The soaring cost of living has seen sales of vegetable seedlings double as people try to lower their food bills by growing their own.
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It's a trend that started during the COVID-19 lockdowns but recent price hikes at the supermarket checkout has prompted a resurgence.
Pearson's Nursery, in Allansford in south west Victoria, had sold out of a number of vegetable seedlings on Tuesday morning, but more supplies were coming later in the day for keen gardeners and novice green thumbs.
Manager Michaella Clements, who is also studying sustainability at university, said the trend going forward was homegrown gardens again.
"We've noticed so many customers coming in and they've never grown things before, they don't know how to grow but they can't afford to pay $12 for a lettuce," she said.
"It's crazy. I think honestly it's going to get worse before it gets better.
"My broccoli sales have doubled, my lettuce sales have doubled. Cabbages, cauliflowers, onions - they've all doubled.
"Even asparagus, they've been really popular over the past two weeks.
"Fruit trees have gone crazy."
The story was similar further north in NSW's Riverina where Chaston Street Nursery Manager Phoebie Cheshire, Wagga Wagga, said seedling sales had "almost doubled" in the last couple of weeks alone.
"We've especially seen [an increase] in people after a mixed punnet of lettuce to grow their own considering how much iceberg lettuces cost at the moment," Ms Cheshire said.
"A lot of your normal veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage and spinach are selling really well and have gone up in sales in the past couple of weeks."
She believes inflation has also played a role in pushing more people to grow their own veggies.
Demand has been so high that they have been selling out of a range of veggies, including lettuce.
"Due to the high demand for certain veggies, they aren't necessarily available every week and there is a bit of a delay in getting punnets of seedlings into the store," Ms Cheshire said.
As rising prices force more people to weigh up starting their own veggie patch, Ms Cheshire offered some tips saying it's a great help to the hip pocket and it doesn't have to take that much work.
"You don't have to go all out," she said.
"If you can build a little veggie pot or garden bed at home with a couple of plants in it, that is definitely more budget friendly [than buying veggies from the shops].
"It obviously doesn't beat the convenience of going to the supermarket and buying it, but it does beat the price."
Ms Clements said when COVID-19 first hit, people wanted to become self-sustainable but now they were turning to home gardening to escape the soaring prices of food.
"A lot of people don't have the time to grow things which is why a lot of people just get them from the supermarket but the cost of living - I went to the supermarket the other day and it was ridiculous," she said.
"It's an extra $20 to $30 every time you go there just for your everyday needs now, plus your fuel and everything as well."
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Ms Clements said the nursery was still selling the normal numbers of plants for things like roses and box hedges, but anything edible had doubled.
She said while prices hadn't increased yet, some supplies were starting to go up.
"I have just had a 15 per cent rise on my plastic pots. That will come into effect after the first of July," she said.
"They physically can't make enough."
Warrnambool Community Garden's Julie Eagles said all the plots were being used at the moment, but it was always getting enquiries.
She said people were becoming more aware of the value of growing their own foods, but that used to be more about taste but now it was about cost and being able to save money.
"Grow a few lettuces in your garden and suddenly you've got $100. It's amazing really," she said.