CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With grocery stores strained and people wanting to avoid crowds, many are looking for fruits and vegetables in their own backyard.

Garden centers are seeing demand for edible plants and seeds as people start their own “pandemic gardens.”

Pike Nurseries said roughly 60 percent of orders going out the door include some kind of edible plant or seed.

Jennifer Graml, a home gardener in Pineville, said she’s planted more vegetables during the stay-at-home order to cut costs while times are tight, avoid the crowds in the grocery store, and help keep her mind off the coronavirus.

“It keeps you busy,” Graml said. “It gets your mind off stuff. It makes it so you're not stuck in the house watching TV and seeing what’s going on.”

Even though garden centers are still open in North Carolina, they are restricted to online delivery and curbside pickup.