News from the folks at Harris Seeds

That one bad apple… or melon

2012-01-12T17:50:00.004-05:00

There is a melon crisis going on in this country, and it has hurt too many very good grower-shippers. Needless to say, the real tragedy was the loss of 29 lives to Listeria poisoning, all due to the harvesting practices of just one farm. Every produce farm - whether a big grower-shipper or a smaller, local fresh market grower - has to be very conscientious of food handling techniques. This is new

Bad Blogger Dick...

2012-01-06T15:59:00.005-05:00

I am one of those guys that is cut from an old piece of cloth… somewhat of an Andy Rooney type. I have shirked my blogging duties in the past, allowing some blog posts to be up on our web site way too long – according to the experts. It’s not because I do not care – I just forget as I move on to other duties. I am also not one of the most tech savvy guys, but I do get by. I guess that complicates

…and you thought I ran away and joined the circus!

2011-12-13T11:37:00.001-05:00

My apologies for not attending to my blogging duties for quite some time. It probably has something to do with the “old dog... new tricks” thing.Anyway... the garden landscape is changing. Although I live in the country (nothing better), many of my fellow gardeners are suburbanites. Garden space can be somewhat restrictive in these subdivisions, subsequently the garden has moved to decks and

Your seedlings will win with Worm Power... and so could you!!!

2011-04-12T17:54:00.016-04:00

If you're like many of our home garden customers, you're looking for ways to raise seedlings using sustainable products and methods. We - along with growers nationwide - have found improved germination and seedling vigor using certified organic Worm Power when starting seeds. The method is simple, the fertilizer is safe, and the results are impressive. We wanted to share this information about

Oh, those happy Holsteins…

2011-03-03T11:47:00.011-05:00

While growing up in rural New York, I had the privilege of working with my brother-in-law on his small dairy farm. He is gone now, and so is his farm. But, I do recall being there when he would open the barn door to allow his small herd to go outside for the very first time in the spring, after being cooped up in a stanchion during those long winter months. Much to my surprise, they cows would

The onion fields of Southwest Texas…

2011-01-19T16:30:00.005-05:00

Dixondale Farms - Carrizo Springs, TX While visiting my brother in southern Texas last month, I had an opportunity to drive out to Carrizo Springs in the Rio Grande Valley to visit Dixondale Farms. We were greeted by Bruce Frasier, the owner of Dixondale Farms. Everything is truly big in Texas, including his 2500 acre farm. It is almost impossible to see from one end to the other. Within

Worm Power is ready to go…

2010-12-23T14:41:00.007-05:00

We have busted our butts this fall to get our new OMRI approved earthworm fertilizer ready for shipment for the first of January. Although it was an uphill battle at times, the effort has been more than worth it. All sizes are now on the shelf and ready for shipment.The Harris Seeds company has been very fortunate to work with a group as innovative and forward-thinking as the team at Worm Power.

The Harris Seeds Professional Vegetable & Cut Flower Growers’ Catalog

2010-11-15T10:40:00.003-05:00

Three down and one to go…this is our busy season in marketing as we have a relatively short window to complete 4 Harris Seeds catalogs. We just finished our 2011 Professional Vegetable & Cut Flower Growers’ Catalog, and to be honest, we think it may be our very best. We hope you do as well. Here is why:We have added over 50 new varieties to our 2011 catalog. You will want to take a close look at

Mr. Mini Mirai wins hands down!

2010-10-04T16:47:00.001-04:00

We have completed our product launch of Mr. Mini Mirai in the Rochester area. We sampled 500 cooked ears with consumers at the Rochester Public Market and mailed a dozen ears to 50 of our e-mail subscribers to sample at their dinner table.The Public Market…everyone that stopped by at our booth to try this wonderful and unique supersweet raved about its quality. Time and time again we heard the

Give us feedback on your growing experiences!

2010-09-14T10:28:00.000-04:00

We are most anxious to hear about what’s up (or ripe) in your garden or on your farm. Both growers and home gardeners are finding Harris Seeds varieties are rapidly becoming favorites for the family table or at the farm market. Just recently we received photos and a letter from a grower in the Northeast who said that Primo Red is the finest fresh market tomato he has ever grown. It has great

It’s one great corn!

2010-08-24T17:42:00.001-04:00

Our Mr. Mini Mirai sweet corn variety is really taking off in Rochester. A local wholesale distributor, Giambrone Foods, is featuring it in his August promotions as the very best sweet corn variety available today. He has placed it with the finest private golf courses and restaurants in the area and the patrons and chefs are raving about the quality of Mr. Mini

Those wonderful farmers’ markets!

2010-08-10T16:58:00.002-04:00

For the folks that live in the northern tier of the country, farmers’ markets are about at peak with product offerings. August is a big month for all kinds of vegetables, cut flowers and a host of other related products – all found at farmers’ markets. These markets are growing in the USA at an unprecedented rate, and there seems to be no stopping this phenomenal

Superman sweet corn…

2010-07-30T16:58:00.005-04:00

I have been working with an old friend and co-worker of mine from way back in the 80s. His name is Dr. David McKenzie and he is the plant breeder responsible for the introduction of the line of Mirai sweet corn varieties. Mirai translates to “taste of the future” in Japanese.Of the many successful Mirai varieties he has introduced comes a truly unique one…we call it Mr. Mini Mirai. We also

Staying busy but mighty poor…

2010-07-22T17:20:00.000-04:00

Most seed companies slow down to a very slow pace this time of year, and cash flow dries up. From now until December, these companies, including Harris Seeds, lose a fair amount of money, as customer purchases come to a sudden halt. We are much like the spring garden center business, having to depend on a few months out of the year for generating profits. Our season begins about January 1st and

The End and the Beginning

2010-07-01T11:52:00.000-04:00

As our sales season winds down, the catalog and marketing season begins. We recently e-mailed a survey to our home garden newsletter subscribers and the results were fantastic. We had well over 2000 responses, and they were packed with ideas for making Harris Seeds a better business for our customers. We plan to sit down this Thursday and discuss our findings with the good folks that work in our

A trend or a lifestyle?

2010-06-30T17:02:00.001-04:00

It is quite difficult to have a day pass in our lives without bumping into something organic. The “green culture” surrounds us on a daily basis from food consumables to recyclables to social habits and practices. Although the hula-hoop was in and out of our lives years back, this direction towards organic lifestyles is here to stay.A few weeks ago, we surveyed our home garden newsletter

Gifts from the Garden!

2010-06-18T16:26:00.001-04:00

Within days I will be harvesting home grown radishes from my garden, and salad greens will follow thereafter. Everything has been planted, and my transplanted sweet corn is also doing well. My garden peas are half grown and before long they will be on my dinner table too.In my ornamental beds I had a few surprises. I planted some cutting snapdragons in a full sun bed out behind my home and to my

If you are ever in Rochester…

2010-06-10T14:30:00.005-04:00

After two long years of searching for a new office and warehouse in Rochester, we decided to buy the building that we are currently in. We closed on it just last month, and all of us here are extremely happy we do not have to move and deal with nasty business interruptions. We have expanded our flower trial areas with 8 new raised beds, and we are dedicating two of these beds to sustainable and

You can’t break ‘em…

2010-05-21T17:10:00.007-04:00

I have just finished reading a letter from a grower in Tennessee, and folks it was a sad one indeed. Mother Nature has been up to it again, as the Cumberland River had risen to such high levels that it caused untold destruction to the folks that live near its river bank. This sad story is about a family that raises crops and livestock for their livelihood. Flood waters consumed their home and

Grow Tunnels are coming!

2010-05-10T13:17:00.001-04:00

Grow tunnels seem to be the rage today, and for good reason. They are wonderful products that allow vegetable, small fruit and cut flower growers to extend their selling season and their level of profitability. For the most part, early and later season crops will bring a better price at the market, due to timing and weather conditions. By example, pepper and tomato crops can extend well into the

The things we can and cannot control…

2010-04-27T16:25:00.001-04:00

We go through a rather laborious process with ordering seed for the following year. We use sales history to forecast how much seed we need to order for our customers. Many of our suppliers will sell completely out of many varieties they produce in any given year. This situation creates a rather undesirable process where we have to wait for the new seed to be harvested, conditioned and packaged in

We like who we are… Family Owned!!

2010-04-21T11:11:00.004-04:00

There have been comments by some consumers that large, multi-national corporations have gobbled up the small family owned agricultural companies in America. Big business has taken agricultural products into the science lab, resulting in many genetically modified plants… frequently improving production, disease resistance, and creating other benefits. This is much more common in the field crop

Be Vigilant!!!

2010-04-13T16:47:00.013-04:00

Late blight was devastating in the northern part of the USA last year. For the professional tomato and potato growers, many times it caused complete loss of crop and income. That’s sad. This photograph of late blight on tomato plant was taken by Dr. Meg McGrath, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University.For more information about late blight, check out the

Only in Texas!

2010-04-09T12:03:00.000-04:00

I visited my brother and sister a few weeks ago in South Texas. It is always nice to get away during the winter months. While I was there, my brother and I traveled from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande Valley to a small farm town called Carrizo Springs. It was a three hour ride through some very desolate territory.Our mission was to visit our good friend Bruce Frasier. Bruce is the 5th largest

Organic Leadership

2010-04-05T16:40:00.000-04:00

With the addition of many new organic and untreated vegetable seed varieties to our catalog this past season, we thought it would make sense to find an individual that could head up this ever growing department. We were very fortunate.Last year, a young lady from Iowa came to our area and went to work in our call center. She was wonderful with customers. We soon learned she was an integral part

The Ornamental Marketplace

2010-03-30T20:09:00.001-04:00

I believe greenhouse bedding plant growers and garden center proprietors were in a bit of a panic mode last year, as the sagging economy seemed to loom disastrous for the upcoming ornament season. Much to everyone’s surprise, last year the consumer spent more on ornamentals than most expected. It was not a total loss.This year so far seems to look quite positive. We gauge our opinion on the type

Hats off to our friend Ted

2010-03-23T16:50:00.000-04:00

Back in my early years with the Harris Seeds Company, I was the catalog and advertising manager. With a whole bunch of motivation and inspiration as the result of my new position in the seed business, with camera in hand, I would often venture out to the fields for flower and vegetable photo sessions. During most of those summer weekends, I would routinely encounter Ted Superak, one of the most

Proactive… not reactive… makes sense!

2010-03-18T16:37:00.002-04:00

Diane Eggert, president of the Farmers' Market Federation of New York, is the point person for a recently submitted grant on food safety and food handling. The Harris Seeds Company will be supporting the process and will have an employee from our company joining the committee that will guide the direction of this program. In addition to Cornell University that has been at the educational

A Trial by Jury in the Vegetable Seed Business

2010-03-16T10:16:00.000-04:00

The “trial” in the vegetable seed business occurs when we plant new and existing vegetable varieties in the field for evaluation. Product experts within our company are the folks on the “jury”.Vegetable trials each year take place in many locations. In the back of our building here in Rochester, New York, we have many raised beds where we evaluate new introductions for greens and root crops. In a

The California Pack Trials

2010-03-13T21:23:00.003-05:00

Now what on earth can this mean? Well, “Pack” refers to a type of container that is used to grow annuals and perennials in a greenhouse environment. “Trial” refers to the process where these ornamentals are grown to maturity for observation and evaluation…thus "Pack Trials".Every year, many of the flower breeding companies from the USA and overseas come together in California to display their

A very special Sweet Corn program

2010-03-10T21:39:00.002-05:00

Our vegetable seed manager, Mark Willis, and I will be working with sweet corn plant breeder Dr. David McKenzie this summer to bring a very special sweet corn program to the Rochester area. Dave is an old friend that originally worked for Harris Seeds back in the 1980s.Dave has developed a very unique brand of sweet corn called Mirai, which means taste of the future in Japanese. Out of this

A much needed expense…

2010-03-08T08:05:00.002-05:00

In the early 1900s, the Harris Seeds set the standard by being first company in America to test seeds for acceptable germination and print the results on every package of seed sold. This quality control practice has been part of our business for over 100 years.Typically, every lot of seed that comes through our door will have a sample drawn and it is sent to our germination lab for testing.

Rake hay while the sun shines…

2010-03-04T14:10:00.000-05:00

And so it is with seed companies too. Most seed companies are very seasonal, depending on only a few months in the year to make their profits. For the Harris Seeds Company, sales begin to trickle in during the fall months, but not nearly enough to make our company profitable.The sales season really spikes right after the Christmas holidays. Orders from home gardeners and professional growers

Those Wonderful Gardeners!

2010-03-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Allow me to take a diversion this day, and move on to a subject that it clearly the most important – the gardener – the customer.I have often said that it is my belief that as a defined group of individuals within our society, gardeners seem to have a leg up on others. I have known many over the years, including my father, and when I recount who they are and what they have stood for, it seems to

Earning a reputation…

2010-02-27T12:07:00.010-05:00

Earning a good reputation is always a long and hard fought battle…earning a bad one is very easy. I can relate to one of the big box stores in our area. Their level of understanding for good customer service is almost non-existent. It is truly hard to imagine in today’s business environment that any company just does not get it. On the flip side of this argument is the Wegman’s Food Markets,

Welcome friends to the Harris Seeds blog…

2010-02-24T15:38:00.008-05:00

Bear with me friends, as I am a novice blogger. My name is Richard Chamberlin, president of the Harris Seeds Company. Allow me to welcome you to this new communication piece. I hope it will be fun. Over the term of this activity, I hope to provide you with some meaningful and interesting information on our company.The Harris Seeds Company has a very strong tradition rooted in history, going back