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.

As annoying as it can be annoying for those of us who do the things regularly and now there is shortage of stuff, but I think it's absolutely a good thing that people are trying and I am sure many will be doing the things they try now again.

We are all always way too busy. Maybe the world will re-evaluate a bit and we will all have a time to bake a cake once a week like my (ft working) mum used to do. She is an amazing baker

I wonder if people have bought chickpeas thinking to make hummus but don’t realise you need tahini paste too.

If someone is trying, even if they get it wrong, it is not a waste. Its called learning.

You don't need tahini paste. You can make acceptable hummus without it. Unless I imagined doing it.... 🤔

There actually seems to be a fair amount of unpleasant sneering on this thread.

You don't need tahini paste. You can make acceptable hummus without it. Unless I imagined doing it.... 🤔

What did you use instead?

Hummus without tahini is unholy but I think people often substitute things like nut butters

Gardening, bread making, sewing etc may well have been working class activities once, but to say that they aren't used as class markets now is disingenuous. Fabric and yarn are much more expensive than buying ready made clothes, plus it takes a lot of time to do. Similarly having the space and time to grow your own veg or bake your own bread is a luxery many don't have. Maybe some people are still doing these things as a way of living and stretching resources, but for most it's a hobby available only to those with plenty of time, space, and disposable income. I'm not saying that these activities should be limited to the middle classes, in fact I'm saying the opposite. Everyone has the right and most people have the ability to do these things, now more than ever. But it's obvious that many people are approaching this from a position of classism. Hence the sneering at "the kind of people who normally eat fast food" wanting to have a go at baking, or people wanting to plant a bit of veg when they've never even had their own allotment.

Well, your question was "AIBU to think that people are buying stuff they don't really know how to make work properly?" To which the answer is no you are no BU to think that. But if - as seems to be implied - "AIBU to think they should not, therefore, buy this stuff, but leave it for people who already have expertise, " then you are being very unreasonable. People who use new and unforeseen and possibly challenging circumstances to do something new are the adaptable and creative sorts who are likely to weather the storm better. I'm mending more stuff than I used to - my sewing is a bit crap, but it will improve. My IT skills are getting a boost, as is my French. My son's culinary skills are on the up. So far, we're having quite a good lockdown, and I hope the same is true for all those people trying something new.

You dont need to use it. I've done it without too. You can just do chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, oil? salt and a bit of the water from the chickpeas. I dont think shop bought hummus has tahini in it. None of this stuff is rocket science. Maybe people will realise that baking a cake from scratch isn't that hard and stop using overpriced packet mixes.

My husband can't get over hummus with no tahini😂
Hummus without tahini is unholy shock
Right!
He cringed at the nut butters.

Great. I shouldn't have told him about it. Now he keeps moaning and mumbling "disgusting" "nut butter my arse" "ugh no" on repeat😂

Hummus without tahini is unholy shock but I think people often substitute things like nut butters

Ah right can see how that might work. Peanut butter might work quite well.

Morning Hurricane.

I confess I have ordered seeds online. Growing my own has eben something i have dreamed about for years and DH was reluctant to dog up any bit of our reasonably sized garden.

I am massively excited!! I also plan to start embroidery.

All the sites I've looked either have delays or are not currently taking orders.

Is it not more the case that they are actually 'non essential' rather than out of stock?

I know B&Q have removed them for that very reason.

Always wanted the time for a veg patch. I've dabbled but never had the time to get it up and running.

Had all the necessary equipment to get a patch up and running for a few years. A few weeks ago I saw this coming and ordered the seeds and soil.

Many a happy moment has been spent prepping and digging this last fortnight. It's really provided me with a mental break from all this shit, and my children are loving it!

He is still going😂
Mumbling
"You don't mix nut butter and stuff into it. You put it on top" "nope. Nope" "Now I want hummus" "no tahiny. Ugh. You need it"
I think this broke him😂

ByGrabtharsHammerWhatASavings
Exactly that.

I can see the Ops point though. It’s not about no one “has the right” or that “everyone has to start somewhere“ that others keep stating.
It’s the massive rush simply for the sake of having something to do rather than actually wanting a decent end result, at a time when resources are more precious.
So people will make bread that comes out like concrete and kill the plants from underwatering and it will be a waste. Fine normally but with the economy all over the place it isn’t the time for short term ideas.

OP I haven't Rtft but you could try setting yourself up as Save Our Seeds and write a blog posts, twitter, Instagram etc and teach people what to do and when.

Of course a lot of people are buying stuff they have no idea what to do with. They have plenty of time to work it out, though. I’m just waiting for my kids to get desperate enough to let me try cutting their hair .

I don't think I've ever planted my tomatoes before mid-april, and I normally eat my first ones around June.. I do pick a few varieties though - and I really don't know what I'm doing, and am very haphazard with care, yet still manage to get plenty of tomatoes (and way to many courgettes the year I bought a courgette plant by mistake!)

Probably not this year then! Mind you, we were hoping to move house, so I was going to be doing it late anyhow, so perhaps this is a tomato-less year.

*only people who do ‘proper’ exercise who should be allowed out...hmm

Honestly, if this situation gets a few more people into gardening, baking or exercising then how can that be a bad thing?*

My thoughts exactly.

I order flowering plants based on "Me like". And then work out how to care for them. It's perfectly possible people will find out they are enjoying it.

Re the toms. My mum used to plant seeds in Feb so I am following that. Though she was in a warmer country.

Yup, the other day I bought a cushion in Asda. I have no idea where to put it. I have too many on the couch already

The delays could also be partially caused by staff shortages as people quarantine and self isolate. There can't be many sectors with a full workforce at the moment.

I haven't read the full thread, but I have a load of squash seeds left from last year, and I can only plant 2 or 3. I can post them to you if you like? I also have half a pack of spare courgette seeds? They are such big plants!!