Seed sales are up 20 to 30 percent at wholesalers such as Irish Eyes Garden Seeds in Ellensburg because of the bad economy and worries about genetically modified crops. Burpee, the world's largest seed company, says it's selling thousands of a $10 "Money Garden" package that it says will grow $650 worth of vegetables.
ELLENSBURG —
Out here on a farm just off Interstate 90, Greg and Sue Lutovsky hear every day how the economy is going.
Not so great for everybody else, excellent for them.
America had its Victory Gardens in backyards during World War II — not just for the food, but also to boost morale.
Now Victory Gardens are making a comeback: the 2009 Recession version.
Sue is the one who answers the phone at the couple's Irish Eyes Garden Seeds, which produces more than 400 kinds of seeds (mostly vegetables), as well as 70 different kinds of potatoes and 25 kinds of garlic.
By some of the questions they get from customers, the couple know these are first-time gardeners.
"We had one person ask us which way the seed goes in the ground," says Sue.
These days, she's handling 100 customer calls a day, and the family business expects to gross $1 million in sales this year. Business is up 20 to 30 percent over last year, both in seeds under its own label and seeds it packages for companies such as Burpee and Park Seed.
The business has a dozen employees packing seeds from shelves full of bins.
In another warehouse, seed potatoes fill big wooden crates, the kind used in apple orchards. Last year, Irish Eyes produced 160,000 pounds of seed potatoes, up from 30,000 the year before.
They've already sold out of six varieties of the tubers.
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