new gardener survey

I got an email from Pennsylvania garden writer George Weigel and Penn State Extension Horticulture Educator Steve Bogash asking me to post about their survey of new gardeners. It seems they are afraid that "newbie vegetable gardeners are ready to pack it in already after the punishing growing season we just had". I have to admit I was surprised. Its been a great season! Hey, compare it to last year's tomato blight disaster. It rained almost all summer last year! OK, this year was dry, and the bean beetles were excessive. But every year has its ups and downs. My experience is only here in the US North East. What do you think?

Veggie Rookies: Once and Done?
How are all of those new vegetable gardeners faring?
What problems are they running into, what are they growing and why, and most of all, are they going to stick with it after the punishing growing season we had in so much of the country?
Pennsylvania garden writer George Weigel and Penn State Extension Horticulture Educator Steve Bogash have put together a 15-question survey to find out.
It’s targeted at folks who have started growing herbs and vegetables within the past 5 years. If that’s you -- or if you know others new to growing their own edibles -- please check out http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VS62KR2 and take the survey.
It’s anonymous, and results will be shared with interested media and garden-industry sources. The survey will close Nov. 19.
Questions: Email Weigel at george@georgeweigel.net or Bogash at smb12@psu.edu

I have asked them to share the results with me, so I'll post them here.