All the talk we've been hearing about food gardening this week made me think of this display I saw at Rolling Green Nursery in New Hampshire a couple of years ago.
We'd love to see the clever ways you're marketing edibles. Send your photo of the week images to smartinez@gie.net.
The consumer and trade press have been saying vegetable gardening will be the in thing in 2009. Now we’ve got some numbers to prove it.
Yesterday I sat in on the 5th annual Garden Writers Web Teleconference—The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America. The session opened with Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association (NGA), who provided some facts and figures that will be of particular interest to garden retailers.
NGA conducted a survey in January asking about 2008 food gardening activities and plans for 2009 activities. Here are some highlights:
In 2008, 36 million households (31%) had a food garden. In 2009, 43 million households (37%) plan to have a food garden.
21% of households will start food gardening in 2009.
Among households that plan to start a food garden in 2009, 11% intend to start growing herbs; 10% will start growing vegetables in containers; 5% will start a vegetable garden; 4% will start growing fruits or berries.
1 in 3 households surveyed were motivated to grow food because of the economy. However, the recession is just one of the many trend-drivers, suggesting the interest in food gardening may continue to increase, even after the economy improves.
Craig Humphries, director of consumer research for Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., has drawn a similar conclusion based on research conducted within his company. Calls to the Scotts Miracle-Gro’s consumer helpline regarding vegetables spiked considerably in 2008. He’s also seen other indicators that point to long-term interest in food gardening.
Consumers are still paying high prices for fresh produce, even though costs in that realm have stabilized a bit over the past year. The ability to raise tasty, fresh produce for a fraction of what you pay in the grocery store still has a lot of appeal. Plus, gardeners can feel secure from E. coli and other food-borne pathogens that have made headlines recently.
You’re also seeing more people looking for home-based activities, Humphries said. He noted that the trend-watcher/futurist Faith Popcorn has seen the emergence of “ubercocooning”—the next iteration of the cocooning phenomenon seen after 9-11.
There’s hope that the increase in vegetable gardening will lead to more interest in community gardening and initiatives to pass along surplus produce to food banks (through programs like Plant a Row for the Hungry).
OK. We’ve laid out a bunch of facts, figures, assumptions and conclusions. Now let’s hear what you’ve got to say. Do you think the resurgence in food gardening is more than a one-year fad? What are you doing to keep the momentum going? Leave us a comment below.
-- Sarah
OK, I’ve had it with the Brothers Oom – old “GL” and “D” and all their negative reports on the economy. So we’re taking “the other path” in the fork in the road today and joining two elderly ladies ...
… who were sitting on a park bench outside the local town hall where a flower show was in progress. One leaned over and said, “Life is so boring. We never have any fun anymore. For $5 I’d take my clothes off right now and streak through that stupid flower show!”
“You’re on!,” said her friend, holding up a $5 bill.
As fast as she could, the first little old lady fumbled her way out of her clothes before bolting through the front door of the flower show in a full-naked streak. Waiting outside, her friend soon heard a huge commotion inside the hall, followed by loud applause. The naked lady burst out through the door surrounded by a cheering crowd.
“What happened?” asked her waiting friend. “Apparently,” said the first lady, “I won first prize for ‘Best Dried Arrangement.’”
This joke is part of the collection of happy/silly/inspirational garden-related thoughts brought to you by David Hobson’s Garden Humour Web site. If you, like I, need a reason to smile these days, then you might want to do the point/click thing here.
It sure beats doing the point/click thing here.
-- Yale
You gotta give props to a company that can make garden seeds sexy. Hence, I’m tipping my hat today to Hort Couture and its Culinary Couture Seeds line. The display they’re offering cleverly packages 50 seed varieties in an eye-catching way. You know it’s going to spur interest.
According to the folks at Hort Couture, this setup ships in less than a week. You can get the particulars online.
-- Sarah
A tidbit from a recent entry on the Shop.org Community blog:
…Lin believes that much of this success boils down to a crystal clear corporate culture that was created and is owned by employees.
Who is Lin and why in the heck do we care about his strategy? Lin’s business, the online shoe store Zappos.com, is a wunderkind in the retail world. The company grew 20% in 2008, and is on track to make additional headway in 2009. I found it particularly intriguing that Lin attributed his success to corporate culture. Not “top-quality products” or “superior customer service.” Granted, those elements are part of the mix. But what he’s essentially saying is that his team has truly bought into those concepts. It’s more than just him talking, and the rest of his team nodding in detached, quasi-agreement.
Some of the ways Zappos creates and evaluates corporate culture make your hair stand on end. Like this:
Once a year, Zappos asks each employee to submit several paragraphs for a culture book, which is distributed company-wide. Lin said Zappos “only edits typos” and that everything is published…”the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
The company also encourages employees to discuss the company on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. (Forums where the company has little to no control over what’s being said.)
Are you cringing yet?
I’m an A-type personality, so the thought of relinquishing that much control over my brand makes me shiver. But…then you look at the result of this radical corporate culture: Employees that are vested in the business—both in practice and in theory. A team that quickly and efficiently churns out orders and makes customers happy.
I’m not advocating that you adopt the Zappos philosophy. (I just can’t. It goes against my grain.) But I would encourage you take a critical look at your company culture. What could you do to give employees a sense of ownership and investment? What benefits might result?
The blog entry on Shop.org included an additional anecdote: A Zappos employee found $150 in a wallet that a customer had purchased from the company; then returned to the retailer. The worker quickly jotted off a note, and returned the cash to the customer. She was thrilled, and told everyone about the experience.
An unwavering corporate culture meant the employee absolutely knew how to respond, Lin believes. “If you take care of your culture, things like this will happen,” he said. “People will do the right thing.”
Step back from your business and take a long look. Are you creating a culture where employees will “do the right thing”?
-- Sarah
This week’s featured display garden comes from Marci McIntosh, marketing projects coordinator at Four Star Greenhouse in Carleton, Mich. Marci also offered this reminder:
“Each year, Michigan State University organizes the Michigan Garden Tour. It is the first two weeks of August, this year August 3-14. It’s a great opportunity to see display gardens at 7 different sites. For more info, visit www.hrt.msu.edu/planttour.”
We’re spotlighting display gardens on Open Register for the next few weeks. We’d love to see yours! Send in your images and description today!
Early results from Proven Winners’ consumer outreach campaign show signs of a strong spring ahead. Requests for the brand’s Gardener’s Idea Book have jumped significantly from last year. In 2008, Proven Winners received almost 7,300 literature requests from Jan. 1 to Feb. 13. This year, more than 21,000 requests have been processed during the same time period. Feedback from a consumer survey issued by Proven Winners is also promising. Approximately 56% of respondents said they’re planning to buy more plants this year. And almost 40% of consumers surveyed said they’d buy the same amount as last year.
-- Sarah
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