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Seed shortages could imperil home gardens
Gardeners may have hard time finding seeds for cucumbers, carrots, onions
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35184731/ns/business-consumer_news/

updated 11:21 a.m. MT, Mon., Feb. 1, 2010

DES MOINES, Iowa - Dreaming of biting into a garden-fresh cucumber sandwich 
this summer? Better order your seeds now.

A poor growing season last year and increased orders from Europe could make 
it difficult for home gardeners to get seeds for the most popular cucumber 
variety and some vegetables this spring. Farmers, who usually grow different 
varieties than home gardeners, aren't likely to be affected.

Seeds for what's known as open-pollinated cucumbers seem to be most scarce, 
but carrots, snap peas and onions also could be in short supply.

"I suspect there will be some seeds you just won't be able to buy if you wait 
too long on it," said Bill Hart, the wholesale manager in charge of seed 
purchasing at Chas. C. Hart Seed Company in Wethersfield, Conn. "The sugar 
snap peas we're not able to get at all, and other companies that have it will 
sell out pretty quickly."

The problem is primarily due to soggy weather last year that resulted in a 
disappointing seed crop. European seed growers also had a bad year, leading 
to a big increase in orders for American seeds.

Demand for seeds in the U.S. soared last year, as the poor economy and 
worries about chemical use and bacteria contamination prompted many people to 
establish gardens. Homegrown food seemed safer and more affordable. But some 
wonder if the wet weather that ruined gardens in many areas last summer will 
discourage first-time gardeners from planting again.

"A lot of people are getting into it, but it was a disastrous year for 
gardens last year because it was so cold and wet," said wholesale seed 
distributor Mel Brekke, who owns Brekke's Town and Country near Ames, Iowa.

Kathy Gocke of Bondurant, Iowa, said she orders seeds early for herself and 
her county's master gardener's program and advises others to do the same.

"If you do it before the first of January, they have a pretty good stock," 
Gocke said.

Burpee Seeds in Warminster, Pa., bills itself as the largest provider of home 
garden seeds, and Chief Executive Officer George Ball said the company's huge 
reserves mean it will have plenty of seeds. But Ball said he understands why 
others might have limited supplies after a big spike in demand in the past 
two years.

"It was unlike anything I've seen in the past 30 years," he said.

Barbara Melera, owner of D. Landreth Seeds of New Freedom, Pa., expects 
carrot seeds to be especially hard to find because of big orders from Europe, 
which had a poor crop last year. Also, fewer farmers are opting to grow 
seeds, she said. Many now have switched to growing corn for the biofuels 
industry.

"In this country, farmers who grow things for seed are becoming an endangered 
species," Melera said. "The farms producing things for seeds is reduced 
significantly, and in the past two to three years they can get more money for 
growing corn for ethanol plants than carrots for seeds."

Jennifer Nothwehr, seed coordinator for the Shenandoah, Iowa-based Earl May 
seed and nursery business, said she hasn't run into shortages, but her 
company typically orders its seeds from wholesalers a year in advance. They 
received and packaged the seeds they'll sell this year last fall, and because 
they set prices last spring, any shortage won't affect them.

Nothwehr also said that while popular varieties, like one known as the 
straight eight cucumber, may be hard to find, others are available.

"One of the most popular carrots we can't get, but we have four other 
varieties we can get if a customer wants to try something different," she 
said.

Hart said his family business has a small retail operation, and he's noticed 
people coming in earlier than usual this year, possibly because of worries 
over a shortage of seeds.

"I don't know if they're hoping for spring or just hoping to get going," he 
said.