Posted on 02/15/2010 7:10:14 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
PORTLAND, Ore. Like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, David Niklas feels the quickening of spring as the season ramps up at his wholesale nursery in a farming community south of Portland. Niklas and his workers busily package plants for shipment.
These days, his flowers and vegetable seedlings have fewer places to go, as the housing bubble burst and the state and national economies flatlined.
Just three years after reaching a record high of almost $1 billion in sales, Oregon's nursery industry has plummeted into an historic slump. Nurseries are laying off employees, cutting costs and foregoing new buildings and equipment.
A few, like Niklas' Clackamas Greenhouses, have gone bankrupt.
"The family has poured money into it as we tried to restructure it and make new markets," said Niklas, who had to file bankruptcy after losing almost half his sales when his primary retailer was bought out. "Commercial lenders aren't talking to me because I'm coming out of bankruptcy.
"They aren't even talking to GM, so why would they talk to a little nursery?"
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/
I have one 4X4 raised bed that is pretty much dedicated to herbs for the kitchen I have dill, rosemary, tarragon, chives, basil, lemony grass stuff, parsley, hot peppers, and other stuff that strikes my fancy in there some of these herbs are such hardy perennials that they will try to take over the whole bed that’s one reason I do not have any mint. The almost invasive ones can go in one of those 3’ by 8” window box deals so you have them isolated
Yeah, we’re behind the curve with fruit trees. Just got some of those to start with last year. We’re trying to go with low spray (disease resistant) varieties to reduce the amount of pesticide we have to use (expensive!) and with our hectic schedule I don’t want to forget to spray one week and have a dead tree the next! So far we’ve got Liberty and Enterprise apples. Along with a couple varieties of low spray Asian pears.
We’ve got 4yr old blueberry bushes now that made several gallons last summer. Kids love those in muffins and pancakes. I just rinse them, let them dry off in a colander, put them in a ziploc and into the deep freeze they go! Pour out the desired quantity of little frozen pellets when I get ready to use them. My kids will eat them frozen too, right out of the bag. It’s fairly easy to grow these ‘organically’ down here. Just mulch around them with pinestraw and water them if it gets egregiously dry.
We also got some little bush cherries. Sour cherries but supposedly they’ll can just fine for jam and preserves.
I got a hanging planter of strawberries last summer on impulse at the local nursery. 3 little strawberry plants. Those three little plants sent off over SIXTY runners. I’m getting ready to put those in the strawberry bed this week. I think they’re everbearing because some of them were setting fruit last October. I’ll use the ones that don’t fit in the bed along a sidewalk as edging. Did I mention I hate monkey grass?
And I might be putting in *another* order to Jung this week LOL. I am an unrepentant seed collector.
I HAD a badge and several guns.
Deer are sneaky. I actually used up to 6 nuisance permits a year (you give the demised deer to charity groups) and still couldn’t keep up.
Unless I hide it or cover it they’ll get it including climbing on the deck to get container plants.
Wow! Thanks! I certainly wasn’t expecting that. I do like the idea of frequenting other FReeper businesses and was delighted to see the nursery reference.
Thank you again.
How many head of antlered goats have you ventilated? Dropping a couple in front of others usually sends a strong message, that even a sniveling prog/lib might understand.
Winter savory is one herb that I put along the edge of my rose bed. It turns brown in the winter, but it comes right back like gangbusters. It’s good with meats, Italian food, stews, etc.
It’s under a foot of snow right now, but I’ll cut it back in the spring and it will be green and fluffy. I took about half of it out last summer because it was spreading too quickly. It gives the bed some structure and interest when the roses are all pruned back. It gets a tiny white flower on it, but that’s really insignificant.
Thanks for your shameless plug.
When Mother was alive, she ordered from you every year. I placed my order with you today.
< glowing comments >
We have always had excellent service from jung seeds. I highly recommend them for all your gardening needs.
< /glowing comments >
I buy some wonderful deer repellent that seems to work pretty good at keeping the deer out of my roses. I’ve forgotten the name, but it’s a little plastic cannister that sits on top of a wire and lasts all season. I’ve paid a lot at a specialty nirsery for it, but it’s about half the price at a big box farm supply.
I have two sets of those potmakers, in two sizes each set. You can make a bunch of pots while watching the news.
Crap. My wife LOVES Kona blends...
Deer hating dog is a good option. Particularly if you can trust said deer hating dog to stay outside at night (and not go walkabout around the entire county). Our dog didn’t kill any deer, but he made munching my garden and my roses a nerve-wracking experience and the deer moved onto more pleasant places.
That is Essential
Even in a city - if you have a little balcony - you can grow a ‘living wall’ of veggies.
And if in country - double your garden and can - and get a good guide book on wild plants in your area. Lots of free food out there.
“Niklas, who had to file bankruptcy after losing almost half his sales when his primary retailer was bought out.”
This statement is a bit confusing to me. If his primary business, the retail, was sold, wouldn’t that lead to him losing sales that were associated with that side of his business?
Either way, Mr. Niklas, please call the Dave Ramsey show...
Is this the nursery where you work? I’m just confused....
The first thing to plant is an 8' fence, closing off at least twice as much area (and with a gate 2' wider) than you think will ever be needed. ;-)
Happy Growing,
MaxMax.
Great catalogue! I think of it as an American institution. One of a very few for which I have found that plants arrive in great condition.
http://homeharvest.com/containergardenpotsplastic.htm
cool, perfect, where do I get one? thanks!
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