To think a lot of people are buying stuff they have no idea what to do with.

[Hurricane10]

I've just been looking for vegetable seeds online. All the sites I've looked either have delays or are not currently taking orders.

I've been GYO for years, I had an allotment till a couple of years ago when I gave it up cos I changed jobs and couldn't get to it so often. I still grow as much as I can in containers at home.

Now my Broad beans are coming on nicely, my onion sets are sprouting and I will be planting potatoes in buckets next week but I wanted some squash and brassica seeds.

I suspect that many people ordering GYO stuff have no clue what they're doing, just like I suspect many of the people buying flour have never made a loaf in their life and the seeds, if sown, will never bear fruit as they think you just need to stick the seed in some compost and harvest a crop a few weeks later.

I noticed tomato seeds are all out of stock, unless you're in the far south it's too late to sow tomatoes and get a crop before September.

Working class Yorkshire 35 year old here, I grow everything for fun (beans, corn, squash, pumpkins, onions, carrots, tomatoes, peas, etc etc) and I have always shared seeds with anyone who is willing, I think it's a wonderful thing growing your own foods. And yes, some things need to be looked after but peas and beans and things do just grow by themselves.
I'm filling my small garden again with vegetables in the hope that I will have enough for my large family and to share with others if times are tough in a few months.
As for baking, yeah a lot of people are buying things they'll never use and that is frustrating, but again I'm always open with people about baking and encourage people to try. Especially in times of crisis like this.
I've put an order in from a catering company for flour, sugar, yeast etc that fingers crossed will be fulfilled, but because I cook from scratch daily we still have some of the basics in.

Yes I’ve bought seeds online and I’m not so stupid as to think they will be ready next week. A lot of these people will normally be buying them at garden centres but can’t any more, hence the online rush.

We used to have an allotment for many years until it got too much for us with work commitments. But now DH has lost his job and I’ve lost most of my business and we need to make ends meet this year, so we’ve turned a lot of our small garden over to vegetables. We know what we’re doing and we will get stuff to eat out of it.

So don’t assume everyone is wasting it. Your hobby doesn’t trump others need to have something they can eat.

It’s like people buying 6 bags of flour and having never baked. They will do it once or twice, kids will lose interest and the flour will be binned

Looks like Thompson and Morgan are still up and running and fairly well stocked. They say delivery times may be a bit longer than normal but what companies aren't at the moment? I got an e-mail from Groupon this morning with an offer of £10 off if you spend over £40 with TM. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the code on here, but should be easy enough to search for it.

You do know that the delays and not taking orders is a lot due to staff shortages, don't you.
Yes, some people bought and have no idea what to do with them, but at least they are doing something.

As pp said. Lots of people who would normally buy elsewhere now had to buy online. Frankly you all are just unprepared😂 I always get my seeds as soon as possible before the busy period hits the retailers😂 I've been doing gardening for 3 years and I still don't know what to do with half the stuff so I just... Google.

Admire anyone who still does toms outside. I had 1 amazing season and 2 shit ones due to weather (I guess. I haven't changed anything) so I am done with them. Just cucumbers, herbs, garlic, onion, salad and fruits for me this year. Cucamelon is cool to have btw.

Lots of people deciding to have a go at baking their own bread with one bag of flour each would be fine but since all varieties of wheat flour have been consistently out of stock round here since the end of February that is obviously not what's happening.

I am a bit fed up with it as we bake our own bread (it's not a class thing, I learned from my working class grandmother and my husband learned from his very mc mum) and I do think that a lot of that flour will be going to waste.

It's not just preference for me either as I'm one of the awkward squad whose bowels can't tolerate commercially produced bread with fast acting yeast but can eat true slow-risen sourdough which is what we make (with a very simple rye starter that we also make ourselves).

Aroundtheworldin80moves yes! Sewing, knitting and baking were necessities. My granny would tell me stories of how every scrap of fabric from worn out clothes went into quilts and knitted items were mended or ripped out to reuse the wool. She was an incredible cook and baker because that's how you fed your family. She passed those skills down, it would have been a terrible waste of skill and knowledge if she hadn't.

On the topic of seeds, I was a bit surprised when I went to buy seeds and the company I buy from had suspended orders temporarily to keep up with the orders they already had. It does mean a lot of people will never been satisfied with supermarket tomatoes again

Disagree about the timing of planting tomatos though, I never plant seeds for tomatoes and the like until now and they'll probably start fruiting in June and definitely by July.

Had 8 tomato plants four years ago. The last four years seedlings have just popped up

Am I missing something? We always plant our tomato seeds in mid-late March, and they normally fruit from Late June! We’ve also never done anything fancy beyond plant & water, pot in, then plant out & give a quick feed. Maybe we’ve just been really lucky!

There are many articles out there making it clear that there hasn't been much panic buying, clear the shelves in one go going on.

It's lots of people buying a bit more which they have to because the 30% of meals eaten outside the home are now having to be made at home. Those out if home meals were made using commercial food stocks, which haven't been able to filter through to domestic food suppliers yet. Also supply chain staff isolating etc. It's not a supply problem exactly, but it is a logistics one in a 'just in time' supermarket system.

If it was just bulk buyers causing issues flour, loo roll and eggs would be in stock now the restrictions on how much can be purchased in one go have been in place for a while.

You make growing veg sound like brain surgery! It really isn't. We bought loads of seeds a few weeks ago because we've just dug up half our lawn to put veg in as a 'confinement' project. Most years we grow much less because of lack of space, but necessity is the mother of invention! Amazingly though our tomatoes have always grown fine despite not treating them like newborn babies. We have just as much right to grow veg as you.

Hurricane, I hope you get the seeds you need.

I have a similar feeling when I see no eggs on supermarket shelves: “You’re not going to live on scrambled eggs for the next three months, you greedy gits!“

The other option for seeds is to phone your local garden and see if they'll pop some in the post. Ours had loads of seeds two weeks ago when we went to get some. They would probably be glad of business

Our tomatoes are usually planted mid Feb and fruit end of June but we are far south.

I have a similar feeling when I see no eggs on supermarket shelves: “You’re not going to live on scrambled eggs for the next three months, you greedy gits!“

I was REALLY angry about the eggs but apparently it wasn't the panic buying. Someone said the floods had a massive effect and it did actually look like it. Asda didn't look emptied. It looked like it never got the eggs in a first place.

I always planted my toms in Feb and had crop end June/early July🤔

I’d love to know how to grow veg. We have an undeveloped garden as working full time with two kids hasn’t given me any time at all. But now I have time and one of my kids is really keen.

I sowed my tomato seeds last week. I am in the ‘deep south’ and they will be in the green house. Yes this is CV related as I normally cheat and by plugs later on from the garden centre but thought I would make the most of being at home all summer to grow from seed. Yes I bought those seeds online... But yes I do know what to do with them thank you very much!

I think the reality is that most people will stick some seeds in compost and think they will just grow, when the reality is everything has to be "just right" for them even to germinate, never mind produce a crop

Don't be so ridiculous. That's what me and my toddlers did last year with all sorts of veg and we got absolutely loads of food off it all. You don't need to be an expert in the science of germinating seeds to grow your own food.

I'm a terrible gardener but have bought compost from Ebay to give it a go again. I have seeds in the shed from when DS2 decided he wanted a go at gardening a few months ago. I agree its frustrating when people just buy things without thinking, leaving nothing for anyone else but if they are going to try something new and arent doing stupid things like buying all the packets of broccoli seeds when they just need one, what's the harm? So far, I've cultivated a sourdough starter for the first time ever and made a soda bread, both of which could have been seen as a waste of flour if they went wrong. Luckily they both turned out ok!

My local WhatsApp group is full of first time bakers proudly showing off photos of their delicious-looking bread (and cakes). It’s not rocket science.

And yes of course a large share of the population suddenly buying a bag of flour because they fancy baking can strip the shelves repeatedly. Most people buy flour very rarely, and the supermarkets keep enough in stock (and in their supply chain) to meet that rare demand, so the uptick from every parent of a five year old thinking “how the hell shall I entertain them for a month indoors?” has been huge.

For some reason, Norfolk is awash with eggs! Our local grocer is selling a 30 egg pallet, as was Morrisons. I thought it would last ages, but all it takes is making a quiche or scrambled eggs and a cake for 4 and its depleted.

just like I suspect many of the people buying flour have never made a loaf in their life

That was me until yesterday. I've always baked other things but never bread. But I made my first bread last night and it's fine.

Climb down off your high horse, OP. Everyone has to start as a complete novice.

This is the time to get to know your neighbours and organise seed swaps etc.

Most packets of seeds have far more in them than one family needs.

I haven't planted my tomato seeds yet.They will get too leggy before I can put them out.
My chilli's are in as they take a while to germinate but nothing else.
I plant most things at easter,works for me.