The pandemic has led to 20 million new gardeners and an increased demand for seeds and plants produced by the Ball Horticultural Co. in West Chicago. Grown from a tiny seed, this SteakHouse tomato is ready to eat. – Courtesy of Ball Horticultural Co.
Still in the throes of the deadly coronavirus and the pain of pandemic restrictions, we gaze across the bleak, snow-covered tundra of suburbia and imagine what spring might feel like if it mustered the courage to arrive.
That hope of spring has been in the air for months at Ball Horticultural Co in West Chicago.
“The seed we harvested around the world gets processed here and then packaged, and shipped to commercial greenhouses in early December,” says Katie Rotella, spokeswoman for Ball’s collection of breeders, research and development teams, seed and vegetative producers, and distribution companies in 20 countries across six continents.
“An estimated 20 million new gardeners were cultivated in the climate of pandemic restrictions,” Rotella says. “We had a scary time in March when many garden centers shut down. Once they were deemed essential businesses and reopened, sales took off. It was a very good year.”
A desire to eat fresh, healthy foods, avoid trips to the grocery store, save money, reconnect with nature, add some color to your surroundings, and develop a hobby you can do while stuck at home all played into the growth in gardening.
For many folks adhering to the pandemic warnings, there were no trips to restaurants and bars, no vacations, no nights at the theater, no ballgames to attend, no amateur sports teams, no music concerts, and not even trips to the office.
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