Seed sales blossoming as gardeners try to avoid U.S. produce

Like so many people these days, Natasha Nash has been trying to buy Canadian.

But at the grocery store, Nash said, some homegrown produce is proving hard to find — particularly broccoli and celery.

"If I'm going to the grocery store and I see a head of broccoli is ... coming from a U.S. farm, I just don't [buy it]," she said. 

That's why Nash is one of many Ottawans growing more of the fruits and vegetables her family relies on in her own backyard.

Nash said she doesn't want her family "to be so dependent on outside resources, especially considering how volatile they are right now." 

Local seed suppliers tell CBC that Nash isn't alone.

Several say they've seen sales rise in recent weeks and suspect Ottawans are increasingly planting their own gardens as a way to supplement their groceries amid Canada's trade war with the United States.

Timely sales spike

March is the time when seed sales usually taper off, according to Manish Kushwaha, the owner of Gaia Organic Seeds in Riverside South.

But this March, there's been such a "boom" that they "cannot keep up with the orders right now," Kushwaha said. 

WATCH | A different seed sale dynamic this year:

This local seed seller says he’s seeing a ‘boom’ in sales in wake of trade war

1 day ago

Duration 1:53

Manish Kushwaha, the owner of Gaia Organic Seeds in Riverside South, says March is usually when seed sales die off. But this year, his business has seen such an influx of orders they cannot keep up.

These recent sales are mostly for vegetable seeds, he noted, particularly the vegetables that Canadians usually buy from California like tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers.

The same seeds are also selling well at the Robert Plante Greenhouses in east Ottawa, according to general manager Colin Matassa.

While there's been a "big increase" in seed sales, Matassa said they've been able to keep up with the demand and are restocking seeds weekly and ordering new varieties.

Some of his customers, Matassa said, have told him directly that "because of all the tariffs and everything going on" they're trying to grow more of their own food.

Kushwaha said he can't be sure the uptick at Gaia Organic Seeds is related to the ongoing trade war, but he noted they did see an "extreme spike" in sales after March 4, the date that U.S. President Donald Trump's widespread tariffs went into effect. 

Trying to be more self-reliant

Nash is lucky enough that the cost of groceries isn't a concern for her family yet, so she also shares the produce from her garden with her neighbours.

She's been gardening "off and on" throughout her life and maintains a 25-by-45-foot garden at her home outside Carleton Place, Ont.

"I'm growing a lot more greens [this year]. I'm growing celery for one of the first times ever," she said.

Her garden will also include strawberries, raspberries, asparagus and beans — all of which she would typically buy from a U.S. farm at the grocery store.

Her plan is to can or freeze any produce that doesn't get eaten to keep for the winter months, Nash said, something she "didn't really do before" the trade war. 

"It feels more necessary than it did previously," she said. "It's important for us to know where our food is coming from, but also know how to sustain ourselves should it be needed."

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