New Zealanders are buying edible plants and seeds in record numbers as they move from buying veggies to growing their own.
Sales have nearly doubled this season and strawberry plants are sold out nationwide.
The Maraenui Urban Renewal Trust in the Hawkes Bay was set up last year, to encourage locals to become self-sufficient through a variety of initiatives including home gardening.
Harry Findlay, from the Trust, says: “if you've got land and it's just sitting idle then why not turn it into a vegetable garden”.
75 percent of Maraenui locals earn less than $30.000 per year and about half of those, less than $20,000.
Harry Findlay says the cost of living is biting hard in Maraenui and even though the Trust gives away free produce, Findlay says it is not enough; families need to create their own gardens or use the Trusts' plots.
“I'll help supervise, we'll provide the plants and they look after it, they water it, they weed it and then they benefit from the produce,” he said.
Kohanga Reo Teacher's aide, Jackie Puna got a box of free produce from the Trust which inspired Puna to transform her backyard into a vegetable patch to grow food for her whanau, kohanga reo students and their families, to use.
“I've asked other people for handouts to help me kind of thing and I thought I've had enough it's time for us to get back into the old days and do it ourselves,” she said.
Edible plants and seeds sales have nearly doubled this season with consumers we spoke to saying they have been turned off high-priced store food for cheaper, home grown, organic produce.
Garden supplier, Hayden Durrant says edible plants are so popular now, he is struggling to keep his shelves stocked but has no strawberry plants at all because there are none left for sale in the country.
“I don’t think it's a trend - I think it's here for awhile to come yet things aren't going to change in the next year I think sales are going to get stronger.”
Past trends have shown the edible plants and seeds markets boom during a recession, so suppliers are expecting to reap a financial harvest from this recession too.
3 News