15 December 29, 2010
As hard as it is to believe, another year has come and gone. Gardening was a bit tough with a dry summer, but all in all people appear to be happy with the results of their labor.
For the first time in several years, vegetable gardening actually lived up to the potential we had all been hoping for. Tomatoes were finally a crop that beginning gardeners could see as a worthwhile endeavor. Many of the cool weather crops that were planted in the fall gave many gardeners an extra season of fresh vegetables. Soon the new seed packets will be in the stores and we can all begin to dream again about gardening.
2011 looks to be an interesting year for gardeners. There are many new varieties of perennials that will be available in the spring of 2011. There will be several new varieties of hydrangeas available. Many new varieties of blueberries will be available, including a pink blueberry. Vegetable gardening in general will see many new varieties of so many different plants. I know that we will be expanding into more varieties of vegetable seeds and plants. We plan on providing more varieties of seed potatoes. All in all, spring looks to be an exciting time to be gardening.
As we go into 2011, there will be an increased emphasis on organic products. There is an increasing demand for organic vegetable seed. We will be offering many new varieties of organic vegetable seed. Organic lawn fertilizers are increasingly popular. Even the old time chemical lawn fertilizers have eliminated much of the phosphorous from the fertilizers. Phosphorous has been seen as a problem in lakes and streams due to its ability to increase algae in the lakes and streams. Greater emphasis has been placed on developing more and more organic insect and weed controls. Many of these new products will be showing up in stores this spring and in the years to follow.
Since it is the end of the year, I would like to thank all of you for being regular readers of this column. Many of you have told me how much it has helped you with solving problems in your gardens. The column has also served as a reminder of what you should be doing when in your gardens. Hopefully it has helped to make all of you better customers.
I would also like to thank all of our customers for helping us to have a good year at the store. After years with flooding and following those years with a shaky economy, it is nice to see people supporting our store. Much has been said about shopping locally. Many of you have made that your goal and I think that I can say for all the areas’ local businesses that your commitment to shopping first locally is much appreciated.
Well, that’s all for this week (and this year!). Have a Happy New Year and I will be talking to you again next week.