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Gardening, raising chickens becoming popular amid pandemic

Self sustainability is important to people right now. Many are taking the extra step and getting backyard chickens.

With the uncertainty that comes with the pandemic, more and more people are looking for ways to be self-sufficient.

Employees at several feed supply stores and farmers co-ops in the Tennessee Valley say they are seeing a huge uptick in backyard farming.

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Slayde Guess works at Marshall Farmers Co-Op. He said, "A lot of people are planting gardens this year, some of them who have never planted a garden before in their whole lives."

Gardening has gotten so popular during the pandemic, people are calling them "Coronavirus Victory Gardens."

Guess says they started to see more people buying seeds and plants right before Governor Kay Ivey issued the first stay-at-home order.

"A lot of things we've heard, you know, they're just like afraid they're not going to be able to go to the grocery store or there's going to be a shortage, mostly that," said Guess. " A lot of people too, they just want something to do at home."

They say they usually order enough seed to get through spring, but they've had to order more to keep up with the demand.

"Normally, we end up having to reorder a few things by this time of the year, June maybe," said Guess. "This year we had to reorder in early April, like I would say in the first week of April, we were almost completely out of seed. I've never had to do that and I've worked here for a long time."

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Self sustainability is important to people right now. Many are taking the extra step and getting backyard chickens.

"I mean it sounds good, but it's work for one thing, and it probably costs a little more, but at the end of the day, you know you have the eggs there and you know where they came from, you know what's in them, so there's upsides to that," said Guess.

If you've been thinking about starting a garden or raising chickens, their advice is to go for it.

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