I’m devoting more time to my garden than ever before. It’s mostly due to coronavirus keeping me home.
Covid-19 changed Sarah Hoblitzell’s gardening plans as well. She’d intended to grow lots of plants as she usually does, and sell seedlings and later produce at local farmers markets.
“When the COVID hit, the idea of selling at the farmers market went out window a bit,” Sarah said.
Markets haven’t opened as usual, but people’s interest in gardening spiked.
With help and support of Sam from Morgantown’s Sam’s Plants and Jamie Knotts of Dellslow’s Breakiron Hill Greenhouse, Sarah came up with a particularly fun business model, which she operates in Masontown to supply plants to experienced gardeners and beginners alike.
In addition to creatively selling plants she grows at home, Sarah continues to donate extra plants to the Friendship House community garden, a tradition for her. She also donates plants and containers to a potted garden for local homeless citizens in a tent city (approved by the landowner).
Sarah strives to support the tradition of community members growing their own food during difficult times. She advertises her business, Bee Run Botanics, as inspired by historical victory gardens, offering garden kits, curated collections and individual plants.
“If you want a variety, you have to invest so much money in seeds,” Sarah said, adding that most gardeners don’t need the 50 cucumber seeds in a whole pack to grow just a few plants, or to buy full packs for all the other plants they want to grow.
So she assembles themed plant kits: Fiesta Fields includes seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, as well as seeds for cilantro, cucumbers, greens and onion sets. Sarah planned this kit around a favorite gazpacho recipe.
Other kits are Pizza Patch and Grandma’s Garden. “They come in different sizes,” Sarah said, explaining that small kits are the right size for patio container planting, the medium fills a 4×8 raised bed, and the large works well for four 4×8 beds.
The kits are geared toward beginning gardeners, with growing, care and harvesting instructions in addition to recipes.
Bee Run Botanics curated collections include a medicinal herb collection, a hot pepper collection, and a three sisters (corn, beans and squash) collections.
“I do all organic practices, not all my seeds are organic, but they are all non-GMO,” Sarah said. “There were some things I couldn’t get [organically] that I really wanted to grow.” She noted huckleberries as one example.
To avoid spreading pests, she sprays all plants with neem oil just before delivery or shipment.
“If you buy a kit, I will help as much as I can to advise and trouble shoot throughout the gardening season,” Sarah said. Later in the season she hopes to offer canning and produce preserving workshops (in-person or virtual depending on public health).
Sarah said she grows a few favorites every year. “I have an obsession with hot peppers, so I always have and always start a huge variety of hot peppers,” she said, adding “I love ground cherries — I plant them every year; my kids absolutely love them.”
With a surge in backyard planting, there will probably be lots of local children and adults who enjoy fresh produce. Sarah said, “the idea of food shortages, that kind of panic people are feeling is fueling a lot of this,” adding “I don’t like the idea of people gardening out of fear.”
She hopes they find joy in growing their own food, and continue gardening after these tough times and fear have past.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, exploring possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County.
