First, it was hand sanitizer. Then toilet paper. Then canned goods and other grocery items. Whether it was hoarding, not enough stock to begin with, or a combination of both – we’ve grown accustomed recently to seeing empty shelves in various sections of our local stores and ridiculous prices on certain items via online retailers.
For those of you who thought you would avoid the food panic and begin working on a more self-sustaining lifestyle via a greenhouse, garden, etc.. You might have had a little shock to the system if you went online recently to purchase seeds to start that garden. It looks like panic-buying has hit the seed sector. But, while that might be the case, please don’t panic.
SEEDS ARE LIVING THINGS
Leah Wagner and her husband own a small seed company in Alaska called Foundroot. Speaking with KTOO.org, Wagner had this to say about the problems with panic-buying too many seeds:
“People are ordering, you know, honestly, like ten times as many seeds as they’re ever going to be able to plant within the life of that seed. And so we’re seeing a kind of depletion of our seed supply without people actually knowing how to plant those seeds or what to do with them. And seeds are a living thing too. And they won’t last forever.”
Panic-buying and hoarding are never a good thing because it means there will be people left without. At least when you buy 100 rolls of toilet paper, it won’t go bad. But seeds aren’t toilet paper. Seeds don’t last forever, so buying more than you can use is just a waste.
THERE WILL BE SEEDS
The supply of seeds isn’t going away. And once life gets back to “normal,” you’ll be able to purchase seeds no problem. So, all you need to buy now is enough to get you through this coming season and maybe next season if you want to be extra cautious.
As Clare Cullen, operations director for the University of British Columbia Farm, told the CBC, “Hopefully, people aren’t hoarding seeds. I don’t think there’s any need to do that at all.”
Alex Augustyniak, general manager at Delta-based West Coast Seeds, seconded that sentiment. “There’s going to be tons of seeds to go around,” he added that maybe some varieties would be harder to find, but “you can be very calm about your seed buying.”
THESE AREN’T NORMAL TIMES
Sure, it might be a little harder to find seeds currently. But, things are different all over these days. Yes, delivery times are longer, and many online seed retailers do have to temporarily stop taking new orders to fulfill the orders they already have.
But, I’ve seen retailers reopen for new orders just in the last little while. And the ones that I see today currently closed to new orders are assuring customers that they have plenty of stock.
So, be patient and don’t panic. We will all be rockin’ some awesome gardens come the summer.