You can’t break ‘em…

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 outbuildings. Barns and hoop houses were washed away and out of sight. A good share of their livestock was lost to the flood waters, and the crops in the fields were nowhere to be found.

In the end, this grower was not sure what the next step for her would be, but assured us that she and her husband would move forward and replant, never to give up.



As sad as this story is, I truly admire their spirit and inner strength. This is not a unique story, as Mother Nature has a way of repeating the process over and over again. What is truly unique in my mind is the resilience and fortitude that makes this family one that all Americans can be proud of…they don’t give up. They have uncompromising work ethics, and they tell the story of the farmer in this country, since our very beginning, who becomes a role model for all of us. Too sad this integrity is not universal.

Grow Tunnels are coming!

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 fall, when all other field picked crops have expired.

In the immediate future, we will be launching a series of grow tunnels for our customers’ consideration. They will be extremely well-made grow tunnels and will be offered at very competitive pricing.

For those growers that do not have experience with grow tunnels, we will provide customer support by suggesting varieties and techniques to help make them successful. It is our intension to provide all the necessary support, from beginning to end, to make these season extenders a profitable enterprise for our customers.

The things we can and cannot control…

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 the fall. Many times new seed does not arrive at our company until well into January and February. Not only is this an inconvenience for our customers, it creates costly back orders for our company. One year our back order shipping expenses cost us nearly $200,000, and we do not charge customers for back order shipments. We do everything we possibly can to prevent this, but more often than not, it is out of our control.

The things we can control are such things as ensuring our customers always receive courteous and friendly service in the call centers, top quality products, a customer friendly web site, and expedient packaging and shipping. We also guarantee that when our customers speak with our product specialists, they will receive helpful and useful information.

We work very hard at this to ensure that every customer’s shopping experience with our company is a good one!