CAPITAL REGION — The owner of a local seed company says his sales grew for the first time in 15 years and he speculated that many people are looking to beat the high cost of groceries by planting gardens this year.

“It looks like a lot of people are reverting to the idea of a victory garden,” said Lance Bentley, who owns Bentley Seeds in Cambridge. Victory gardens were grown during World War I and II to supplement the nation’s food supply.

“Sales for home gardening have been flat or even declining over the past 15 years, but we’ve seen a great increase in sales this year,” Bentley said.

Bentley’s seeds are sold mostly as private label seeds for Dollar General chain stores as well as under custom packaging for profit and nonprofit companies, he said.

“Dollar General customers tend to be low- and lower middle-income people who garden more than the affluent,” he said. “But other sales are increasing, too.”

He said trends toward organic food and interest in environmentally friendly pursuits also seem to be raising the number of people who want to grow their own food.

Sharon DiLorenzo of Capital District Community Gardens said most of the nearly 1,000 garden plots available through her organization have been reserved for this year.

The nonprofit has 48 gardens in Schenectady, Albany and Troy.

“This is the last week to sign up for a plot, but we don’t have many left,” she said. “I’m not really surprised, considering the high cost of food.”

DiLorenzo said reservations for community garden plots are available beginning in January. In April of last year, there were still many openings in most gardens.

The gardens vary in size from six plots, on Barney Street in Schenectady, to 57 plots on Normanskill Farm just off Delaware Ave on the banks of Albany’s Normanskill Creek.

DiLorenzo said the average plot is 500 to 600 square feet or about 20 feet wide by 25 to 30 feet long.

“You can grow up to $1,250 worth of vegetables in a plot that size,” she said. “Even if you want to start by dabbling in gardening, a couple of tomato plants in some pots can give a great return without too much time and effort.”

She said finding a sunny spot is the key to locating a garden.

“Wait until the trees leaf out before deciding where to plant vegetables,” she said. “It’s an economically feasible way to put food on the table. Seeds and seedlings are inexpensive compared to food in the store.”

Bentley said the high cost of fuel has people looking around their own yards as a hobby as well as a source of fresh vegetables.

“People aren’t traveling as much and they’re paying more attention to the home,” he said. “Our sales increases have been primarily in vegetables, but also in flower seeds to a degree.”

He said leftover seeds are in most cases not viable after a year in storage.

“Tomatoes, peas, beans and corn would probably be OK from one year to the next but onions and lettuce don’t keep well. It’s best to throw them out rather than waste your time,” he said.

Frank Pemberton is a master gardener for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Saratoga County and a resident of Saratoga Springs.

He said most people will find it difficult to grow enough food to make a big dent in their grocery bill unless they have a significant amount of time to devote to canning or freezing their crops.

“We are getting a lot more questions about gardening and if people see it as a hobby with benefits rather than a major food source, I think they’re being realistic,” he said. “Some people may grow enough salad for a few dinners, but they’ll feel good about beating the system even if it’s just a little bit.”

Whitney Wallace at Agway of Ballston Spa said seed sales have been brisk this year, but it will be at least a week before live plants will be in the store, which will be the true test of how many people are interested in growing vegetables this year.

“It’s too early to put live plants in the ground. Most growers won’t think about outdoor planting until the second week of May at the earliest because of the danger of frost,” she said.