Traditionally, when a customer walked into Greenhouse Garden Center to buy seeds, they would pluck a few packets from the rack and move along. Since the pandemic took root last spring, however, customers are grabbing seed packets by the handful and then some.
“A lot of times last year, and even this year, we’re finding people coming in buying 20 to 40 packs of seeds,” David Ruf, owner of Greenhouse Garden Center in Carson City, said in a phone interview with the NNBW. “They’re buying for family or somebody else in the neighborhood, or they’re trying to grow even more vegetables than usual.
Ruf said vegetable seeds with a 90-day turnaround from planting to harvest — such as squash, lettuce, carrots, peas and beans — have been especially popular, selling out quickly when they hit the rack. “Everybody wants to garden, so seeds were easy and they’re cheap. Even if you were limited on funds, you could come in and buy some seeds and be able to get something in return.”
It’s a microcosm of why garden centers and nurseries are high on the list among businesses in Northern Nevada that have seen demand increase during the pandemic.
More people are working from home and wanting to grow their own food. Some are planting flowers to spruce up their backyards. Others have turned to gardening for solace outside of the house. As a result, COVID-19 gardens have exploded in popularity over the past year.
This led to Greenhouse Garden Center’s overall sales being up about 15% in 2020 compared to 2019, said Ruf before adding: “We had no idea it would turn out like this when we were told to stay home.”
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