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 for wrecking the economy, nobody picking the fruit and veg proper farmers have grown is what will wreck the food supply chain and economy, not people buying seeds in a garden centre and then not being able to cultivate them effectively.

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.

I rarely use tahini... its expensive and half the jar gets wasted as it inevitably goes bad. I tend to make flavoured hummus though with chillies and peppers so the tahini doesnt really make a difference.

@Leflic
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.

So all those people who have tried making bread or gardening should just sit on their sofas and not try something new to pass the time with their kids in case it doesn't come out right? That they just want something to do and don't care or want a decent end result? If the kids enjoyed attempting it then it isn't a waste and maybe the second time with be a success. Are you really saying that only people who know that their bread will be wonderful and all their seeds will grow and feed the village should be allowed to purchase the necessary items?

Goodness gracious don't be so silly!

I noticed this with bread flour and some staples for my veggie diet, a sudden rush on fennel and celeriac and one point!
I make my own bread most of the time. I want to grow veg but haven't yet. I think, hope a lot of people will take up gardening or cooking from scratch after this is all over. But a lot of things will no doubt go to waste.

Alkaloise - haven't read the whole thread but need to tell you to go and dig your tomato plants up right now! Even if they were the sturdiest tomato plants anyone has ever grown, you should not be planting them out before all risk of frost has gone. They don't like the cold even when there isn't any frost and it is about to get very cold.

Of course, if you live in a hotter country - as you were

I've got tomato seedlings sprouting in the greenhouse from tomatoes that fell onto the soil last summer. So yes seeds from a tomato can be used.

I do wonder if the pasta flour that was bought will be used. Perhaps there are a lot of dusty pasta makers being used for the first time.

We plant our tomatoes end of March / early April every year and get tomatoes August to October. We are inN. Yorkshire- sheltered fab greenhouse though with watering system - which for us made the difference
Ours will be a little earlier t

Another snippy little dig at The People i.e not the OP who are doing it ALL WRONG.

Now, imagine starting a thread that went "If you've never planted X before and need advice, I'm happy to help"

It's heartening to see posters on the Thread doing just that.

A tip for all you newbie veg growers - if you have spindly tomato seedlings, when you pot them into larger pots, bury the stalk almost up to where the leaves are. Roots will sprout from the stalk and make it a stronger plant. Works for some other veg too - such as courgettes, cucumber, squash etc.

For those who can afford it (and I know plenty can't, so please don't attack me), can I recommend the self watering systems from this company - www.greenhousesensation.co.uk/. Over the years, I have bought quite a few quadgrows and chilli planters from them and my crops has been so much better as a result. They are expensive, but they will last for many, many years if looked after. I wash the fabric wicks every year for re-use.

Another tip - if you don't have a greenhouse, make sure the variety of cucumber, tomato etc are capable of being grown outside. Some are only really viable if grown under glass.

One really hardy tomato for growing outdoors is Black Russian. The tomatoes aren't, in my opinion, the best for eating with a salad, as their flesh is very dense, but if you want a cooking tomato, this one is fabulous. It freezes very well and makes the most amazing tomato soup. The seed is very cheap too.

I’d never baked bread before (and hence don’t buy flour and yeast) but have been doing so for the last couple of weeks. It’s not rocket science, nor is planting seeds yabu!

Hi @Hurricane10
May I direct you to my thread from last year on how I grew my tomatoes without buying a seed.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/3592257-Have-I-sold-16-people-a-pig-in-a-poke
Have fun!

One really hardy tomato for growing outdoors is Black Russian. The tomatoes aren't, in my opinion, the best for eating with a salad, as their flesh is very dense, but if you want a cooking tomato, this one is fabulous. It freezes very well and makes the most amazing tomato soup. The seed is very cheap too.

I second that. Had a good crop from them.

One really hardy tomato for growing outdoors is Black Russian. The tomatoes aren't, in my opinion, the best for eating with a salad, as their flesh is very dense, but if you want a cooking tomato, this one is fabulous. It freezes very well and makes the most amazing tomato soup. The seed is very cheap too.

Thankyou for this. We've half arsed growing various things in out garden over the years, have had mixed success with tomatoes, onions, potatoes and chillies. I might have another at tomatoes and this variety sounds perfect to try.

I keep with this calendar. If anyone needs it

God. That came out in a horrible quality! I hope the super HD would hold.
You can download pdf here
when2plant.com/pdf/

OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow

Thankyou for that. Very handy

I've never gardened in my life and now I have planted loads of veg. Please don't judge us. I have always wanted to have a go but I am away too much. This year looks like the perfect opportunity

Hopefully it will take some pressure off the food market.

How quickly do you think you can grow stuff?

In 4 months time one of two things will have happened. We will either be past the worst and heading for normality, or the food supply chain will have adjusted to the new normal.

By all means, grow some veg to fill your days and keep busy but to think it is doing anything at all to help the current situation is laughable.

I admit I have been irritated about the flour situation because I do already bake my own bread and now I'm stressing because I might not be able to any more. But it would overall be a good thing if all the people who have bought all the flour do discover a love of baking - it is such a satisfying skill to learn.

Mintymaabel you are absolutely right, it won’t help feed anyone now and things will be different when things start cropping. However there are large numbers of people who have been impacted financially by this and if people can manage to grow things and maybe have a little to give away it might help just a tiny bit.

I am realistic about what will be possible and to some extent how successful people will be weather dependent.

There is a lot of research though about it helps mental health and bridges what some researchers call the ‘nature disconnect ‘ and right now that is as important as the practical aspect.

In 4 months time one of two things will have happened. We will either be past the worst and heading for normality, or the food supply chain will have adjusted to the new normal.
By all means, grow some veg to fill your days and keep busy but to think it is doing anything at all to help the current situation is laughable.

Considering the poster you are referring to did already grow the veg before, it can be safe to assume they know it doesn't take a week
And taking into the account that reports are coming in that unless farms find tens of thousands of workers, we will experience fruit and veg shortages and/or serious price rises, I don't think it's really laughable.

The impact from this will alst long enough for us to harvest next year's tomatoes...

Maybe you're not as unusual as you think you are 🤷🏻‍♀️
Same goes for people with entitled attitudes towards pulses. Lots of people make their own falafel, bean burgers and stews, not just miss I-turned-vegan-last-week-am-I-special-now.

OP, I can see your point. There's nothing wrong with someone buying a bag of flour, a packet of yeast and having a go at making bread. Nor is there anything wrong with buying a packet of seeds and sticking them in the ground to see what happens.

What is wrong is buying 6 bags of flour or 30 packets of broccoli seeds (over 1000 seeds in total, you could feed a bloody village with that). What is even more wrong is if (let's face it, in many cases it's 'when', not 'if' ) they lose interest and everything gets binned. The same goes for the rest of the panic buys which have been wasted.

I've just been watching The Good Life (a show that inspired me to grow my own). Margo (the wealthy middle class housewife next door) decided to join a pottery class. Before even taking her first lesson she made Jerry buy her thousands of pounds worth of equipment/kiln etc. as an early birthday present. She left the class after one lesson, Jerry's response sums this whole thing up "What's it to become, a monument to one of your tantrums?"

In another episode, Tom buys a weaving loom with their last £10 without talking to his wife first: "You've heard of impulse buying?"
"Yes, and I don't like it"

Lots of people are homeschooling so probably want to do some gardening with their kids.

Surely there was a time when you were planting seeds for the first time? Maybe it was when you thought you’d like to be more self sustainable or had time to try something new. It just so happens that due to the current situation lots of people are having those thoughts at the same time