot more cheaply or less expensively than they have in the past."

For proof of that popularity surge, Erin turns to one of her new favorite seeds, which is appropriately named "Mortgage Lifter".

"It literally helped him pay his mortgage so I loved the name," she said. "And it's supposed to be a really good tomato."

Erin knows a few things about a good tomato. She's up to at least eight varieties this year.

"I've never tasted a green tomato," she said. "It's supposed to be really good, but it will definitely be an experiment for me this year."

That experimenting has also filled Erin's window sills with brussel sprouts and hot peppers. It won't be long before she transplants them into her 1,500 square foot garden. The plants have grown in number with each year's success. Now she's hoping to help others do the same with her online blog, called the Prairie Roots Blog http://prairieroots.wordpress.com/.

"Especially for someone like me who didn't grow up gardening and didn't get a lot of that knowledge passed down just by doing it as a kid," Erin said. "I've got that information online so it's a lot easier to access it than it was at one time."

Erin says all of her blogging and planting has definitely been an investment in her time… but says the benefits can't be measured in just dollars.

"I have my basil plants here. There's really no comparison in the taste, so I think it's time well worth spending."

Now she simply hopes the increased interest remains over time.

"You know we've got kind of these big crisis that happen once in a while and gardening is one of the things that alleviates some of those crisis a little bit and helps us get by," Erin said. "I hope it's a trend that sticks around though, and I think, given what we know about now about just better care of the environment and better care of ourselves, better health for ourselves and our families, I'm hoping that the trend sticks around... isn't just a short term fad but sticks around for a little bit longer."

At the very least, it's stuck with her.

"I felt a little bad about getting rid of these great tomato plants, so I'm just letting them grow in the smaller containers and if I need an extra one then I've got it," Erin said. "I couldn't bear to get rid of the seedlings that had started."

If you're interested in getting started yourself, but you don't know where to begin, Erin suggests starting small. If you don't want to plant seeds, you can also buy a small plant and transplant it into a bigger container as it grows. Click on the "News Links" tab at the top of the page for more links on making a garden work for you.