Vegetable seedlings and edible, food-producing plants are selling out at Tamworth nurseries

Nurseries and their suppliers are struggling to keep up with an unprecedented level of demand for vegetable seedlings, packets of seeds, herbs and citrus trees.

Peter Heemskerk has spent 53 years running Heemskerk's Nursery on Armidale Road and said he has never sold so many packets of seed.

"As soon as they come in, they're gone," he said.

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Veggie gardens new and old across the region are being filled with winter plants like broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, beetroot and silver beet.

Mr Heemskerk said it's a good time of year to be planting but said he thinks the huge spike in veggie popularity is linked to the coronavirus crisis.

"People are at home and they want to do something in their gardens ... kids want to be entertained, so they can dig a hole and put a few things in," he said.

"It's the price of stuff at the supermarkets too ... people are saying 'bugger it'."

Tamworth Nursery owner Steve Smith said the business had been "caught with our pants down" by the influx of interest in edible plants.

The Phillip Street store has been selling 20 times more winter vegetable seedlings than normal, and Mr Smith said citrus trees are walking out the door faster than they come in.

"Normally I'd do an order every two weeks ... now I order whatever I can," he said.

He has high hopes that people will get into the groove of gardening after this rush and keep their vegetable patch alive and well.

"Hopefully they can establish their vegetable garden and start a behaviour that'll keep them going in future," he said.

"It's a matter of getting it in the ground and keeping the water up ... they'll find good results and find they enjoy it."

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