Friday, March 4, 2022
CapitalPress.com
9
Ed Hume: Seed of an idea takes root
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
Humeseeds.com
Ed Hume is well known for his gardening expertise and his seeds.
eral manager and designer
of several new stores for
another company.
“It just seemed a natural
fi t when I was off ered radio
and TV spots and newspa-
per columns, but it was a
real challenge,” Hume said.
“During this time, Myrna
and I got married and then
we had two kids and within
a period of about eight years
— in 1977 — we started the
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seed company.
“Of course, we started
it as an income source, but
the main reason was that
many of the seed varieties
being written about or pro-
moted as must-haves at the
time weren’t readily avail-
able to the public and it was
our attempt to bring those
to the market,” Hume said.
“Our seed line is specially
selected for short season
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and cool climate areas, the
bulk of it grown on the West
Coast, many of the vegetable
seeds produced right here in
Oregon and Washington.”
The seeds are packaged
onsite using Boston-made
Ballard machines from
1885. Hume ended up pur-
chasing the company 15
years ago and has 21 work-
ing machines, about 10 cur-
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PUYALLUP, Wash. —
Ed Hume’s line of garden
seeds, sold in 1,000 garden
centers across six states, is
a mere slice of the man’s
contribution to the world of
gardening.
Hume, of Puyallup,
Wash., has spent the bulk
of his adult life talking and
gardening on TV and radio,
as an international guest
speaker and prolifi c writer.
He has written col-
umns for many newspa-
pers, including the Seattle
Times and Seattle Post-In-
telligencer. His seven books
include a children’s book,
“How to Plant a Bunch of
Stuff .”
For years Hume was
heard weekly on the radio
shows “Gardening with
Ed Hume” and “Weekends
Around the Northwest.”
Five years ago his television
show, “Gardening in Amer-
ica,” received the highest
award from the Northwest
chapter of the Television
Academy of Arts and Sci-
ences — an Emmy — for
his 50 continuous years in
the television industry.
“We are the only garden-
ing television program that
has ever received this award,
because we are the only
one that’s lasted that long,”
Hume said. “We’ve been
really fortunate; most gar-
dening TV shows last about
two to fi ve years.”
The show has aired on
major U.S. television net-
works and on Japan’s lead-
ing television station, with
Hume’s voice dubbed in.
It all began when Hume,
fresh out of high school, was
hired by one of the largest
retail nurseries in Washing-
ton. He steadily rose in the
ranks and was soon hired
away as a store manager for
another large garden cen-
ter and then served as a gen-
rently in use packaging the
2022 crop. Kids love to see
them in action on spring
tours of Hume’s garden.
Though now run by the
electricity generated by
solar panels on the ware-
house roof rather than pow-
ered by steam, these turn-
of-the-century workhorses
are still in use across the
country.
Hume only sells fresh
seeds; those not sold are
donated to Third World
countries.
“The charities only
wanted vegetable seeds, but
one year our fl ower seed
was mistakenly included
in the shipment sent to the
overseas charities,” Hume
said. “About a year later,
the head of World Concern
called me.
“When the seed fi rst
came, he’d intended to call
me about the mix-up but
decided the fl ower seed had
been sent to them for a pur-
pose and set about for some-
thing to do with it,” Hume
said. “They sent the fl ower
seeds to Mexico where they
love color.
“They grew them and
sold the cut fl owers on the
streets and ended up making
more money than they could
with vegetables.”
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