'Gardening bug' in Morpeth continues to grow

16:43 19th September 2011

The 'gardening bug' in Morpeth, Northumberland, has continued to grow with town centre shops reporting increased sales in 'grow your own' products, greenhouse enthusiasts might be interested to hear.

One shop in the marketplace, the Original factory Shop has seen an increase of 165 per cent in its summer sales of its Grow Your Own range products.

The store has now planned to extend its gardening range and will be investing 80 per cent more in the items for the 2012 summer season.

Store manager Kim Duncan told the Morpeth Herald that people are striving to start developing their own fruit and veg patches.

"People were becoming more savvy about where food has come from and what's in it. Growing your own food seemed to be a low cost way of gaining that knowledge and eating organic food," she added.

According to the Independent there has been a rise of more than ten per cent in the past two years of gardening clubs that are affiliated with the Royal Horticultural Society.