A growing number of Indiana residents are dusting off their spades -- and their green thumbs -- to fight high food prices by planting vegetable gardens.

Vegetable plant sales surged this spring and summer at nurseries and hardware stores in Terre Haute, where some customers say they're planting their first ever backyard crops to hold down their food costs.

Juanita Juneau of Terre Haute says the high cost of food was the No. 1 reason she planted a garden this year. The 70-year-old retiree says she's on a fixed income and that food prices have become outrageous.

Her 3-foot by 10-foot garden features lettuce, bell peppers, beets, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. Juneau says she doesn't buy any fresh produce at the market anymore, and is relying on her garden for her veggies for now.