Time is running out on bad ol' 2008! Sometimes it's hard to appreciate the great things that have happened this year when contemplating horrific economic news and the unspeakably foul (and sales-killing) weather we've had in December, but at least we're still in business, in a year where that's a pretty spectacular achievement by itself. Many, many thanks to all of you for your part in our semi-success!



That said, we're of course focused on '09 now. During this week of down-time (we're currently closed and won't re-open until Friday, January 2nd) we're eagerly planning for spring and taking a good, hard look at what worked for us this year and what didn't - and where the trends are going. Some consultant dude for Home Depot is claiming 2009 will see the greatest resurgence in home vegetable gardening in 50 years and, well, THAT sounds nice! Early indications are, this is probably true: a couple of our growers are moving into edibles next year as they also believe that's where the $$ will be. We feel really lucky we buy from the talented, dedicated people we do and were honored to give them enthusiastic feedback on their proposed plant lists. There is some very cool, yummy stuff on the way!



We'll continue to bring you a wonderful selection of house plants, too - that was probably one of our better moves this year. A lot of our customers live in condos or apartments and, unless they have a little balcony or patio area, their need for green can only manifest indoors. It works for us, too! These long, dark winter days pass more pleasantly under our full-spectrum fluorescents, surrounded by jungle greenery and a purring jungle cat, softly burbling fountains accompanying tropical bossa nova tunes on the cd player as the wind howls outside, and the snow falls...



What mistakes have we made this year, that we can now call "learning experiences"?? Well, I re-ordered 'Siam Ruby' bananas not once but twice without benefit of selling out the FIRST batch (oops - kept glancing at them and thinking they were cannas) and, interestingly, we learned to take vacations when we're still busy and thus already have employees on the schedule. We also totally forgot to order some really basic items - pea innoculant, Osmocote, fava beans...? There was some financial planning that could have gone better, but nothing life-threatening - we think we were pretty smart for newbies, though every bit as lucky as we were smart.



Smart or lucky, though, we couldn't have done it alone - and we didn't. Our staff was incredible, and we're hoping to hire back as many of them as we can this spring. Sally, Amy, Barb and Mary - take a bow; we wish we could pay you what you're worth but thank you for your service! Laura and Mercedes, thank you for helping us launch this thing and best of luck with your own gigs. Suzy - bookkeeper dearest - thank you for keeping us out of jail. And yeah, Tanker, ear scritches for you, too...thanks for mellowing a bit in your old age. :)

you can haz garlic!

We've been sold out of garlic bulbs for a month or so, but we just got more and it's by no means too late to plant. Two certified organic hardneck varieties, locally grown in Kitsap County, originally from the former Soviet republic of Georgia: Chesnok Red and Zemo (a classic silverskin type). Both strongly flavored, good for roasting and well-suited to our climate, but hardy enough for colder places, too. $3.98 buys you six bulbs (approximately 6 oz.) and they come with planting instructions. Plant 'em now, harvest next summer!

* * *

In other news, new winter interest plants have arrived, a new shipment of paperwhite narcissus bulbs and whimsical, freaky garden statuary by Kerry McGuire. Have you been in lately? There's some great stuff here!

New house plants? Check! No shelf space for all of them - it's our best selection ever - so they're lining the walls as well, and it's honestly a little dangerous to navigate our indoor space right now!

New veggie starts? Not just yet, but we'll have Brussels sprouts and a few salad greens in just a few weeks, and a neon-yellow Swiss chard by Thanksgiving or earlier.

Winter pansies? Other 4" goodies for fall/winter pots? Embrace the rainbow - come see our courtyard!

We have a new ad in The Stranger this week. It seemed like the most worthwhile local print publication for us to advertise in, and with the 12x frequency we bought we get a free online ad as well...

Fall, time to plant, time to divide

For years the nursery industry has been trying to get the message out that fall is about the best time for planting. It's not just to boost sales! Over the winter the roots continue to grow whenever the temperature is above 32 degrees so in spring you have an established plant. Also in the winter you don't have to water as much as you would planting in the spring.
This is also the best time to divide many of your perennials. We started working on our next years selection from our own personal collection. I've spent much of September dividing daylilies and some are ready to go now. So far we have: Towhee, Summer Wine (pictured), Cherry (pictured in previous blogg), Condilla (a semi-double), Velvet Red, Siloam 'Tiny Tim', Ice Carnival. If you're a daylily geek like myself then keep in mind we only have a limited number of these since they're not availabe from our grower. I've got lots more to do before I start tackling our huge hosta collection.

FALL BULBS HAVE ARRIVED!

- and that's the good news. Beyond that, however, the news is less encouraging.

Because I'm an idiot and presumed I was ordering bulbs in retail-ready packaging - you know, the boxes with pretty pictures on 'em to entice you, that fold out on the bottom allowing easy access - well, we didn't get that. The tulips and a few other things are in plain boxes, the daffodils are in netted bags and the crocus et al are in ventilated plastic bags. The only picture was ONE random tag for DeCaen anemones. I didn't order any anemones.

Their office in Connecticut was, however, most helpful yesterday and while I'm not looking forward to downloading, printing, cutting and pasting a bazillion photos and trying to make a sensible display out of their not-so-customer-friendly packaging, at least they made some attempt to make it right and if I work through the weekend, we should have some coherent displays. I DO have to hand it to them, quality-wise...they said they were late to ship because they dig later to insure a top-quality bulb and yeah, I've scarcely seen better in my nearly 27 years pandering posies. We'll eventually make these things retail friendly and all will be well.

So let's concentrate on the good news: FALL BULBS HAVE ARRIVED! Sometime this weekend, I'll post our complete list of bulbaliciousness. :)

in better news...

The Certified Organic^TM garlic and shallots have arrived as promised! Same price as Fremont Gardens ran 'em for the last couple of years, $3.98 per netted bag. Inchelium Red, Late Italian, Silver Rose and Nootka Rose for the softneck varieties and Musik, Chesnok Red, Korean Red and German Porcelain for the hardnecks. Shallots? Holland Red and Dutch Yellow.

A cooler day today, great for planting! *nudge, nudge*

Well, wow. I hesitate to put this out there but we seem to have fallen off a cliff this week, business-wise...fall planting seems more unpopular every year, our efforts to counter that more and more in vain.

Or maybe it's the stock market. In any event, we're not allowed to take it personally...so we won't.

Just got a new shipment from Washington Pottery. 15% off all plant containers right now and rumor has it the discount is even greater if you're on our email list. ;) Organic garlic and shallot sets are s'posed to arrive today, too, and we have a semi-definite arrival date for the flower bulbs - Wednesday the 24th.

Hey, all we can do is try.

Always learning more

Well I finaly have a little time to write and my English is coming back. Getting back from Norway there was a lot of catch-up to do. While in Norway we went to a tropical botanical garden island. There are pictures on my site: www.wuji.com/Norway
This island is only a 20 minute boat ride from Stavanger yet they grow figs, lemons, tree ferns, grapes, and many other plants you would not associate with Norway. The water around the island is 5 degrees C warmer than Stavanger due to the gulf stream. While on the tour I learned several useful things.
FRUIT TREES: My basic education said that you always cut off the water sprouts of the fruit trees ASAP. Well, this of course produces more suckers and puts the energy of the plant there. What they do on Flor og Fjaere is once the water sprouts are less than an inch you crimp or squeeze them instead of cutting them off. This leads the tree into putting its energy into the fruit. This also produces less water sprouts the next year.
LAWNS: For those who must have lawns without weeds their secret was to cut low, water often (lawns are water pigs), and fertilize once a month. The low cutting forces the grass to spread and crowd out the weeds. If the lawn doesn't get enough water then it won't grow lush and the weeds have lots of room to seed and spread.
PRUNING: One of my favorite subjects! I'll be offering a pruning workshop at Emerald City Gardens on the basics of pruning: Sunday, October 5th, 11:00-12:30, $25 (This will count as 3 marks on your frequent buyer card). This is a workshop I've done often and has been very successful. I call it the Tao of Pruning (the way of pruning). I cover basic principles of pruning the three types of growth patterns of shrubs and trees, as well as correct pruning methods. Enrollment is limited so call the nursery to sign-up. 206-789-1314

New house plants have arrived! We couldn't fit 'em all in the PT so the rest are being delivered tomorrow.

That is all.

Fall is just over a week away...for so many people, their favorite time of year. Yeah, heartless people who don't pander posies for a living! :b Oh well, you're forgiven - especially if you're smart enough to know what a great season this is for planting stuff. Here's what's going on at the store right now -

• We've still got a nice selection of perennials, shrubs and even a few trees for sun or shade, wet or dry.
• House plants have been very, very good to us. We're going on a major buying expedition tomorrow; you keep buying 'em and we're trying to keep up!
• We just got in a shipment of shiny new pots for indoors and out, with more expected later this week.
• Remaining annuals are 70% off, including the coleus collection...they won't take nights below 50 F but they're awesome houseplants given a sunny window and if you keep the ratty little flowers pinched off.
• COVER CROPS have arrived! Crimson clover should be planted between now and late October while there's still some warmth in the soil but our 3-way (clover+rye and vetch) and 5-way (clover+rye, vetch, buckwheat* and Austrian peas) blends can be planted even later if your veggie patch is still producing useful things into November or even December. These "green manures" add humus content when you till them under in the spring and help fix nitrogen, reducing the need for fertilizer next year.
• GARLIC AND SHALLOT SETS are on their way, sez the grower. We'll have red and white Dutch shallots and six varieties of garlic - three hardneck, three softneck - all organic, of course!
• FLOWER BULBS!...yeah...wish they'd arrived two weeks ago. *grumble, grumble* They should ship this week but I'll be surprised if they get here before Monday the 22nd. The good news is, if you can wait that long, we'll have a small but dazzling collection of our favorite tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, alliums and more. Some very cool species tulips in this shipment, the smaller "rock garden" types that are truly perennial and don't peter out after a few years like their hybrid offspring. In mid to late October, we'll get in our first paperwhite narcissus bulbs, and amaryllis, so there's more to look forward to!

Don't put away your garden gloves just yet. You've still got some work to do.

* - hmm, I'd always been told buckwheat prefers warmer soil temps, too, but what do I know?

We've heard from a lot of you (not all of you!) that, to put it mildly, it's been kind of a sucky tomato year. Hot and cold running weather and an unusually late start are to blame, but don't let it get you down. We may yet get an "Indian summer" and as long as your plants are healthy, there's still time for them to produce. And hey, fried green tomatoes ain't bad!

This fall, consider growing vegetables that actually thrive in our mealymouthed climate. The brassicas (cole crops - the cabbage family) are very much at home here, easy and reliable. Don't forget the late George Carlin's wise words regarding broccoli! *g* (google "george carlin broccoli" if you don't know what I'm going on about; I will not repeat it here). Lots of greens prefer our shorter, cooler, wetter autumn days - lettuce and arugula are much slower to bolt this time of year, and stay sweeter longer. Some garlic can be planted in the spring but most do better with fall planting - we'll have eight varieties soon, shallots too, all certified organic.

The farmer's markets are at their peak right now but your own farm - be it acreage or a windowbox - lets you pick fresh daily, for a lot less money. Throw some pansies in a container with Swiss chard and a few herbs and you'll have a winter wonder, edible beauty!

Come see us. We can help you with this. :)

My visit home!

Here are some pictures I've taken so far.
I spent quite a bit of my youth here and haven't been back in 28 years!
www.wuji.com/Norway

SUMMER SALE
30% OFF ALL PLANTS

Yeah, 'cause we're crazy that way. Hey, we need to generate traffic in the dog days of summer, and you need enticement to BE that traffic! This isn't just a clearance sale as we'll still be bringing in new plants almost weekly but the fact is we are overstocked and densely packed with plants that need "breathing space" - and really frikkin' need to get out of their pots and into the ground. Do your good deed, liberate our little green charges and save some green while you're at it! The sale runs through July and probably August as well.

While I've got your attention, please put FRIDAY, JULY 11TH on your calendar, specifically the hours 6-8pm. All through June we did these special after-hours openings on Friday nights to raise money for various charities/good causes (yeah, would've been good to announce that on the blog, huh?): 25% of the evenings' take was donated off the top and if, in our opinion, the total wasn't very impressive, the company and our employees would donate a bit of our own funds to plump it up a bit. We're taking the 4th of July off (closed that day) but the next Friday, the 11th, will be our final event of the season. A new P-Patch is coming to the neighborhood, Hazel Heights by name (apparently on a hilly plot donated by a woman named Hazel, thus "Hazel Heights") and what with our dedication to urban farming in its myriad forms, this just seemed like a natural partnership. They're bringing food. They're bringing beer. We're smiling charmingly and taking your money. A good time will be had by all - you included, if you're there!

'til next time...

Jay ~

Hostas, Iris, Daylillies . . . . Oh my!

Being a collector these are some of my/our passions. At one time I had a collection of about 20 (of each). The limitation was space not interest. The picture is of Cherry Daylilly, part of our collection available next year. We have one in bloom on our parking strip and a few others.

One of the great things we're able to do with Emerald City Gardens is to share our collection and interests with other plant geeks. Iris season is passed but we still have two of our favorites: Silver Edge (see photo below) and Variations in Blue. As always, the ones blooming sell first so the ones with blooms sold so those who came late didn't get to see the flowers.

When it comes to Hostas it doesn't matter whether they're in blooms or not, the foliage is why you want them. One of our favorites, and divisions from our yard, is Patriot. Striking white variegation on this one. We sold out of the divisions from our yard but we've been lucky enough to find a source for more :) Others from our collection are: Golden Tiara (small), Mouse Ears (dwarf and super cute), Royal Standard (BIG and fragrant), Elegance (BIG), and more.
I can't say Daylilies are my favorite, or may they are. We had a huge collection at one time but moving into a small lot we've had to make choices. The Swanson's Gold sold quickly, at this time I think we have one left. Condilla is an unusual double yellow, Pink Damask is pink of course. In the future we'll have many unique and award winning ones available. Next year we should have some Cranberry Cove available, it's very cranberry. There's much more to come.

Bamboo

I'm not a bamboo expert but I've maintained several bamboo groves in top shape for over 10 years. In that time I've made several mistakes and learned a lot.
Depending on which bamboo variety you have you have either noticed the canes emerging and growing strong already or some just breaking the surface of the soil. Bamboo, though tough and usually will survive anything here are a few tips.

Care:
Bamboo will usually grow toward the moist spots in the yard. If you have it in a container and let it completely dry out it usually dies. In the ground, once established, it'll take a dry spot but it grows stronger and healthier in a spot well watered. Feed it a high nitrogen fertilizer.

One of the best things to keep it looking good, healthy, and get bigger canes is to prune out the 3-4 year old canes. They're usually the ratty looking ones. If you have black bamboo they're usually the ones bleaching white. If you cut out the older canes then that energy goes into the new growth and also gives the new canes more room.

Pests! Once in a while bamboo will get a spider mite. There are toxic things you can spray it with but I prefer to hose them down whenever I water. Mites love dry and hot, hate moist and cool. Also the pruning out the oldest canes tends to get rid of many mites since they tend to pick on the older growth.

Not all bamboo are invasive! There are now several hard clumping bamboos available. Also there are shade ones, dwarf ones, variegated ones, and fake ones (Nandina).

Happy spring time?

Hey,
The iris are starting to bloom, as well as peonies :). We have two selections from our yard: Iris siberica 'Variations In Blue' and Iris siberica 'Silver Edge', two of our favorites. We also have a few hostas from our yard that are super cool: Partiot, Golden Tiara, Royal Standard (fragrant), and Pearl Lake.

Bad news :( Check your junipers, cypresses, and arborvitae's, are the tips dying or brown? I've noticed around our place and the neighbors the juniper tip moth & leaf miners have emerged. At first I thought it was poor watering but at closer inspection there were tiny green caterpillars dangling from the branches. The tip moth lays their eggs late spring/summer on the branches, the emerge and burrow into the tips of the stems and stay there over winter. Around April they start hatching and eat from the inside of the leaf causing it to die. May they emerge and start over. While inside the leaf there's nothing you can do except prune it off. Now you can use something like Neem to control the moths and eggs. Prune out the damaged foliage and spray. Other plants that are known for leaf miner are: columbines, hosta, and vegetable leaf crops. Check the leaves, it looks like little tunnels are inside the leaf. Pick and destroy, do not compost.

Andy

Alrighty then...due to illness, I'll try again next week as far as using this blog to let you know what's new. I can tell you, quickly, there are lots of new veggie starts (cukes, squash and pumpkins are here at last) and we've restocked most of the tomatoes, though 'Sungold' may be gone for the season.

Other than that, plenty of new perennials (hardy geraniums and salvias in bloom!), plenty of new annual color and inside, you'll find our best selection of pots yet! Lots of new styles and colors and a variety of sizes.

Okay, I'm goin' back to bed.

Jay ~

This poor, neglected thing! I suppose it's good news, really, that we haven't had time to update the blog for more than two months - and thanks to you good people for that! Despite the crappiest Seattle spring in living memory (and now just off a 90° heat wave), we are succeeding beyond all expectations. Your support has been incredible.

While catching my breath about a month ago I had the wild idea that we should have a weekly "fresh sheet", kinda like a restaurant. We start getting faxes from our growers on Wednesday night and it continues through Saturday night; generally speaking I have to fax our orders in by Monday morning. Some of them confirm, some don't, but at any rate we have a pretty good idea what's coming in any given week by Monday at noon or so. I think that would be a sensible use of the blog, don't you? We have a lot of plant collectors in our customer base and this would be a great way to give you a heads-up on the rare or unusual things that are coming in. Don't hold our feet to the fire - the vagaries of missed faxes, crop failures and delivery snafus take a near-weekly toll! - but as an overall guide I think it would be of interest to some of you and useful for us as well.

Don't forget we have an active Wish Book at the store and we love hunting down that particular something you're after! Varying rates of success with that but I'm always amazed how often it works. We've got great resources, and you shouldn't hesitate to ask. How can we find what you want if we don't know what it is?

Send an email to info@emeraldcitygardens.com if you would like to join our email list. We won't spam you very often but there are two compelling reasons to join:

1. A "frequent flyer" card that becomes a $20 gift certificate when you complete your journey down the Yellow Brick Road and

2. Special members-only savings in the form of paperless coupons - i.e., a password or phrase that gives you discounts on selected items. "The slug dies at dawn" was a recent winner for those seeking 25% off on Sluggo products and "I'm here for the Emerald City needle exchange program" gave big savings on conifers. It's fun, it's free, we don't sell our list and the biggest complaint we're hearing from people is that we don't spam them enough. High praise indeed.

Anyway: stay tuned. If you haven't checked in here in a while, I'm sorry it took us this long to breathe life back into the thing. Check back soon!

Jay ~

We're Open!

The Grand Opening Weekend was a success!
A special thanks to all our fans, supporters, and new customers. Saturday and Sunday we had a nice, steady flow of people coming in, visiting and shopping.
Sally, Jay, Mercedes, and I got there early on Saturday to do the finishing touches so it would look great as you walked in. The change surprised a few since the cash register island had moved.
Speaking of the cash register . . . . we don't get along that well. It seems to have a mind of its own when I use it. I shall prevail though. I just need lots of practice on it.
Now is time for recovery. It's so great being able to go home at 6:00 and not come back to paint or work on something. I took several pictures that I'll be uploading to my site: www.wuji.com/ECG Wait mid week so I have time to add the new one.
Thanks again for all your support and encouragement.

Have You Noticed?

We're starting to look like a real nursery?

(That's me in the picture typing this blog. click on it to see a larger picture.) Orders are coming in daily and the yard is filling up. We feel like we're trying to do 10 things at the same time! So much going on and only two of us. Well, that's not quite true. We have the invaluable voulenteer help from: Sally, Bruce, Rhonda, Brad, Iden, Suzy, Mercedes, and Amy. All freed us up from one job so we could do another.
Orders are rolling in and we're working hard to arrange the shelving and areas to display them. Recently we got in our shipment of garden tables that are super cool. So far we have two styles. One pictures here and the other on the photo page: www.wuji.com/ECG
It's fun, exciting, and scary all at the same time. It doesn't seem like we have much time to do what we need to do. Orders and arranging needs to be done at the same time as unloading the trucks, touch-up painting, and more construction that's needed.
We're looking forward to opening day and are doing our best to be as close to perfect as possible. As we've been working, each day we've had people wandering in wanting to shop. Since we're still under construction we've had to say wait until March 1st. We just got lessons today on how to use the new credit card swiper thingy. I still need another lesson on using the cash register.

Stuff is starting to come in :)

Pots and more pots! I had forgotten the weightlifting aspect of this business. Friday we got 2 pallets of pottery, ceramic and glazed. The larger pots took two of us to move. What a workout. Thank you Amy for helping us unload the pallets. Amy showed up and volunteered making the job go faster and easier.

Also, earlier last week Sally, Jay, and I went shopping for gift type items. With Sally's help we got some nice pieces of jewelry, books, and other items. Wait til you see them!

Today is Sunday and we're hoping to get the cash register island installed and the old one dismanteled so we can start arranging the store. Starting this week, you should notice changes outside the shop since the orders will start flooding in and we'll be arranging the outside.

Also, I added new pictures to the photo page: www.wuji.com/ECG

Off to work!

March is just around the corner!

We've been working hard, very hard. I promised myself I'd write this before passing out.

As was callously pointed out to us, the outside of the space doesn't look like much is happening yet. But just like the Chinese Internal Arts, when the outside is still there's much activity on the inside! Just take a look. www.wuji.com/ECG I've put together several pictures of our progress on the inside of the building. I've posted some before, during, and after pictures. The after pictures aren't complete since we still have lots of touch-up to do. However, if you look at the after pictures you might notice the ceiling. Aside from it being painted the light fixtures have also moved. Thank you Bob.

February is here, pretty soon you'll see the space filling up with plants. All the order will be arriving this month and filling up the space. We'd love to be 100% on opening, and we'll try hard to do it, but you know how life is.

We're excieted and doing our best. Not sleeping much since it's hard to turn our brains off. (Did we order that? Did we get a confirmation from them? And so on.

Sally has been a super help with much of the seed ordering and general help. We both feel super lucky to have her as part of the team.

Are you on the email list? If things continue to move smoothly we may do a before opening event for those on the list.

Stay tuned!

Things are taking shape

First of all, the picture at the top of our blog page is part of our courtyard. On the upper right were you see the brick is the patio area. This wasn't a picture we found just to stick in. Also, the picture of the knot garden on the right is Jay's work. He designed it and has been maintaining it for 21 years.

Aside from touch-ups the painting is done. With Iden's help we're moving the light fixtures which has already made the store seem bigger. It's great being able to work on the construction stuff since we're sick and tired of painting. Just wait until we start working on the outside!

And . . . . we got our first shipment today from New Dimension Seeds. It feels like we've really started. This is a cool seed company specializing in unusual Asian vegetables. Each seed packet contains a recipe for the crop. We're really happy to be able to offer them.

That's it for now. It's been a long day of teaching and working.

it's a bird! it's a plane! it's...

The good news is, I think I've found my Inner Superman - in a Nietzschian, rather than DC Comics kinda way, as I remain unable to leap tall buildings or even short ones. *g* Painted last night 'til after midnight but out of bed again by 7am (kinda late for me, truthfully) and I'm ready to go back. I am a painting machine.

Andy did the same, though he also found time to teach some martial arts classes last night. Trained killer that he is, we already knew he was Superman, so for him it was just another day. :b

The office is finished. A small part of the floor still needs a second coat. About 80% of the walls are finished. By Friday, we'll be done.

Yesterday was Sally's first day back on the job, and it was wonderful to have her company and her good help again. Today, hopefully we can turn her loose on some office stuff! Those seed orders ain't writin' themselves and I've so far failed to get to them. 6.5 weeks to go 'til we open; no need to panic yet but the anxiety will be ramping up every day...

What a great spring day this was for January 13th...we played in the sun for hours mid-day, drunk on Vitamin D and - planting bulbs! Yes, it happened! 100 mixed daffs, 35 'Kung Fu' tulips (dark red with ivory edges), 35 'Negrita' tulips (a rich mid-purple) and...some mid-pink tulip I can't remember the name of. 35 of those, too.

Got some more clean-up performed in the great outdoors then I made the mistake of thinking, "Hmmm, I bet that mat of Luzula sylvatica encroaching on the sidewalk would be easy enough to get rid of..." Well, we did it - with combined heavy labor from both of us - but that was all she wrote; the day ended there and it was home for naps. Hey, we're old! :b Good intentions were to go back tonight and paint some more, but...y'know.

In fits and starts, though, stamina is returning. It better.

Yesterday we donated a $50 gift certificate to the Hazel Heights P-Patch auction. This will be a new p-patch very near the nursery; if like us you're going, "Hazel Heights?..." we had it explained to us that a woman named Hazel donated the land for this project, thus the name. I hope they got big bucks for our generous contribution! Well, at least a buck or two. Hopefully we can coordinate a fundraiser for them at the nursery sometime this summer.

Tomorrow being Monday I'll stay home and do some more ordering. We're less than seven weeks from opening and there's so much still to procure. Still having massive email headaches (sending) with that spamhaus.org nonsense and it's time to fight that more aggressively...I haven't been able to confirm new subscription requests for some time and we've *ulp* had a few résumés sent to us that I haven't acknowledged, either! It's been flattering, all these people wanting to work for us before we're even in business, but I hope it's not a sign of an economic downturn and work getting harder to come by. We can't pay a living wage and no bennies so I'm sure it's just that everybody wants to hang out with us and be our friends. Uh-huh. ;)

Painting, painting . . . .

All I want to do is to sell and play with plants!

We're spending most, if not all of our time painting. One evening we had help painting when Rhonda volunteered to come by for a while and help. All in all there's so much and many jobs to do. As some of you know I've had a sole-proprietorship (service oriented) business since 1974. It's nothing compared to a retail store.

There are so many sub-jobs required to run a store aside from selling what you like. Business forms, bank accounts for retail, payroll stuff, IRS stuff, employee stuff, insurance, and tons more. When does the easy part start?

Check out the picture above with the December 29th blog picture.

Our friends and customer based enthusiasm really helps remind me that once all this is done, it'll be fun!

Right?

rest for the wicked

I'm trying to take a little time off today but the guilt is overwhelming...I feel like I should be at the store, painting something. The superman work ethic I'll need to succeed hasn't quite kicked in yet but I know it will come if I ease into it. So: my "ease" this day will be sitting at home trying to finish the three seed orders I started months ago, talking to the phone guy and finally getting a number of our own choosing and, if that succeeds, add the # to business cards, website etc. Oh, and figuring out how to embed this blog in the website. Finally adding other pages, too - actual content! Wow.

In other news, we're painting the floor red. Film @ 11.

Little by Little

One task at a time

The inside needs cleaning, painting, and organizing before be figure out where the stock goes.
The outside needs sweeping, fixing (the fence), and organizing so we know where to put the inventory.

Jay was there last night until 2 am painting! Once you've started a task it's easy to get lost in it or just be determined to finish it.

January 1st we had a 'before' gathering. Those on the email list and my club members came by to see the empty space. This way you'll be so impressed with what we've done with it by the time March 1st arrives.

There's so much to do but we're doing it one thing at a time, it's the only way to stay sane.