Hello everyone - I would like to encourage everyone to PLEASE figure out how to support their local growers this year (not the big box stores.) They are small businesses in dire danger of not making it. I was on a conference call last night with Master Gardeners and nursery/garden center people. In addition to already having their plants started, with no idea if they will be able to open their pop-up stands and farmers' market stalls, a lot of small growers raise plants for community groups to sell as fund raisers. In MN and south TX, all of those sales are cancelled, and the growers are stuck with the costs and product. A number of centers in the Twin Cities have already set up, or are exploring, ways to sell on the phone or online, with curbside pickup. Please check with your local businesses for products, even if you pay a few bucks more, otherwise they will not be here for you next year.
Let me tell you a story - as Master Gardeners, we work on dozens of school, park and community projects every year. Not once in 18 years has a big box store donated product to us, except stuff that was too sickly or damaged to sell and would otherwise be thrown away. Our local garden centers, on the other hand, work hand-in-hand with us to plan and execute gardens in the community and landscape Habitat for Humanity homes, libraries, housing coops... Last year alone, 5 local growers in our county donated over $3000 worth of plants to our program/partners and to the local food bank gardens. Another small grower provides us plants, on consignment for our fund-raiser plant sale and accepts unsold plants back without penalty. Yet another, who doesn't have a retail location, raises plants almost exclusively for fund-raisers by non-profits. He told us his product is all planted - seeds/starts, pots, soil, fertilizer all bought, labor done, and 3 weeks of heat lights paid for, and 80% of the orders are cancelled. Unless he can get paid for his sunk costs by some of the organizations, he will have to close his doors. One of our large growers donates thousands of dollars worth of plants to Habitat for Humanity every year, which are then planted by homeowners with the assistance of the local Master Gardeners.
Happy gardening everyone - I hope you can find what you need to raise your vegetables or make your yards beautiful.
Sue