Demand for seeds, plants and gardening supplies could be up in 2021

Even though the ground is still covered in snow and everything’s frozen outside, you can still get a head start on your 2021 gardening.

According to at least one Saskatoon expert – the demand for just about anything gardening related is going to meet or exceed what happened last year.

Dutch Growers Owner and Manager Rick Van Duyvendyk says last year a lot of new gardeners put in raised gardens, bought pots for deck gardens, and invested in other supplies. This year, demand is already increasing across the board.

“Now they’re expanding that, and it seems like their friends are trying to get involved and saying, ‘I can do that, too.’ We’re going to see that a lot more.”

He says the cost of groceries also has a lot to do with why more people are taking up urban gardening.

(Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM)

“You see a lot of people wanting to have a little bit of food security. Food that they can just go pick out, rather than going to the grocery store or going anywhere else,” he explained. “It’s just going into the back yard and getting a fresh product; you know, digging up a fresh potato or getting a fresh carrot.”

He adds that with home gardening, there’s also a sense of pride that comes along with growing your own food, knowing how it was grown and where- and that it’s available when needed.

Van Duyvendyk explains that last year, there was a late start to the season- and many people just bought bedding plants. This year, they’re buying a lot more seeds and starting their own plants indoors.

But he says we shouldn’t be too concerned about whether there are going to be too many shortages, because last year many greenhouses thought they might not even be able to open their doors because of the pandemic.

“They cut back on their production. And with the uptake on more people gardening and that happening, that’s why we saw a shortage. This year, we’ll see that producing greenhouses aren’t going to cut back and they’re going to provide a lot more this year than they did last year,” he said.

Still, Van Duyvebdyk believes there’s going to be a big demand for some root vegetables like certain types of potatoes, and onions – and also for various kinds of flowers like Impatiens.

If you’re keen to start your garden from seed, veggies like hot peppers, squash, tomatoes, celery should be started now. Flowers like pansies and petunias can also be seeded.

A good reference is to look at the seed packets, which will indicate how many days certain plants need to be planted before the last frost. A good point to refer to as a last frost is generally May 20.