Finding silver-linings during the Covid-19 pandemic has been very beneficial for lifting my spirits. Fortunately, I have found several silver linings both personally and professionally.
On a personal level, the lack of work-travel has allowed me to spend more time at home, growing a small veggie and herb garden on my patio, and cooking quite a bit more with the fresh produce I’ve been growing. (OK full disclosure: I also supplemented with produce from our trial sites and regular purchases from a local farm.)
Professionally, the silver linings are quite similar. There has been a HUGE increase in vegetable and herb gardening, and more folks are cooking at home. What’s perhaps even more exciting is that these trends are expected to continue and potentially grow in 2021.
According to the “2021 Garden Trends Report” (Garden Media Group, 2020), 67% of adults in the United States are growing or plan to grow edible plants! Many of these gardeners are first-timers; many of them are young; and many who want to grow their own food don’t have any outdoor space to do so. We now have a wonderful option to service these consumers with PanAmerican Seed’s line of Kitchen Minis vegetables.
Photo courtesy of Cheni Filios, vegetables product line manager
The Kitchen Minis collection consists of tomato and pepper varieties that consumers can grow inside or out. These are meant to be sold in small pots (4-8 inch depending on variety) that a consumer can grow on a sunny countertop, windowsill, or outside on a patio table or in a window box. Kitchen Minis plants are sold not only with fruit emerging on the plant, but ideally they should have a few ripe fruit, essentially making these ready-to-harvest straight away. When properly cared for, the plants will produce fruit for several weeks, at which point a consumer can go back and buy more “living produce” that can be incorporated into tasty homemade meals.
Photo courtesy of Cheni Filios, vegetables product line manager
Photo courtesy of Cheni Filios, vegetables product line manager
Be sure to ask your Ball Seed sales representative or Ball ColorLink team member about these varieties for year-round opportunities with vegetables. Kitchen Minis provides a great opportunity for consumers to "grow their own" even without garden space. No garden? No problem.
About the author:
Josh Kirschenbaum is the vegetable sales account manager for PanAmerican Seed. He is stationed in our West Chicago office. For more information on Kitchen Minis and how to grow them visit www.panamseed.com.