A slow news week. Thanks for reading!
- Jeff and Cheryl Morey, who are the producers of the annual Independent Garden Centers show and the publishers of IGC Retailer and Garden Chic, have purchased the trade organization Garden Centers of America, formerly a not-for-profit. Story from Today’s Garden Center.
- Help wanted, part-time: If you have experience in organic gardening and restaurant management, check out this job with NOFA.
- I’m skeptical about Groupon. If you’re really into cupcakes and pedicures, I guess it’s good. But the company itself? Questionable. What matters to you and me (unless you are a stockholder) is how well it works for the vendor. This week one of the UGJ‘s loyal advertisers, Oriental Garden Supply, has a Groupon out for $30, and at this moment 550 people have bought it. I’m curious to hear from them, after some time has passed, how it ended up—return rates, repeat customers, how much people spent over the value of the Groupon, etc. Have you ever considered using this type of service? You can run scenarios here, keeping in mind that some of the variables are impossible to predict—completely made up numbers. Would love readers’ thoughts on this.
- From the New York Times, this story about a 100,000 sq. ft. hydroponic rooftop farm being constructed in Brooklyn. The operators, Bright Farms, hope to find a grocery store willing commit to buying produce—greens, herbs and tomatoes—over a long term. The company also has a projects in the works where it will build “Ultra Local” greenhouses near, or even on top of, the stores that will sell the produce.
- Via twitter user @senseofhumus (hah!): “It’s Not a Fairytale: Seattle to Build Nation’s First Food Forest.” According to the story, Seattle’s newest seven-acre park, the Beacon Food Forest will be full of edible things—fruits, vegetables and herbs—that visitors can pick and eat themselves.
- From Greenhouse Grower, top stories from California Spring Trials. Popular items include the HGTV collection, which did seem to get a lot of press, Cool Wave pansies—true trailers, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ gerberas.
- Also, the Ecke Ranch introduces “Ecke Edibles,” ready-to-harvest vegetable plants. Basically, the customer gets to side-step the whole growing process entirely and still feel a connection with the food. This isn’t revolutionary—garden centers have sold fruiting patio tomatoes, herb bowls, etc., for years—but the point is that Ecke hasn’t been selling edibles at all. You can watch the video here.
UPCOMING:
April 24—Spring Training with Batavia Turf.
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