When the organic movement started...

Where do you find young people discussing “pollinating in the greenhouse”, “the effect of planting date on the productivity of telegraph type cucumbers”, “compost tea in plant growing systems”, and “early crop production in unheated 'poly tunnels'”? I'll give you a hint. Here is another story, “hydroponics and feeding the planets hungry”. Yea, I am back on the hydroponics subject we started at the last post.

You don't get this kind of discussion in Garden Design, or Sunset magazine. Remember back in the 70's when the whole organic movement got started? I do. It was considered the realm of hippies growing what they do out in the hills. Nothing for us here. Why would a garden center want to get involved with a bunch of people with no money and some complicated “back to the earth” mantra?

Fast forward to today and we all know that organics is the HOT subject. What happened.? Well the hippies got older and it turns out the organic thing actually works. How many garden centers saw this coming? Very few. The only place you could go and learn about organics was the Mother Earth News or Organic Gardening.

Victor mentioned that he doesn't even think Houston has any hydroponics stores. I checked and there are four! Hap mentions that in Berkley there are 5 hydro-stores in a 10 block radius from his store. Fern mentions that insects are needed for pollination in hydo-systems and because of that most food crops like Tomatoes don't do so well in hydroponics. Guess what, I read about it and pollinating tomatoes is just a matter of “flicking' the flowers to get the fruit to “set”.

So it would seem that this aspect of horticulture is mis-understood. It's believed that everyone involved is “up to something”. They are, and it's not necessarily what you think? Just like the hippies of yesterday todays young people are actively involved in and not listening to “the establishment”. Who is the establishment. US! Those of us in the “industry” who feel this is the way to attract he young. The California Pack Trials are full of this strange thinking. According to Amy's post “One exhibitor even posted a series of banners with a single-line caption on each banner. The first three showed a picture of a woman, and the last one had a picture of a man. The captions went like this: 'She Looks. She Shops. She Buys. He Pays.'” Or how about, “ horticultural consultants tell garden center owners that they should not refer to their customers as 'gardeners' at all anymore. This new generation of customers would be insulted by such a term, as they consider a gardener to be someone who gets paid to work in a garden, and apparently, according to this consultant, that's not a good thing.”

My friends, if you want to watch your garden center slowly become obsolete and out of touch then keep listening to the “experts” that tell us the way to the young people is to “dumb” things down. This is very trendy in the “industry” right now. We are told the young just don't have an interest in gardening. That's not true. They are quite interested in horticulture. The young people that come into my store have great questions about fertilizers and growing plants. As a matter of fact I am excited about the enthusiasm. I don't get questions about the different types of bat guano available from the older crowd. I have started carrying Mexican, Jamaican, and Indonesian Bat Guano, as well as Peruvian Seabird Guano. They are selling! So are all of my fertilizers and soils. Not one bottle of Miracle-Gro in sight!

Get out of the office! The bills will still be there when we get back. There are so many opportunities out there but we are being blinded by the way things have been done in the past. Don't listen to me or the other “experts”. Remember how organic gardening was perceived back in the 70's? None of the experts we're telling us to get involved with that aspect of gardening then, we're they?

Rethinking hydroponics

The business climate out here in northern California is a bit stormy. Talking to a number of other business owners, from fast food chains to insurance brokerage we find ourselves wondering what's next. From what I read California and Florida got hit the worst with the decline in home prices. Considering our shrub and tree sales are down for the year it's now obvious that people we're using the equity in their homes for financing much of their home improvement. Meanwhile vegetable sales we're through the roof along with fertilizers. This would indicate a desire to maintain what's already in the ground rather than a lot of new landscaping.

I took the day off yesterday and visited two hydroponic shops in our area. Both said their business was flat or down. As a nursery person when is the last time you visited a hydroponic business? That's why I went, the need to get out of our business and see what some of the more unconventional players in the garden businesses are up to. Let me tell you I would love to have some of the sales that I watched being made. Fertilizers and soils we're the main things I saw going out the door. Fertilizers you don't generally see in nurseries. Why?

The times they are a changing when it comes to the nursery business. It's important right now that we get out and re-evaluate what we are all about. Why am I letting all those sales go to the hydroponic store? I am sure it's different in various regions but here I was quite impressed in the dollars I saw being made at one of the stores. In the hour I was there the phone never stopped ringing and one person after the other walked in and walked out with expensive fertilizer.

My take on the hydroponic business. It has a reputation that is probably deserved. If you had wanted to get in on the ground floor of that trend you should have started 10 years ago. What I did find out was the competition between these business is thick. These two stores I visited are within two blocks of each other. They are in the midst of a price war on soil amendments. Not good for the bottom line.

I believe that a new era for hydroponics is starting. The time is right for us to delve into this aspect of gardening. First, buying this stuff in a garden center is a much different experience than the hydro stores. I also believe that vegetable gardening is going to become much more a part of this indoor hobby. What could be more self-sufficient than growing your vegetables outside during summer, and then growing fresh, healthy vegetables inside during winter. Sure the electricity for the lights will cost, but with the price of gas reaching close to $5 and the interest in growing and buying local what could be more local than vegetables and herbs grown in your basement? Think about it.

During rough times people look for ways to feel more self-sufficient and not at the mercy of outside forces like the government that declared tomatoes unsafe, and now are backtracking. When you grow you own you have control. This is why I believe that our garden center can utilize this fun way of growing in our effort to help people become more self-sufficient in their garden pursuits.

This year and next are going to watershed years for the nursery businesses in my neck of the woods (northern California). With drought looming, housing crises, gas prices, and government regulations, we cannot afford to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. Great opportunity exists for those who don't let fear and "we have always done it that way" stand in the way. What other aspects of gardening or home improvement are we missing out on because of pre-conceived notions? I'm looking.

The trusted resource.

The lack of water is the biggest issue facing the nursery businesses in California. In the long term our state hasn't built a new reservoir in the last twenty years. While we have certainly come a long way with conservation , with the massive increase in population conservation will not cut it by it self. I don't know if we have the collective will to start a new water project until things become dire, which may be sooner than later. Even if we did, that's a long term solution. Short term we are in the midst of a declared drought with the prospect of extreme water shortages, if we don't get a lot of rain this winter. Remember, it does not rain here again until October! No summer rain. We have a mini drought every year. I remember in the 80's our county baned all new plantings, unless you had a well. Talk about a business stopper.

Here is what we are going to do. Education and outreach now. Don't wait for people to come in looking for drip systems, mulch, drought resistant plantings, etc. We need to let them know now. Education is the key to the small garden centers survival. We have to become the trusted resource for the customer. We need to lead the way when showing how to garden in California. The idea that we can just continue to garden like we live where there is summer rain has to stop. We live in a unique climate, and our gardens should reflect that fact.

We want to be a vital, trusted resource for the gardener. “How can I maintain my landscape during a drought?” We need to offer solutions. Should we be selling redwood trees in the hot interior of the state? We need to help educate so better solutions, like drought resistant Deador Cedars are planted instead of Redwoods. Sure, most well run garden centers do that anyway, but if the suburban neighborhoods being planted around here are any indication, a lot more needs to be done.

The small, local garden center has a huge opportunity here. While the chains and box stores sell plants, and garden supplies at prices that the smaller independent couldn't match, and shouldn't, they have no advantage when it comes to education. Using the mediums available to us we can compete on equal footing with the big boys and girls. We need to have a lot more interactive workshops. We are going to expand our demo vegetable garden so that it can be used to educate, as well as feed us. How about a series of workshops on high intensive gardening held right in the garden at the garden center? “Learn how to grow food organically with our summer series”. See how to plant seed, fertilize, irrigate, harvest, pest control, etc. all while doing these things in the demo garden.

The time is ripe for a whole new activism on the part of the local garden center. Sometimes we in the garden center business are so worried about alienating any customer that we don't take the risks that are needed. “I am so sorry but we don't carry Miracle-Gro, try our Marine Cuisine instead, and here is why it's better.” “We don't sell pop up sprinkler systems, but we have a great drip irrigation system that might save you money on water while making for healthier plants.” You get the idea. Our climate and topography is so different than most places that the new folks who move here are usually perplexed, and go through a long and expensive learning curve. If we can shorten that curve then we have succeeded.

Here is a video of the vegetable garden area at the nursery.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMHytbFrq1A[/youtube]

Hines Nurseries to sell only to box stores?

My post, Hines Nurseries De-Listed from Stock Exchange, August of 2007 is still getting comments! The latest one from Roger-Dodger claims that Hines will be soon be selling only to the box stores. No more sales to independents. That won't bother us, as we long ago decided to not do business with companies that serviced the box store. Now it's going to go the other way, with wholesale companies deciding to eschew the independent for the boxes. According to Roger it won't matter as the company will eventually be sold off. I love this quote, “We did hear that even the Box stores were looooosing $$$ now! It is about time someone did the math, you can’t sell a $4.50 plant to the box store for $3.99 and make money!”

This is part of the fragmenting of the nursery industry we talked about here. Some companies will decide to do business only with the box stores, while others will service the independents. Trying to service both is just about impossible. If you service the box stores you have to price your plants and service accordingly. What independent is going to buy plants from a company that gives a better deal to the boxes? We have a local wholesale company out of Sacramento that tries to do just that. Their plants are in the boxes and at some of my independent competition. Why my fellow independents would support a company that sells the same plants to the boxes at a bigger discount is beyond me.

The nursery businesses are facing some challenging times. The shake ups have only begun! I believe that it will become harder and harder for wholesale nurseries and suppliers to service both the boxes and independents. It's like us independents trying to offer the best service and quality at box store prices, it won't work. Sooner or later you have to decide who your market is and what they want. What the independents and boxes want from the nursery business are two different things. The boxes generally use the garden department as a loss leader, while the independents use the garden department for making a profit and staying in business. Each has it's own customer base with different needs. Wholesale nurseries that try to have it both ways will face more independents like myself who question why we should be supporting their business.

Along that line it's time for wholesale nurseries to start treating their customers (us) a little better. Tell me why I should be doing business with you? Do you offer extraordinary service? Are you sales people really finding out about the needs of their customers? Most don't! Most don't even read my blog. What an insight for them. They just call and ask if we need any plants? It's of course funny how they show up when business slows down in summer. Fair weather friends. Considering how hard we work at understanding and creating relationships with our customers, I don't have the patience for a wholesale business that cannot articulate just why I should be buying from them. They just bounce along like nothing has changed.

"We have Photinia's in one gallon sizes" So what, so does everyone else. What makes your's so special? What makes your company so special? Most don't have an answer.

These are very interesting times.

We love vegetable gardeners.

Will this current interest in growing vegetables and fruit's continue once people realize the work involved? Doug Green has a post on the subject here. His take in a nutshell is the interest in vegetable gardening is fueled by current affair's. ie. fuel prices, mortgage meltdown, etc. Once folks realize the work involved in growing your own the interest will diminish once current affairs change. He's seen it before and so have I. That's OK. Though, as it's important for people to understand just how much work is involved in bringing food to table.

Vegetable gardening is entering a new phase of interest. While the majority of people may loose interest in the long run, there are plenty of people who find growing their own a fun pursuit. It's about being outside, getting exercise, fresh food, and the feeling of self-sufficiency that comes with the knowledge that you can grow your own food. It's also becoming something of a status symbol. Who has the time and money to grow the very best?

As a nursery person I enjoy working with people who take a ongoing interest in their garden as opposed to folks who install a “landscape” and then move on to the next project. People working in the garden visit the nursery more often, their purchases are smaller but more frequent throughout the year.

Things are a bit different here than the rest of the country but our sales of bat guano, alfalfa meal, kelp meal and other obscure fertilizers are better than ever before. Starting this week we will carry Indonesian bat guano, Mexican bat guano, as well as Jamaican bat guano. I would have never though we would have needed these fertilizers. Did you know that some bat guanos are high in nitrogen while others are high in phosphorus? I didn't, but apparently some of my customers do.

Feeding vegetables growing in containers, the video clip.

Here is the latest video on fertilizing vegetables in containers. It's so important to feed vegetables grown in containers.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov_0YlwIVzo[/youtube] Feeding keeps the plant healthy and growing. It also vital for the best tasting fruit. I actually like using a organic based fertilizer that has added micro-nutrients. Here in California we are not allowed to label fertilizer organic if it contains micro-nutrients. How strange. As a matter of fact I am going to cover this strange labeling issue in a later video.

Meet Gordie, The Golden Gecko

Meet Gordie the Golden Gecko. He has a bit of an accent since he is from down under, but he moved to northern California a few years ago and gets along just fine here. He hopes to amuse and educate our customers in how best to enjoy our unique climate and topography. Since he is from elsewhere, like so many others in the foothills, it's easier for him to relate to the unusual gardening conditions here. He is especially fond of Mediterranean plants including our natives. He tends toward organic gardening. I would love to come up with a whole series of informational material that utilizes Gordie's unusual talents, but for now Gordie just wanted to introduce himself.

G'day mates!

Fertilizer sales great in a less than stellar year.

Fertilizer sales for us this year have been huge. We have never sold so much including specialty fertilizers like bat guano, alfalfa meal, bone meal, blood meal, etc. In a year where shrub and tree sales seem flat it's good to see interest in maintaining the plants so high. I would have to guess it's because of all the interest in growing your own food. 80% of our fertilizers are all organic so that has been a plus. Easy to promote. We are expanding the fertilizer section to include more of the specialty fertilizers that we seem to be asked for. In addition the soil amendment sales have been great too. We have sold more full pallets to individual's than ever before, especially the Foxfarm Ocean Forest.

It what has been an underwhelming year overall the fertilizers and potting soils have been very bright. Big ideas for this next year.

Connecting

Wanted to talk about the comment made by Victor Flaherty at my post titled, There is no nursery industry. He has found out it's hard to get people to pool together for advertising. Out of 10 independent garden centers in the Huston area only one, besides his own has committed. Everyone wants to wait and see what happens. This is why it's even harder to get a national campaign together.

He is what I am doing. Writing this blog and getting involved with other bloggers. I have met and talked to people who I would have never conversed with before. This is good as it has opened up worlds of possibilities. Bloggers are a small proportion of the population. Never the less they are some of the most intellectually curious people around. That's why they blog. Same goes for gardening professionals who blog. They are the people I most want to connect with. They will be the ones that have the new ideas that will reinvent what we do for the better.

Because of that I feel that we will connect without much effort. That's what I love about this medium. The unexpected consequences that occur when you just get out and participate. Rather than trying to get a group that will commit on some plan of action, let's organize a group that will allow the free exchange of ideas among like minded individual's.

How to start?

1. Start a blog separate from your customer oriented website or blog. Start one where you can talk about the things that interest or worry you in our businesses. It can be separate from you company website if so inclined. Posting doesn't have to be frequent.

2. Start reading blogs.

3. Link to the blogs you like.

4. Visit blogs that you like. Become involved in the discussions going on and comment when so moved. After a while they may link to your site because you showed an interest, communicate honestly, and they like what you have to say. Sometimes blog owners just forget to tend to the blog roll. If not at that point it's o.k. to ask. There is a new category at my blogroll, "garden center or nursery related websites."

5. Now we are linked together. By visiting Technorati or subscribing to the blogs feed you will be able to keep up on what's going on and who's saying what.

6. Visit the Golden Gecko Garden Forum. Register and use the “Business of Gardening Section” We created it for those of us in the garden businesses.

7. Now let simmer.

I am filled with ideas and hope from the commenter's at this blog. Everyone wants to do something. We are just not necessarily in agreement on what needs to be done. That's fine. The first step has begun, we are beginning to find one another because of our mutual interests. I think the key is just putting ideas out there and seeing what transpires. Everyone wants to speed things up, since we are all getting a little spoiled by the immediacy of the web. This is just the beginning.

Troll + blog + garden center= bad publicity

Do you know what a troll is? No, I am not talking about garden ornaments but rather the Internet type troll. Wikipedia say's, “An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the intention of baiting other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

One of the wonderful things that the Internet is doing is putting the power back into the customers hands. The customer can start a blog and write about their experiences, good and bad. This comes as quite a shock to some nurserypeople, and their first reaction is to strike out at people who are perceived to be unfriendly to the “garden industry”. One person some might perceive to be unfriendly to the “industry” is Amy Stewart, author of Flower Confidential and a blogger at Garden Rant.

Check out this post at Garden Rant, the accompanying photos, as well as the very first comment. This first commenter is the troll. The comment that “ You write about and criticize the garden industry as though you are some sort of expert. The photos shohw an overgrown mess withvast disorganization along with lack of rythum and and ano design talent whatsoever.” Follow the link for the commenter, parsons wayneright and you are sent to Tropic Al's BBQ Review (I left the link to that site out intentionally). I figured the comment was designed to get you to click the link to see who this was, but instead are directed to a web site hoping for business or higher rankings.

When you leave a comment at most blogs a link to your name is created. This way you can see who wrote the comment. If you want to stay anonymous, that's o.k. No link is created. But when you are mis-lead by a false name it makes you feel "fooled" and not likely to return to that site again. Lost business! The false name at the comment doesn't help in a world where just about everything you do online is just a Google away.

Trolling does nothing but make those of us who fall for it, like me, angry. I have known Amy for a few years now. She does not mince words when discussing the horticulture businesses. So what! How refreshing! The fake name with the re-direct to a BBQ website is why I write this. If you want to speak your mind then sign your name. Amy does.

More horticultural enterprises are becoming involved or trying to become involved in the great discussions going on at garden blogs. There seems to be a mis-understanding as to what a garden blog is. I noticed this with the Stepables promotion that was commented on at Garden Rant a few weeks ago. Read this post entitled How to Talk to a Blogger.

Most garden bloggers are not involved in the media business, they are my customers. Even if they don't shop in my store they shop at some garden center somewhere. Not only are they customers but now they have a voice, and perhaps a following. Why would I want to pick a fight with my customers in a public forum? My customers have their beliefs, some of which I may not agree with. The one thing they all have in common is a love of the garden. That's what I love about my business. I can work with (almost) everyone if they have a interest in gardening.

Just a few years ago Garden Rant didn't exist, nor did Open Register, or Todays Garden Center. Garden Center's that blogged could be counted on one hand. Starting a blog now has never been easier. If you feel you have something to contribute start one today! Look to Open Register and Today's Garden Center for examples of how horticultural media can use blogs to join in. There are also a number of new garden center blogs that are examples of nursery people reaching out. Remember everything you say at a blog is forever. You are the company and what you say will be around a long time.

There is no nursery industry

Actually there is no one nursery industry. The comments from the last post I am participating!, would indicate others see the same thing. The nursery industry has fragmented. There is no one voice of the industry. There are different factions with different ideas on which way to proceed. It's like the restaurant industry. Mc Donald's is a far cry from that little Italian Restaurant down the road. Sure they both sell food. That's about where the similarities end.

I could see getting behind a concerted effort to promote the local, independent, WELL RUN, garden centers. The key is well run. Let's face it, some independent nurseries are not, and I wouldn't want to be involved in a campaign that included them. That is the crux of the problem in any large advertising campaign concerning the nursery industry. The message that drives a person to embrace Scott's/Miracle Gro is not the same message that we have.

What's the solution? I don't know! I do know that the only thing we can do is try to provide the best service, plants, and customer experience we can muster up. If we do it right the customer will spread the word. Right now the means to spread the word is in it's infancy, but it will grow. Sid tells of the new wireless internet 'cloud' caused by the combined effort of interested and organized citizens that is beginning to cover the San Francisco area. In the past few months they say they've connected over 50,000 people to the Internet. Strange and wonderful things are afoot

I am particpating!

I wanted to address the comment from Steve Cissel at my last post, "Got Plants?". Steve says, “it is really easy to sit back on the ranch and lob pessimism and one liners into the mix.” He continues, “ What our industry needs is creative thinkers (like you) to roll up your sleeves and participate.”

No one asked me to participate at the summit. There was a mention at Todays Garden Center web page May 20th. "National Green Industry Summit has been set for June 11-12 in St. Paul, Minn., with the goal of assembling a group of thought leaders to discuss a national promotional program for the green industry, similar to the dairy industry’s 'Got Milk' campaign.” I may have been sent an e-mail but I don't remember. Was I invited?

The people involved want to help the industry. Steve and the rest of the participants want to do something to help steer people towards gardening and the garden. The idea that you can replicate a campaign like “Got Milk” just doesn't resonate with me. It's like trying to hit a home run every time at bat. Better to just hit the ball and run towards first.

Steve says that they “need creative thinkers, like me to roll up my sleeves and participate.” My sleeves are rolled up, and I am participating the only way I can, through my blog. If the organization wants input from creative thinkers why not offer the meeting on live video feed. That way the small garden center owner who can't leave the nursery during the spring season can participate. Why is this thing scheduled for early June? I am not heading across the country this time of year. I choose to reduce my carbon footprint by not flying all the way to St. Paul.

I did find a web page, Project Green Industry which is written by Green Beam. I have added it to my blogroll. According to the web page, “Steve Cissel, CEO and founder of 10-20 Media, proposed building a national marketing campaign around the 'oxygen footprint', an antidote to the carbon footprint concept that every third-grader has become familiar with by now.” The article continues “Cissel is so gung-ho about the oxygen footprint idea that he already has purchased several Web domains: oxygenfootprint.com, oxygenfootprint.org, O2footprint.com. 'Every which way you can configure it, I have it,' he said.” It continues, “He envisions a well-funded promotional campaign that will result in everyone knowing the answer to 'What’s your oxygen footprint?' just like they know the answer to 'What’s your e-mail?'".

We need to focus at the local level. Instead of trying to hit that home run with a national "Got Milk" type campaign, we should be putting people in contact with local garden oriented business that care about what's going on in the community and are willing to talk about it. It's through this "small and local" thinking that people might gravitate towards gardens and gardening.

"Meet the local garden center or florist who makes a difference everyday in your community."

That's my idea.

Got Plants?

Wanted to address this article from Open Register on “The First National Green Industry Summit” This group wants to develop a “national marketing program for the horticulture industry. Mandatory check-off programs like 'Got milk?' and 'Pork, the other white meat', along with voluntary programs like the National Rifle Association’s safe-gun storage campaign, were held up as examples.” Sure, who wouldn't like to hit a gold mine like “Got Milk”. The problem is it doesn't just happen. Looking at a hit like “Got Milk' and trying to replicate that never works.

Why do we need a national ad campaign? Here we are in the midst of a huge interest in vegetable and fruit gardening without any advertising. Nurseries are saying they can''t keep up with the interest. People seem to have found out and started vegetable gardening without any advertising. Advertising has changed. The idea of a national ad campaign is so old school I can't believe they are thinking of it. Of course that's why nothing was decided at the summit. To many conflicting ideas on what's the best way to proceed.

In the end they decided they need “to hire a professional facilitator who can guide participants through the process of writing a mission statement and then lead the group toward selecting a program message everyone can get behind.” Oh boy, here come the professionals. Sounds like a money pit to me. Far better to spend less money on advertising and more money on making sure that the customer has a great experience when they come into your store.

It's not easy being an organic nursery in Santa Cruz.

I was surprised to learn that Surf City Growers, who I had written about earlier was closing. They had caught the eye of Sunset magazine as they we're an all organic nursery. According to their e-newsletter, “The nursery has been set back on the growing side due to the invasion of the Light Brown Apple Moth in Santa Cruz County.” They have had to spray with Bt regularly. The letter continues, “After spraying, the crops have to be covered for a period of 10 days, after which they are re-inspected before they can be released for sale. In addition, none of the expenses are being subsidized.”

This moth is a huge concern out here and the nursery business is taking the brunt of the costs. According to KPIX, “The Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau estimates wholesale and retail nurseries lost about $2.8 million in forgone sales and investments toward fighting off the moth from April to December 2007.”

These nurseries are required to do this spraying at their own expense. The article at KPIX talks of one nursery that sustained $50,000 in lost sales due to being shut down while the nursery was inspected.

So far here in El Dorado County we have been spared the trouble you see in Santa Cruz. Of course that could change with one discovery here. We are inspected regularly by the county agricultural department, and all new shipments from out of the area are inspected. Lets hope we don't have the problems Surf City had to deal with.

Conserve water and grow healthier plants.

Here is the latest video we put together. Considering that the governor recently declared a water emergency, we want to do our part. Mulching is something we advocate around here anyway. Our summers in the interior of California are hot and dry. Mulch is especially beneficial for newly planted areas. Often its the difference between life and death, for the plant. We are going to address this issue more in the future. We want to make sure we give people an option for preserving and enjoying their gardens during water shortages. It's a natural choice here, where the summers are dry anyway. Look for more videos discussing various ways to help conserve water this year, and thereafter. .

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI3MN-fBR-k[/youtube]