Say goodbye to the "Early Girl" Tomato?

Seems that some varieties of seed my be in short supply now, and in the future. Reading the Capay Valley Farm Shop web site we find they had difficulty in sourcing Early Girl Tomato seeds this year. According to the web site, "Our suppliers were saying that Seminis, the holder of the Early Girl patent, seemed to be antagonistic towards selling seeds in small lots, and seemed to no longer be servicing the organic market. Although a standard for the truck farmer and the home garden, the Early Girl apparently wasn't as good for the supermarket in which tomatoes are picked ‘mature green’ and ripened in a CO2 room. As the story continued to unfold, we found out that seeds for one of our favorite melons, the Ambrosia melon, were also impossible to find."

Seminis was purchased by Monsanto in 2005 for $1.4 billion. The Capay Valley Farms website continues, "At the time of its purchase, Seminis controlled 40% of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20% of the world market. Seminis didn't just sell seeds, they also had a very strong in-house breeding program, supplying the genetics for 55% of the lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75% of the tomatoes, and 85% of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas."

These large companies see no profit in selling seed to smaller operations, so often they drop the varieties least profitable for them. Remember that Early Girl is a hybrid, and as such the seed is created each year from crossing the pollen of two different varieties. Since Monsanto owns the rights to the seed they can stop producing it any time they like. If you like Early Girl tomato you may just be out of luck. What happens when giant seed houses like Seminis and Monsanto decide to make changes like this?

We're about to find out.

Thanks, and good luck!

What can you say about a company that lays off employees after they return from lunch? No advance notice, just "Thanks, and good luck". Plantation Products out of Norton, Massachusetts recently bought Ferry-Morse Seed, a company founded in 1856. According to WSPD's website,"a large employer lets almost everyone go and the community can't believe how they did it. Employees returned to the job after lunch only to learn they no longer have a job. It happened just after noon Friday at the 53-year-old Ferry Morse Seed Factory in Fulton, Kentucky." Who is Plantation Products? According to their website they, "can be found throughout the United States in national chains such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Osco Drug, Ace Hardware, TruValue Stores, and at many regional outlets." Ferry-Morse has been a box store staple for awhile so the two companies will likely fit well together. Seems they could have handled the employee concerns better. "Thanks, and good luck?"

We do not sell, or intend to sell products owned by these companies.

The future of garden bio-diversity is in our hands

The future of garden bio-diversity rests in the hands of thousands of amateur gardeners. As the large concerns continue to hybridize and focus on the "best sellers", other more unusual varieties are shut out, and potentially lost. It's through the efforts of individuals, and the ability of The Internet to connect people that many varieties will be saved.

According to sfgate.com, "Moon & Stars" Watermelon "was introduced in 1926 by Peter Henderson and Company, the melon had disappeared from the commercial market for decades and was thought extinct when, in 1981...Kent Whealy, cofounder of Seed Savers Exchange, was contacted by Merle Van Doren of Macon, Mo., who was growing the melon and gave Whealy some of the seeds from the melons he grew. The Southern Exposure Seed Exchange re-introduced the oblong 'Amish Moon & Stars'".

The variety was thought extinct. The efforts of a couple of people saved the variety, which is now sold by many seed houses. What other varieties of fruit, vegetables, or flowers would be lost if not for the efforts of a few people? Now with the connective qualities of The Internet, we can share these rare seeds for future gardeners. It's really quite exciting. The future of gardening is in the hands of  individuals working together.  I think it's in good hands.

The Lorax and IHOP want you to plant trees

Have you heard about the IHOP and The Lorax Sweepstakes? If you haven't you can, "visit any participating IHOP (resturant) starting February 20. Kids 3-12 get a free Lorax bookmark (while supplies last).  Plant the tree seed paper on the bookmark and help IHOP plant 3 million trees. Seed paper contains an evergreen mix of Blue Spruce and Canadian White Pine which may grow 20-40 feet wide. May be planted in a container to minimize size."

The Lorax is the children's book written by Dr. Seuss that, "chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler." The Lorax Movie is being put out by Universal pictures who has partnered with IHOP to make as much out of it has they can. There is a sweepstakes and a couple of links to help you either,  "be more friendly to the environment" or "hug a tree, and have it hug you back."

Is this a worthwhile project? Some of my colleagues feel that it's a positive. Anything we can do to get people interested in trees and the outside world is good.  Hopefully they might come into the nursery asking for advice. Others feel giving away seed of trees that don't grow well in our climate (California) only sets people up for disappointment.  The idea that these trees can really be kept in a container to "minimize size" is not practical, either.  Is this the  classic question of the ends justifying the means? Perhaps  a child inspired by the movie and the potential trees that come from such tiny seeds is worth it? Or is this just a case of a couple of huge companies trying to capitalize on the Eco-movement, and nothing more? A little of both?

Authenticity vs. fiction in the garden

The Dig, Drop, and Done Bulb Ladies post sure hit a nerve. As a juxtaposition I want tell you about another company that

is creating buzz in a different way. Baker Seed is a company I have written about before in a post called "Closed on Saturdays". Baker seeds is a Missouri company that specializes in hard to find heirloom seed. Jere Gettle and his wife Emilee started the business in 1998 and it has grown since. They recently opened a "Seed Bank" in an old bank building in Petaluma, California. They are closed on Saturdays, which in retail is almost unheard of. Most amazing they have organized the first National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa California in September.  The list of people attending and speaking is impressive with Alice Waters, Dr. Vandana Shiva, and others. The expo has events, a trade show featuring 250 natural vendors, and demonstrations. I want to go! Let me get this straight, it took a young couple from Missouri to come to uber hip Santa Rosa in The Bay Area to put this on? Why hadn't it been done before?

While at The IGC show in Chicago last week I had a chance to meet Jere Gettle. While standing in front of their simple booth someone commented on the "old time" clothes the people in the booth we're wearing. I was told, "they dress like that all the time". In other words they are authentic, unlike the Dig, Drop, and Done Ladies. That's why I was attracted to their booth and company. These people are real, and are offering you a way to grow a lifestyle based on authenticity and self-reliance. They are even closed on Saturday's (religious reasons), yet it doesn't seem to hurt their business. They actually inspired me to close my nursery on Sunday's (not religious reasons).

So how is it that a young couple from Missouri can create this kind of buzz just being themselves, and the bulb industry feels the need to come up with a group of fictional characters to sell bulbs? What's going on here? People will respond to authenticity. We have become jaded to the constant barrage of phoniness and migrate to companies that are truthful and authentic. Perhaps if the Dig, Drop, and Done Ladies we're real people it might be more effective.  In addition The Bakers are offering a lifestyle based on the growing of pure food. The Dig, Drop, and Done Ladies are offering a quick fix so they can continue their "lifestyles" outside of gardening. The garden is a second thought with The Ladies, the garden is the main event with the Bakers.

These days people are desperate for a authentic, hopeful message. If you give people the tools and knowledge needed they will respond. We underestimate the amount of work people are willing to put into their garden IF they are inspired. Let's quit trying to make gardening "easier". Let's be truthful about the work and rewards of gardening and we might create a new "passionate gardener".

The fresh wind's of change in garden retail

Where is the future of garden retail? I don’t know about you, but I am so tired of reading about multi-generational,

multi-million dollar a year, Independent Garden Centers (IGC’s). Yes they are to be congratulated for lasting, and thriving in today’s market. It’s just my interest’s lie in the edges, not in the middle where most of these larger operations reside. They are successful, but few new and exciting ideas come from the middle. Give me the smaller, even micro business model where entrepreneurs have to be bold to make it.

The future of garden retail is bright, but not for all. The retail garden centers that are still operating like it was the mid 90’s are not going to be around much longer. You know the ones. Un-interested sale’s staff, boring selection, been there forever, and ain't going to change any time soon. Well they will when they have to have their final sale, but that is still a year or two away. But let’s focus on the bright future of garden retail.

Our nursery group has some heavy hitters as members, but also a huge collection of smaller and micro-sized operations. What I love about these places is they so often have to put it all on the line. They are start-up’s, and if you have ever started a company it’s a scary thing. It causes you to focus on what’s really important, and generally your passion is what carries you through the first few years. We need more passion in our businesses, and in gardening in general.

We just had a new member join our group from Canada. Sarah Hemingway from Sarah’s Kitchen Garden in Ontario has a small nursery that sell’s seedlings for the kitchen garden. She say’s, “I have a passion for growing food and helping other people learn more about it. This business venture is an extension of regular life for me! The more I learn, the more I want to share – with as many people as possible.” Apparently she even has helper monkey’s running around.

She has a couple things going for her that stand out. She say’s, “This business venture is an extension of regular life for me!” Good, because no matter what you think, as soon as you take the dive into this trade it becomes “your life”. She also has, “a passion”, which will serve her well in the years to come. She also wants’ “to share”, which is really the core of what we do. Share ideas, and hope our customers will like what we have shared, and maybe want to take home the items, or ideas we are sharing. It’s a tough business, but it’s heartening to see new people getting involved without the pre-conceived notions of what garden retail is.

I love places like Sarah’s. Our nursery group has many places that are a lot like Sarah’s, and people who exemplify the new era of garden retail. It’s about sharing ideas without worrying whether someone is going to “steal” your idea. It’s about support for each other as we find our way forward in this new retail landscape. It’s about the freshness of a new business, or an older business re-inventing itself. It’s about looking at the other side and having to make a leap of faith, and then jumping. There is no one to catch you if you fall. You can however, get up, dust yourself off, and try a different approach. But you will still need to make that jump. To all the people dreaming of, or actually doing garden retail, here is hoping you at least make the jump. We need more people making that leap of faith. Sometime's, if your lucky,  you  never even have to land.

Super Atomic Energized Seed

Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words. I came across this photo at The Popular Science website POPSCI, The Future Now. The article deals with the time in the 1950's and 1960's when, "scientists bombarded plants with gamma radiation hoping to see beneficial changes in the plants’ structure and yield. " Long before GMO's we're in the headlines, "entrepreneur C.J. Speas and Englishwoman Muriel Howorth, who started the Atomic Gardening Society to promote mutated varieties" sold irradiated seed.  "Johnson describes a dinner party in which Howorth served 'NC 4x,' North Carolina 4th generation X-rayed peanuts that were produced from seeds exposed to 18,500 roentgen units of X-rays. After the party, Howorth planted the irradiated seeds and they grew like magic beanstalks." The photo of the Super Atomic Energized Seeds you see is what fascinated me. A signpost from a time not that long ago.

The article lead me to the garden history girl blog, written by Paige Johnson. A little about Paige from the blog "Pruned". Paige "works as a nanotechnology researcher at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma. When not inventing new ways to fabricate nanobatteries and other advanced materials, she moonlights as an independent scholar of garden history." I would say she is moonlighting, as she has a Masters degree is garden history!

Paige writes another great blog dear to my heart, Playscapes. Growing up the son of a Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of San Carlos I spent a lot of time in playgrounds. My fathers job was to facilitate new parks for the city as well as maintaining the current ones. Paige started her blog, "because it's difficult to find non-commercial playground information. And I find that frustrating. Because a playground doesn't have to cost a million bucks and come in a box. In fact, it's better if it doesn't. Because playgrounds are under-recognized as an artistic medium. Because everybody loves a playground."

I found Paige's answer as to why she got into Playscapes fascinating. From the blog Pruned she say's, "At a very fundamental level, many nanotechnology problems are about the creation of appropriate spaces. There are load of

papers published on new whiz-bang nanostructures, which one might think of as objects or sculptures. They're pretty and all, but what we need is negative-space structures, spaces that are architectures not sculptures, spaces that can be 'inhabited', and comparatively few people are working on that. These are things my study of design helped me understand, which has led to a patent for a hollow nanostructure, and another application for one that inhabits the hollow space." Wow!

Looking for something a bit different in the garden world? Paige Johnson's two blog's, Garden History Girl, and Playscapes should fit the bill.

Closed on Saturday's!

Companies that go against the status quo and are successful fascinate me. In retail there are assumptions made that are considered untouchable if you want to be successful. In the garden center biz one assumption is that to capture the maximum number of shoppers you need to be open 7 days a week. If someone works all week then you have Saturday or Sunday to be open for them. If your closed they may very well head to the competition. A company I have watched before was highlighted today at gardencentermagazine.comBaker Creek Heirloom Seed is a Missouri company that specializes in hard to find heirloom seed.  I first found out about this company from  their fantastic seed catalog. According to their web page, "Jere Gettle always had a passion for growing things, and at age 3, he planted his first garden. Ever since that day, he wanted to be involved in the seed industry. So at the age of 17, he printed the first small Baker Creek Heir­loom Seed catalog in 1998. The company has grown to offer 1,400 varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs—the largest selection of heirloom varieties in the U.S.A."

In 2009 they decided to open a seed store in, of all places Petaluma, California. They bought a 1920's bank building and started "The Seed Bank". Here in the heart of The Bay Area and uber-hipness the company brought in Amish workers in traditional clothing to renovate the building. The company wanted to create an old time feeling with their business. To really set the tone they did something that is out of ordinary in retail, yet wen't right along with their beliefs. They are closed on Saturday! They do it for religious reasons, so their is no questioning them about the loss of business they might experience because of this. It's just the way it is. Their hours of operation are M-F 9:30 to 5:30 pm closed Sat. and open Sunday's, 9:30 to 4:00.

You can do this if you have something that nobody else carries. They "offer over 1,200 varieties of heirloom seeds, garlic, tools, books, and hundreds of local hand-made gifts and food items. Remember—everything we offer is pure, natural, and non-GMO!" If you want to choose amongst the largest selection of non-GMO heirloom seed's in a retail store, this is it. You'll work around the Saturday closing. The moral of the story is, carry what people want in a way no one else is doing.

As the world continues to change faster than we can keep up, people enjoy looking back to the old day's when things seemed simpler. This new store touches all the right points. Old bank building, lots of seeds, no GMO, people who are passionate about what they do, give back to the community, and live a life devoted to something bigger than themselves. Something so big they close on the what is usually the busiest day in retail gardening. Does this make them happier? I would hope so.

Instead of getting burned out this year, what if you closed the store for a day during during the week? Even in spring? What if you cut your hours of operation? What if you reduced the size of the nursery to better highlight what you carry? What if you only carried products that you believed in? It's a interesting idea. Live closer to your own beliefs, yet still make the money needed to accomplish your goals? Is is possible? We will see.