Millennials in the garden

According to this article in The Telegraph, Monty Don, an English horticulturist and TV host say's we shouldn't waste our time trying to convince Millennials into the garden. According to Don, "I think we put far too much interest in trying to get ten to 20 year olds interested in gardening. I think you should do everything you can to try and get them interested up to the age of 10.” 

I agree. No one pushed me into horticulture, or the garden. My interest developed on it's own without any encouragement from the trade. As Don say's, "When you’re 15 whatever your parents tell you you should do, you’re not going to do it. Any self respecting 15-year-old [will rebel] and so they should."

"I think much better to make sure they have access to it up to the age of 10 and of course don’t take it away at that point, and just let them come.”

The marketing attempts from most of the trade organizations geared towards millennials fall on deaf ears. Millennials will migrate to the garden on their own, if they choose. Likely it will be the realization that in the garden the hope for our future rests. Not with new technology, new media, or slick ad campaigns, but in the garden where one can make a difference that is real and dynamic. Horticulture is the future, and millennials will realize that when they do. 

Another rainy friday

Another rainy day, with more to come. Now we hear that it may rain right through March, which doesn’t surprise this California native. Not so great for business, but in horticulture you have to roll with what Mother nature provides. Seen it rain right through May, and this would be the year it might happen again. This is now our rainiest winter, ever.

Here is a link to Ian Baldwins, “Reading the 2017 Tea Leaves”, concerning the up-coming year in garden retail. I found this quote most enlightening, “simply put, the biggest, most expensive end of the range of almost everything, sold out first. It didn’t matter whether it was wreaths for the front door, ‘everlasting’ Christmas trees or swag for the mantle, the most expensive selection sold out first. The $2000 everlasting tree sold before the $800 one, the new clever lighting set sold before the cheaper one designed five years ago and the biggest table-runners went first.” This has to be evidence from the most wealthy sections of our country? This is not what’s happening in central California outside the Bay Area, at least in my observations. I do wonder if we sometimes forget the part of the state that really hasn’t seen this kind of business. Do these various garden surveys tend to skew towards the more wealthy enclaves in the country?

Here is a video of a young horticulturist and her business in Britain. I like the enthusiasm and the pride of trade she exhibits. We need more young people to take up horticulture, and work in the garden.

Not much going on here at the garden center as it’s raining, and everyone around here is hunkered down waiting out the next storm, which the weather service named “Lucifer”. Sounds like trouble. I’ll let you know.

So you want to be a farmer?

"Roy Skeen is a 32-year-old farmer with a degree in history from Yale University. When he graduated in 2004, he moved to New York to work in investment banking, but he found the work unfulfilling.
 
After a trip to the Caribbean, he discovered his true calling: farming.
 'It exposed me to culture that grows food and lives in one place,' he told CNN. 'It was pretty simple, but it was nice and I liked it.'
 
Skeen moved to his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, and now runs his own urban farm and sells produce at the local farmer's market. He says the work is hard but satisfying."

I have been in the botanical trades for over 30 years. The horticulture trade is quite worried about where the new, young gardeners are going to come from. They didn't garden like their parents, and seemed to show no sign of interest in the garden. Many, many nurseries have closed due to the lack of a younger generation of gardeners taking over from the aging baby boomers. 

That all changed a couple of years ago, and has really hit it's stride this year. The number of younger people, especially young families, that come into the nursery has increased from years past. It's all about growing food, which leaves the ornamental side of the trade still hurting, but we take our pleasures where we can. 

I am not sure where all this interest will take us. For now it's a pleasure to be dealing with a whole new group of interested people. They really want to make it work, and are just discovering how hard, but rewarding it can be to grow food. That's an important part of the movement,  putting people back in touch with how much work is involved from farm to table. As far as making a small farm profitable, that's a whole different set of challenges. Still, it's nice to see so many young people heading back to the garden. 

via:
Mother Earth News
http://bit.ly/1mpMBgJ

#smallfarm  
#horticulture  

The British are worried about horticulture

It appears the British are concerned because, "research has suggested that many teenagers believe careers in the sector (horticulture) are for those who have failed academically." According to The BBC, "72% of horticulture firms cannot find skilled workers, with teens viewing the job as 'unskilled'".

A hopeful sign was the last paragraph from the article. According to a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, "through our 'Future of Farming Initiative' we are working with the industry to help more talented, entrepreneurial young people build careers across the agriculture sector, including horticulture."

Just wording it , "The Future of Farming" is a good start.  We need to show that horticulture also includes the future of what we eat. Then the young people will show more interest. They are not necessarily interested in ornamental horticulture as much their parents we're. If the younger generation can understand that by becoming involved in horticulture they can change the world, then they might show interest. If they think horticulture is only about the perennial beds,  foundation shrubs, or lawn care, we won’t get the interest.

Get them hooked on the food side of horticulture, then the ornamental side may show more promise to them.  And forget about initiatives that are government supported. That will just bog the whole thing down. The trade needs to see what’s happening, and make the changes necessary themselves. Then you'll attract the type of new horticulturists we so desperately need going into the future.

Horticulture is a trade for the future

Spring has arrived here in the mountains of Northern California. The Redbuds have just finished blooming and the native Ceanothus are in full bloom. Customers have returned, and many are anxious to get the garden going. Thank goodness for our trade and our communities that people have taken such an interest in food production. It's a lifeline for some business that had depended on "ornamental" (plants that cannot be consumed) sales in the past.

In my opinion the trend towards bringing food production closer to the end user will intensify. The time will come when even city dwellers will have the option to rent an apartment in a building that, as part of the rental agreement  includes a supply of food grown in the building. We could see the roof utilized when the weather is appropriate,  and when it's not a floor dedicated to the production of food under lights. Who will operate and grow this food? The next generation of horticulturist.

It's a fantastic time to be involved in horticulture. That may sound odd given the number of closing garden centers and suppliers. Make no doubt that the trade is in the throes of huge change. We know that change often occurs during times of social and economic upheaval when the only choice is to "change or die".

It's a trade that's made for the future, once we "in the trade" see that things have changed and doing business the way we learned may not work in this new environment. We must be open to new ideas, as well as new definitions of what it means to be a "gardener". I think the plant businesses that will flourish will be those who recognize this, and not be held back by what we "think" a garden center should be. The key is to look at the change going on around us, and use it as an  opportunity for making things better.

Build your business by building your community

What’s the most valuable asset a garden store possess? The land it sits on? It employees? The merchandise or plants? It’s resale value? I contend the most valuable asset is the garden centers ability to generate and nurture its own enthusiastic customer base. As the cost of producing plants drops, and the quality continues to rise you will find excellent plants even at the mass merchants. Quality will no longer be the exclusive domain of independent garden shops. More and more we find good quality plants available at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, the box stores, Costco, Ikea, and any number of other outlets not traditionally associated with gardening.

A persons initial interest in gardening may be sparked by any number of reasons, but we can no longer expect the interested gardener to shop at a independent garden center or IGC. They are just as likely to pick up their plants at Costco, at a price that can’t be beat. We no longer depend on the natural and societal pressures that compelled many to garden in the past. What we need to do  is to help create a whole new generation of enthusiastic gardeners. This can be accomplished by the smallest garden shop utilizing the power of social media. The ability to communicate with a large number of people “levels the playing field” between the large concerns and the smallest ones.

Once we have helped the new, now enthusiastic gardeners, we will have to nurture them. They won't just show up at the door next year if we don't give them a compelling reason to "keep it up" and reap the benefits. To many other fun or necessary things to do in life to occupy their time. We need to build our own communities of enthusiastic gardeners, and then give them the tools (social media perhaps) to help spread the word.

The Petaluma Seed Bank (which only sells hybrid seeds, no plants) is a great example. What the Petaluma Seed Bank and their owners Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds have done is tap into the zeitgeist of the times. They create their own buzz via their catalog, online presence, and events to keep the gardeners interested. They have both brick & mortar as well as online sales. They are political (anti GMO), and donate time and money to their (and their customers) causes. They grow their own food on their own land (they walk the talk), and then discuss the results and possibilities with their customers. They have created a community of enthusiastic customers who share their love of the business.

We don't just sell plants and fertilizer anymore. We will have to create,organize, and nurture communities of like minded people who share a common goal, or interest. In our case that revolves around horticulture in general, but could also go off in a hundred different niches. Find your niche, and become the best in that world.

The Future of Horticulture

I was asked if their was much of a future in horticulture. They we're interested in whether to pursue it as a career. This is what I wrote back.

The future of horticulture is the future of man. They cannot be separated and as such horticulture will become even more important to our lives in the future. The future for the horticultural sciences has never been brighter. Like many subjects the field is changing rapidly and what worked in the past sometimes does not work in the present. Many of the traditional connections that people made with horticulture are changing. To be successful as an entrepreneur of the horticultural field requires the ability to change quickly as your market changes. No longer is their a set path for anyone to follow.

A whole new generation of gardeners needs education, the tools, and the inspiration to take us further into the 21^st century. The possibilities for producing food closer to those who need it, as well as food safety  will open whole new areas for urban horticulture, hydroponics, pomology, herbology, etc. As more people discover the benefits of plants new ways to utilize them will need to be developed. Miniature gardening, vertical gardening, water gardening, locally supplied flower gardening, and more.

I have never been more optimistic in the power of horticulture to change the world for the better. Many of the traditional players in horticulture are disappearing, only to be filled by new players with different methods.

The Future of Horticulture

Are you interested in the future and horticulture? I am! Having been in the field of horticulture for over 30 years I have seen the rapid changes that going on.  Urban gardening, aquaponics, LED grow lights, hydroponics, plants in space, The Internet, guerrilla gardening, genetically modified organisms (GMO's), rooftop gardening, beneficial plant fungus (Mycorrhiza) , and so much more. Thinking about all this stuff is exciting to me, and perhaps for you.

We located this new community, "The Future of Horticulture" at Google+. If you have an account with Google simply ask to join. If you don't have a Google+ account this would be a great opportunity to join, and learn this newest of media platforms. I found it interesting the the first member to join was a hydroponic shop in San Francisco. I think horticulture has fragmented into many different fields of study. Sometimes these different fields don't realize the others exist. This is a place learn about these different aspects of horticulture, and how they are changing the world.

According to Wikipedia, "horticulture involves eight areas of study, which can be grouped into two broad sections - ornamentals and edibles:

• Arboriculture is the study of, and the selection, planting, care, and removal of, individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants.
• Turf management includes all aspects of the production and maintenance of turf grass for sports, leisure use or amenity use.
• Floriculture includes the production and marketing of floral crops.
• Landscape horticulture includes the production, marketing and maintenance of landscape plants.
• Olericulture includes the production and marketing of vegetables.
• Pomology includes the production and marketing of pome fruits.
• Viticulture includes the production and marketing of grapes.
• Oenology includes all aspects of wine and winemaking.
• Postharvest physiology involves maintaining the quality of and preventing the spoilage of horticultural crops."

How will these different fields of study evolve? Join us in "The Future of Horticulture", and we can find out together.