"When does gardening become farming?"

"When does gardening become farming? When are you no longer having dinner parties and running a restaurant instead?"

This question come to us via the Editorial Reviews for Elliot Coleman's book, "The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses". What are 'deep organic technique's"? I have no idea, but will have to read the book to find out. It won't be long before some customers ask us at the garden center, and I want to have an answer.

Elliot's book is a best seller,#9 at Amazon.com under gardening and horticulture. It's really an eye opener for myself to check out what's selling at the "bookstore". Just above Elliot's books at #8 is "Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables", and right after at #10 is "Marijuana Grower's Handbook: Your Complete Guide for Medical and Personal Marijuana Cultivation".

If you're in the business of selling to gardeners it's important to know what they are up to. We talked earlier about Dig, Drop, and Done (the bulb industries attempt to appeal to "real" people). Yes, I can see the ladies at Dig, Drop, and Done talking about how they use "deep organic technique's" when gardening. The campaign for the bulbs is of course aimed at non-gardeners. It's an attempt to get people interested in a subject they might never have had an interest in before, planting bulbs. Are we advertising to the wrong people?

Let my next customer be someone who is interested in "deep organic techniques" and not someone looking for bulbs to "dig, drop, and done." "The deep organic technique" person is someone who is already interested in the subject, has a willingness to try new things, and likely will be in the store time and time again to continue their learning. The whole Dig, Drop and Done campaign predicates a person who, once done planting those bulbs is DONE. No more trips to the garden center.

In an attempt to "rescue" gardening from the continuing decline in interest amongst the general population we miss the people who are already fired up about the garden. It will take a change in our thinking about our customers. Who are we attempting to attract and why? Give me one customer who is interested in "deep organic techniques" over 5 who just want to "be done".

Now I'm off to learn about those "deep organic techniques." Got to try and stay one step ahead of my customers.

Growing your own is in, and will be for awhile.

I was asked by a Master Gardener in the Sacramento area for some insight as they are re-modeling their demonstration

garden. They ask, "will vegetable gardening continue to be popular with the general public? I’ve read pros and cons, but most of the cons have been from ornamental-type folks."

My answer is based on where we do business and the economics of our area, the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in northern California. Right now we have an unemployment rate of 12%.  With that kind of rate you can well imagine that ornamental plantings are the last thing on people's minds. Some "well to do" types in The Bay Area and Sacramento may be doing some landscaping, but for all intents and purposes landscaping is dead. Nurseries and garden centers that catered to the landscape trade are suffering, or out of business. I talked to a sales representative who was lamenting who it seems every month brings another nursery closing, and one less customer. This will continue. There are just to many nurseries and garden centers still hanging on. There is not enough business to keep them all afloat.

Right now and for the foreseeable future we are focused on consumables, and smaller container sized perennials and annuals. People still want to dress us their gardens with color, but are looking for less expensive choices that give maximum impact. Container gardening is still poplar and flowers cheer people up. What they are not planting is landscape trees and shrubs. Why go through the expense when you don't even know if you'll be in your overly mortgaged home for long. I know a number of avid gardeners who have had to walk away from their homes and gardens, and are in no mood to replant now.

Once people settle down and get their finances in order they will have a better handle on how to move forward. I just cannot imagine a quick return to fully landscaped outdoor entertainment centers, complete with outdoor rooms, throw pillows, and big screen TV. People will create their own versions of the outdoor living space which more likely will include vegetable plants, medicinal plants, and cool spaces to enjoy them. "Since we cannot afford to eat out let's eat in and invite our neighbors over for a meal constructed from our garden." It' s the combination of growing and eating that will inspire people going forward. There is a wealth of heirloom vegetables that we have not even become familiar with yet. Fruit trees that are just now becoming popular, and fruit varieties many people have forgotten about. Growing, and eating the fruits of our labors excites me, and I believe many others.

For the Master Gardeners wondering how to redesign their demo gardens I would say an emphasis on low water use plants, both natives and Mediterranean plants would be in order. Not just because they make more sense here in our climate, but also they will take less effort to care for as people will be spending more time in the food-producing aspect of the garden. Look back at the old missions of California and you see a landscape based on a lack of summer water, and an emphasis on using that water for growing food. The grow your own consumables is fulled in part by food cost, but more than ever on food safety. You cannot underestimate how concerned people are about what is in, and being put on their food. Want to make sure it's safe? You have to grow your own.

There was a nice post at from Susan Harris at Garden Rant today concerning Thomas Jefferson's garden at Monticello. Jefferson grew all sorts of vegetables and fruits in his garden. Always experimenting and trying something new he kept copious notes of his work. It an interesting read and the way forward for many of us who find ourselves looking for inspiration in the garden. Always experimenting, trying new things, and growing most everything he needed in his garden. From the post, "as an eater, Jefferson chose mainly vegetables, using meats as condiments.  For salads he planted lettuces and radishes every two weeks throughout the growing season.  And get this - to produce a suitable salad oil for all those salads, he grew his own sesame.  His favorite cooked vegetable was the pea, of which he grew 23 varieties." Meat's as condiments, and greens the main course sounds like a diet for modern times as well.

You can feel it

You can feel it.  There is a growing sense that our food supply, while generally safe and the envy of the world, is fraying at the edges. With cost going up, E coli outbreaks, food shortages, etc. it’s enough to make you want to grow your own. It all sound so wonderful. Your garden producing an abundance of organically grown, safe food, harvested fresh for dinner. The problem is the vast majority of people just don’t have the skills necessary to do it themselves.

Where does one gain the skill necessary to grow the families’ food crop? If you have to think of that for awhile, and still cannot come up with an answer here’s what you could do. Start a garden center. Not you typical garden center filled with flowers, shrubs, trees, and lawn seed, but a place where the community can gather to learn the best methods for feeding their families. Every community needs a trusted resource for something this important. If your local Master Gardeners, garden center, or box store are not doing it, I believe you have a business opportunity.

There is a new type of garden center emerging to meet the challenges of feeding our families. It’s something of a hybrid between the old fashioned seed supply or farm supply, and nursery. There tends to be less emphasis on flowers and ornamentals, and more emphasis on edibles. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for nurseries that specialize in flowers or ornamentals. There just won’t be as many going forward. The ones that do make it, like Annie’s Annual’s have built a following for unique plants found at few other places. They have a niche that would be hard to compete with. Since they are the leader in that niche better not to compete with them, but come up with a completely different niche you can excel in.

The niche for us in our area going forward is consumables. Since we are in a rural area having a gorgeous front yard is less important than in other more suburban, or rural areas. It would be a good idea to look in your area of influence and see if the niche for supplying information and supplies for consumables is open. The time is coming when every community will have a trusted resource for this important aspect of our lives. When you are dealing with peoples food supply they tend to become serious gardeners. Serious gardeners listen and learn.

To meet our goal we have started planting fruit trees in our display gardens. We’re dedicating a 25 x 35 area to high density fruit tree gardening. In that small area we will be growing upwards of 20 different fruit trees. Once the fruit orchard is complete we will build a demonstration vegetable garden. We have the space for it and people need to see what it is that we talk about. These demonstration gardens will be used for workshops where you can learn how to feed your family with food you have grown.

There will always be a place for flowers and ornamentals. We are still providing perennials, annuals, shrubs, and trees. We just won’t be carrying the same stuff you get at the box store. Want a bunch of growth-regulated marigolds? Not from us. Need northern California native plant’s, we have them. Need weed and feed? Not from us. Need organic fertilizers that will nourish your plants, we have that. Want to work with an un-interested nursery person who is only working there because they provide medical insurance? Not here. Looking for an enthusiastic expert that really cares about your success, then you have come to the right place. No one else is doing this in our area so we are jumping in. Is anyone doing this in your area? If not, you might be able to build a business around this idea. The “home grown” movement is going to grow exponentially as more and more food chain concerns arise. This is only the beginning.

The gardening market has changed

While I was at The ANLA Clinic earlier this year we listened to a man (can't remember who), who said many

garden centers are too big, and have to much inventory on hand for the current situation. Someone in the audience said that they needed the extra plants so as to be able to make nice displays. Whether they need the plants to  sell or not, they we're going to keep ordering so they could make nice displays. This surprised me as I have over the last couple of years decided that we would only carry what sold. Sounds simple doesn't it?

I wonder how many stores still order based on what they believe a nursery should carry, as opposed to what works these days. Bulbs? Didn't carry them this year. You know what, we didn't have to put the majority on sale before they sprouted in the boxes this year. Sure a few people we're disappointed we didn't carry them, but not that many. Actually we told our locally owned competition we we're not going to carry bulbs this year, and would send people over to them. They ordered extra, and you know what? They are still trying to get rid of them, and they are on sale.

Somehow a balance needs to be achieved between the notion of a garden center, and the reality. I have a friend who was in the nursery business for over a quarter century. He told me you couldn't be a proper nursery and not carry roses.  How many nurseries continue to carry large selections of roses only to put a large portion on sale at the end of the season? The darn deer eat them here, and as such the demand is not great like other more suburban areas. We don't carry roses. Haven't looked back.  I would expect that the Christmas season is like that for many of us. The problem is most of that Christmas stuff never sells, and ends up in the back room waiting to make an appearance the following year. I realize some stores do a bang up Christmas season, but the majority do not.  If Christmas season continues to be a loss, maybe it would be better to just close for a month or two during the winter?  Your nursery may do a great job during the Christmas season. Keep it up!

I have a feeling that this year is going to be another tough one for the trade. Especially here in California where fundamental problems are going to keep the economy shaky. If you waiting around for the economy to "improve" so it can be business as usual, you have a long wait. Better to learn to live and thrive in what we are experiencing now.

There are great opportunities for garden centers who can tap into current concerns.  We are focused on consumables, and the products needed to be successful in your pursuit, such as organic fertilizers and pest controls. Even more important we have the knowledge to help you do it right. Perennials and annuals in smaller sizes are still great sellers.  We keep varieties not usually found at the box stores. Native plants are a niche no one does well in our area, so we now have a great selection of natives from our partner, Lotus Valley Natives. Indoor and hydroponic gardening has been huge for us. Another thing the box stores don't do well, yet. Find your niche and build on that. The traditional garden center market is no longer there.