Topic: re seed shortages etc

[Jeannine]

I don't know if this will help anyone.

I have been trying to get through to Real Seeds UK for a few weeks. They have been swamped with orders and have only been opening their system for 1 hour a day. I have tried countless times to order a couplle of things to have them sent to my noeces address as they no longer ship overseas. They don't say which hour they open, just 1 hour in the afternoon. Today I tried again from Canada at your time 6.30pm and I  got on and mangaged to get the three seeds I wanted.

[galina]

Good to know Jeannine.  They said that their biggest problem is that the post collection is very sparse and erratic and that they will only open when they have just had a collection so that packaged seed orders do not hang around.  Also that they are working in shifts to maintain social distancing. 

They also wrote on fb that they have never seen so many people wanting to order, much more than they can cope with, even if the post problem was sorted. 

With the unknowns over potential Brexit food shortages, so many fewer agricultural workers and now Corona, there must be a real revival in home growing going on.   

[ACE]

A big revival and a lot of wastage. A friend decided to plant a few spuds. sent off his order with not a clue what to get and ended up with 25k of seed spuds for a patch that would just about cope with 12 to 15 potatoes. They are going to be an expensive crop. As usual I had most of my seeds by xmas but also as usual I get a whim to sow something different and they are getting hard to obtain. Also silly seeds like runners, I grow loads of different beans for drying and forgot to get some normal runners. I did find a really old open packet in the tin and managed to get half a dozen to germinate. A bit of luck the other day as I was riding home from the plot there was a box outside a house full of seed packets with 'help yourself' on.  I could have filled me boots but left most of them for other gardeners. The ones I did take are showing green in the trays even though they were all out of date. I notice the garden gate sellers are getting their spare plants out for sale so I expect they should clean up this year.

[Tiny Clanger]

I have found thatBen and Kate will aways help out a customer when they can. I get 90% of my pumpkin seeds from them.