Out of curiosity, I compiled a list of articles relating to seed sales forecasts in 2008 and 2009,
- Vegetable Seed Sales Shoot Skyward – All Things Considered, NPR, 2/21/09
- Veggie Seed Sales Sprout – USA Today, 2/19/09
- Seed Merchants Reap Benefit Of Need To Cut Bills – Financial Times, 2/5/09
- Seed Days Sign of Spring – Flemingsburg Gazette (a small hometown newspaper in Kentucky), 2/25/09
- Seed Seller Says Sales Are Booming – Knoxville News Sentinel, 5/31/08
… and these reports portend a banner year for seed companies that hasn’t been seen in thirty years. Giants like Burpee, Park Seed, and Ferry-Morse are anticipating at least a 25% jump in seed sales. Even boutique seed companies like Renee’s Garden will see a boost in veggie seed sales.
So what does this all mean to us, vegetable gardeners?
Don't wait till the last minute to get that special seed variety!
It’s not our intent to create a buying panic. But if you’re picky about particular varieties, especially heirloom, it may be a good idea to finalize your seed purchases real soon. We live in Northern CA and pretty much sent in all our seed orders for the year. Specialty garlic and seed potatoes are especially in high demand. We’ve compiled a shortlist of seed companies we’ve purchased from and which Plangarden users have recommended to us.
If you’ve relied on purchasing seedlings in the past, don’t be surprised if your supplier may run short this spring. Many people don’t have the patience to grow tomatoes from seed, and may find that supplies will be limited or of lower quality (due to greater production).
Potted herbs are another commodity that may run out quickly. In the past, we’ve encountered shortages for common herbs like parsley. We’ve now learned tricks and ways to accelerate germination for hard seeds (generally over 10 days to germinate), so it’s no longer an issue for us.
If you plan on preserving your harvests this year, don’t wait till the last minute to get supplies. Ball preserving jars and lids saw a 40% increase in sales in 2008.
Finally, ornamental gardeners, take heed: there’s a good chance that nurseries and garden supply stores may be devoting more space and inventory to veggie gardeners!
While this may be a sign of hard times, in another way I think it is quite uplifting–we’d all be so much better off in so many ways if everyone just grew a little food, and it looks like things are moving in that direction! We ordered more seed this year (and 26 laying hens, but that’s another story!) We’ve given more thought to what has real nutritional value and potential cost savings than in the past–don’t want to waste too much space and effort on things that don’t produce. Also, we have tried to include more heirloom varieties and organically-sourced seeds. Of course, none of our seed has actually arrived yet, so one never knows…
Erika, you’re right, it’s not only a question of economics. In many respects, hard times force us to reflect, be resourceful, and think about what’s really important to us.
Congrats to your hens – wow, 26! We are jealous (fresh eggs)!
We already have 3 guineas who just squawk, don’t lay (yet, anyway), 3 Silkies who ALL turned out to be roosters, and 1 pheasant who showed up by accident. That little pheasant, who seems to think she is a chicken, lays an egg almost every day. Lovely eggs, and not as small as you’d think. So we’re looking forward to having a lot of fresh chicken eggs too! I ordered a special seed blend to give them their own garden to nibble. One thing I am wondering is how the chicken manure (well, I guess it will be a manure/straw mix) will work for the garden. We have horrible, terrible, heavy clay soil mixed with rocks–lots of rocks–so it would be nice to lighten it up a bit with the straw too. Does it have to be fully composted or could it work otherwise (i.e., clear out the coop in the spring. Assuming spring comes. Which in northern New York seems doubtful at times…)
Erika, I love your chicken stories. Would you be interested in writing a guest blog about them on our site? Please contact us to let us know.
As for your chicken manure, that’s pretty intense, high-N stuff so be mindful of where you spread it or you’ll have lots of leaves and few fruit. Definitely give it some time to decompose.
I used to live in CT and talk about rocks! Yes, I know how frustrating that can be. Hate to say this, but hand picking works best – but don’t break your back doing this all in a day. Just a few here and there and in a couple of years, your soil will be much improved.
Here by the CA coast, we also have horrible clay. Kitchen composting mixed with browns (I’m sure you’ve got lots of forest duff, fallen leaves, etc.) and even paper from our shredder has improved the soil lots. Vermicomposting is also great and we highly recommend it. The “overflow” worms from the bin are now happily breeding in our soil. But it does take time. Adding straw sometimes aggravated the water-logging problem (esp. when we planted potatoes) so I’m not a big advocate of straw unless it’s been chopped up finely. This excellent article promotes increasing biomass (composting, cover crops) to improve clay soil. We have also been using clover and buckwheat as cover crops, though clover is probably better as it is a nitrogen fixer. Also interesting is the warning NOT to amend by dumping sand which can turn clay into concrete! Hope this helps