Chance's Garden Everything Forum Blog

Ooh, yes. Could be they make them available later on? After all, watermelons are a relatively late harvest.

I thought I saved some but have no idea where they might be. That happens with too many seeds…

I just did a count and, not including rubus plants nor my own seedlings and cuttings, I have fifty trees and shrubs so far ordered for bare root season.

Gonna be another busy spring.

I'm done with this kind of volume after this round, though, because I'm essentially out of room in the yarden after this, with my remaining additions filling gaps revealed as time and pruning establish the shape of the maturing system.

The project area does not require such intensity of focus, and much of what I'm doing there moving forward is seedlings and my own grafting work.

M Ljin wrote:Ooh, yes. Could be they make them available later on? After all, watermelons are a relatively late harvest.

I thought I saved some but have no idea where they might be. That happens with too many seeds…

Yes'm, I suspect that's it.

Two Seeds In A Pod, the company through which they were introduced, specifically mentions that they're conducting germination tests right now and are adding seeds to the catalog as those tests are completed.

I ordered 20+ varieties of seeds from them, and I'll add another 5 or so once they're ready. You might go check them out, if you haven't, they're doing something cool by preserving and promoting Anatolian/Turkish seeds. Some unique and interesting offerings.

Speaking of seeds, I just placed my Bane's Best peppers order.

I left a note asking if he's got any more diverse breeding populations or recommendations to fit within my context, and I'll place another order after this year's seeds are fully stocked, because I only added one super hot to my basket this time.

I'm focusing on finding sweet peppers that have fantastic taste and massive production. I'm just so tired of wimpy ass bell peppers giving a few peppers after 5 months in the ground. I want more.

So, I'm gonna trial around 20 varieties this year, and I'll get some more of the same set into other gardens to see how they perform in other locations.

Goal with peppers is same as all annuals:

1) Disease free and resilient plants
2) Good production even with direct sow into soil
3) Kitchen utility (good flavor, good size/shape, good texture, etc)
4a) Naturalized population which reliably self-sows and produces every year
4b) Novelty and aesthetics

Naturalization is more important than the novelty and aesthetics, but it's easier and faster to pursue the latter than it is the former, and pursuing the latter doesn't need to impair the former if done with consideration.

The sweet peppers from Bane's Best are uncommon in that they're derived from hot and super hot peppers, and have the flavor profile of those peppers without the heat.

For example, I love Scotch bonnet peppers, because of the tropical flavor and potent heat. But, my family are not pepper heads like I am, so they don't get to experience the incredible tropical fruit flavor of the island scorcher peppers. Pineapple-pepper flavor combo in a salad (or on a pizza for your pineapple pizza loving savages).

Same thing with a scorpion pepper. They have, actually, a really tasty, savory and pepperry (as in black pepper) flavor that is delicious on smoked meats or in beans and jambalaya or gumbo.

With these selections from Bane's, I'll be able to share some of the incredible flavors of these fruits in a heat-free or minimal heat fashion. My family do okay with moderate spice, and even enjoy it (heh) with certain meals.

Plus, I'll share a bunch with neighbors. I'm gonna obtain my nurseryman license over the winter, and maybe I'll sell a few vegetable starts too. We'll see. I'm thinking I'll share with as many of my neighbors as I can this year, and then I'll ask them next year if they want to prepay me to start their 2028 gardens for them for a lump fee. Betcha I could make $3-$5k doing that in the first year.

Plus, I quite like that business model. Here's a brief outline from the customer's perspective:

1) Pre-order entire garden, started from seed
2) Select from list of species and varieties
3) Select desired pick-up (or shipping) date
4) Sit back and be stress free about getting next year's garden prepared
5) Be delighted when bonus plants are included in the order, and either plant or (as will be gently suggested in a note with the bonus plants) share with friends/family/neighbors

Other Thoughts:

1) Would obviously need to grow starts well in excess of ordered demand, to ensure deliverability.
2) Easy upsell opportunity at time of pickup/delivery, since starts are already paid for and new starts are cheap and appealing, especially with novelty factor involved.
3) The sharing of extra plants is how you encourage grassroots marketing and build a loyal customer base within tight-knit communities. "Hey Billy, did you order next year's starts from Chance's Magic Plants yet?" "Yup, I sure did Sue. How about you?" "I did. After you gave me those plants last year, you know, the tomatoes that had the crazy colors and grew too many tomatoes, I knew I had to order this year. He even gave me a big discount when I told him how I found him. Thanks again."
4) Provides the upfront capital to produce more annual garden starts, as well as the wider needs of the full nursery, at just the time when nursery sales are dwindling, similar to bare root ordering season.
5) This also encourages a long-term relationship with your customers which, over time, looks a lot less like a transaction and a lot fulfilling a necessary role for the community and being fairly compensated for doing so. This, in turn, demands a high level of accountability on the part of the nursery to maintain a high level of quality, integrity, and service.

Oh, and you could offer a planting service as well, so that the starts show up and get put directly in the ground, for an additional fee.