Park Seed Memories

The Perfect Pumpkin

I can't let Halloween pass without sharing a little something to make you smile. I received this adorable picture of the perfect pumpkin via a family connection. This charming youngster is Isaac, and he is too cute for words!

I'm told that his folks scooped out the pumpkin and filled it with water before adding Isaac. Who would have thunk it--pumpkin as baby bathtub!

I don't know if this is a home-grown pumpkin, but I can't resist pointing out that Park Seed has long offered lots of pumpkin seeds, including Pumpkin Big Moon. Given that those guys can grow to be 150 pounds or more, I'm thinking they have great baby bathtub potential!

In any case, many thanks to Isaac's family for letting me share this sweet shot! Got any good pictures of babies or kids in pumpkins that you've grown? Send 'em along! Just email them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. And have a safe and fun Halloween!

Class "Gets Growing" via Park Seed Contest

My colleagues over in the eCommerce Department have just announced the winner of their most recent contest, called "Get My Class Growing." They tell me it was the toughest contest they've ever had to judge! You see, they received a boatload of heartwarming essays from students, teachers, and parents explaining why their classroom should be selected to receive a Park Seed gift certificate. Several winners were selected, including  one overall winner...DRUMROLL PLEASE...

Fremont Middle School in Pomona, California!

A caring and generous teacher at Fremont took time to submit an essay on behalf of the school's Earth Club. The club was formed and is led by Mr. Eddie Neumann. He has apparently recruited a significant number of students into the club, where they participate in recycling, organic gardening, and preserving natural resources.

The winning essay goes on to say,

"The students at Fremont Middle School have taken pride in an impressive garden area. This area is approximately 30' x 100' and as mentioned, is all organically maintained by the students. Obviously, the learning experience for the students is priceless. The students are learning lifelong skills and values. "

We are pleased to send Mr. Neumann and his club a $150 gift certificate from Park Seed, so that Mr. Neumann doesn't have to dip into his own pockets to keep the program growing. And of course, we salute them for putting a "green" spin on the project, focusing on organic gardening techniques. Park Seed has long championed the organic approach. All of our seed are untreated and we never sell genetically modified seed. And we do carry a wide array of seed that are certified organic.

It is my sincere hope that the Earth Club folks will send me pictures and articles about what they do with their winnings! And likewise for the other runner-up grade-level winners and contest participants. I love seeing what young gardeners can do, and hearing what they have to say about their experiences in the garden. Thank you to everyone who submitted an essay. And keep in touch--let us know what's growing on at your school!

If Only You Could Smell My Blog!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. One of the best things about working at Park Seed Company is getting to know and spend time with all the really nice people who are part of our corporate "family"! As you know, I've been doing a lot of customer service training lately. It's something I enjoy doing, and it's a subject I strongly believe in.

To put the frosting on my cake, two of my colleagues sent me these gorgious flowers to thank me for the extra effort involved in developing and delivering that training.  WOW!

As you can imagine, I've been smiling all week, thanks to my generous friends! And people have been popping into my office every day to admire the flowers and exclaim over the delightful fragance that is wafting into the hallway. Too bad Typepad doesn't offer a "scratch 'n' sniff" blog feature!

In any case, in addition to customer service training, I also have been designing and delivering a leadership training program. And one of the things we stress as a good Rule of Thumb is to "Maintain constructive relationships."

I'd have to say that there's nothing more powerful for building strong relationships than saying "thank you" to teammates and coworkers. It doesn't even have to be anything elaborate, like this huge bouquet. Just a sincere word or quick note can really make a difference. So take a moment to let someone know that you appreciate them. You'll both have something to smile about!

More Bunnies in the Garden!

At the beginning of the year, I had a little fun talking about a Bunny in the garden...with the Bunny in question being author Gertrude "Bunny" Foster. Today, I get to have fun with bunnies and authors again, only this time, we're talking actual twitchy-nosed, fluffy-fuzzed bunny rabbits!

 

The author in question is Loretta Hayward. She entered Park Seed Company's recent Garden Poetry contest, and one of her poems was selected for our "top picks" list. Much to our surprise, we later learned that Loretta is a published author, as well as being an accomplished gardener! Here's the poem she sent in for our contest:

OUR FINE GARDEN FEAST

To the garden I must hurry

To the garden I must go.

Early in the morning

I must visit every row.

 

With dewdrops  on the lettuce

So crisp and sweet they taste.

Early is our harvest--

No portion will we waste.

 

Yellow peppers are in blossom.

Green pole beans are in bloom.

Honey bees gather pollen

in the garden’s sweet perfume.

 

The strawberries all have ripened.

They are red and juicy-sweet!

Every bite is purest pleasure,

Every mouthful a special treat!

 

Let us picnic in the garden!

The finest feast is growing there.

Vine ripe bounty now awaits us-

A basket banquet we can share!

 

So, you ask...what about those bunnies I promised??

 

Well, it seems that Loretta and Ben Hayward have a rabbit breeding businessand a lovely website, www.GardenGateCards.us, that combines their love of bunnies, gardens, and the creative arts! Here's the email I received from Loretta that clued us in about her background:

 

Hello!
I am glad to see my poem in the top 10 listing of the Poetry contest! ... The poem has just been published in my second book, "On the Banks of Durbin Creek-Four Seasons for Bunnies!" It is fully illustrated with our photography of our rabbits, flowers, and gardens (some of which are from Park Seed!)
Thank you! 
Loretta Hayward

 

Right now, The Haywards are traveling to the American Rabbit Breeders Association convention. But when they get back, Loretta has promised to send us some pictures of her bunnies enjoying the family gardens. So stay tuned!

 

And don't forget to send me your own garden pix, poems, or pointers. I love hearing from you! You can email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com anytime.

Return of the Giant Zinnia

What do gardens and friends have in common? Among other things, both gardens and friends always make you smile when they pop up time and time again. I was quite pleased to have an old friend of this blog pop up in my email box this morning, and I'm still smiling as a result! Mr. Bush Prisby wrote in with an update on his Mother's adventures with the GIANT Zinnia in her garden. 

Hello!

Although her garden didn't quite bloom as full this year, my mum grew another giant zinnia 83 1/2 " tall! Last year's version was a mere 77"!

The Morning Glory got off to a slow start and hasn't even bloomed yet, but has found the zinnia to be a favorable trellis in itself.

Bush Prisby

P.S. We just got a killing frost so the Morning Glory+Zinnia will not be blooming together this year...

If you look closely at the picture, you can just barely see Ms. Adelene Prisby, Bush's Mum, on the left, working her amazing magic with that zinnia. Ms. Prisby has been gardening with Park Seed for more than 50 years, and we are so grateful for her and for all our many loyal customers! If you have pictures of your garden and family to share, please email them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. My goal is to post as many stories as possible from generations of great gardeners like YOU!

New Friends on Campus

I mentioned that I've been extra busy of late, and I am certainly enjoying that. One of the things keeping me busy is designing and developing training programs. Some of the training has been for our existing directors and managers. And most recently, I've been working with incoming Customer Service Representatives--you know, those nice folks who answer the telephone when you call any of our Park Seed or Wayside Gardens 800 numbers!  I had a lot of fun with the group that started training last week, and thought you'd like to see some of their smiling faces, since you won't get that pleasure on the telephone.

We've spent a lot of time talking about you, by the way!

Yup--we've been focusing on who our customers are, and how we can find ways to delight you with our products and services.

You know I love hearing from you, so email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com if you have thoughts to share about your experiences chatting with our CSRs. Or to send us a picture of yourself and your family in your garden. We keep customers' pictures posted all over the Customer Service area, to see your smiles and enjoy the beauty that you create in the world through your gardening. Keep in touch. And keep smiling!

Old Friends, New Friends on the Web

I'm really on the run these days with some new special projects. So since I don't have the luxury of writing a long story for you today, I'd like to link you to some other interesting items on the Web that I think you will enjoy!

First is a link to a photography site where our new friend Brian Scott has posted some very nice photographs he took around our part of the state. And if you look closely, you'll even find a collection he took right here, in the Park Seed Trial Gardens!

Next, a Google Alert alerted me to a fascinating blog that focuses on vintage items. This blogger obtained a 1936 Wayside Gardens catalog in one of her expeditions, and she shared some images from that book, along with some thoughtful and encouraging words. Please enjoy visiting "My Vintage Soul."

And my last item today isn't actually a link, but rather follow-up on a post from the beginning of last year. I found and wrote about a heart-warming press release and photos describing how Park Seed partnered with a young man named Patrick Elms to share garden seeds with the citizens of war-torn Sarajevo, Croatia. I was thrilled to receive an email from a gentleman who knows Patrick, and who may be able to get an update from him. I'm hoping perhaps he'll share tales of his 1994 rescue mission, or perhaps talk about his latest humanitarian efforts. As an avid Rotarian, I'm always so happy to share stories about people who are working to make this old world a happier, more beautiful place!

Send your stories and photos to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. I'm always eager to hear from you!

New Park Seed Contest Helps Kids "DIG" Gardening

As you know, I'm pretty passionate about Seeds in Space and, in general, finding new ways to get kids fired up about getting out into the garden. Well, I suggested to my eCommerce colleagues that one way to get kids into gardening would be to help their teachers bring gardening into the classroom!

I'm happy to report that they took me up on the challenge. In an upcoming newsletter, they will be kicking off the "Get My Class Growing!" contest. You can link to ParkSeed.com to get all the details, but here's the gist: send in a paragraph or two telling us why your class would benefit from incorporating hands-on gardening into the curriculum. We hope to hear from teachers, parents, students, administrators--anyone who believes that getting into gardening is a great way for students to cultivate knowledge!

The prizes? We'll have one "grand prize" of a $150 Park Seed gift certificate, plus four additional grade-level prizes. One each for classrooms in kindergarten through 2nd grade; third through fifth grade; sixth through eighth; and ninth through twelfth grade. And as inexpensive as seeds are, these prizes will put a lot of gardening potential into the hands of the winners!

So why should you care about getting gardening going in your school?

The first great thing about classroom gardening is first that it is FUN! What student wouldn't love an excuse to get out of the classroom and into the sunshine...and the dirt, like our little friend in the picture?

And beyond being fun, garden activities become a springboard that can take you into absolutely any discipline! The hands-on science opportunities are obvious. Math? You can use basic arithmatic to figure how many seeds you need, and geometry to set up you square-foot garden.  Language arts? It's a lot easier to write a poem about a garden when you are sitting smack in the middle of one! Music? So many wonderful pieces of music reflect nature--Pines of Rome, with its chirping nightingale, for example. History?: Well, in addition to 140 years of Park Seed history, you can study the history of when and how people learned to purposefully plant seeds and cultivate food rather than just gathering what grew naturally.

Speaking of food, letting kids grow their own food is a tried-and-true technique for getting the little ones to be more adventurous about eating their vegetables. It's fun to eat what you've grown yourself, and it's even more fun if you are munching purple carrots and other weird things!

Finally, gardening is a powerful way to help young people develop an appreciation for Mother Earth and the need to be good citizens and good stewards of our resources.

Whew! Guess I need to get off the soap box and let you go get started writing your essay! I can hardly wait to read them. I look forward to sharing the winning essays right here. And I especially hope that our winners will take lots of pictures and send us regular updates of their adventures in growing, rather like The Orchard School did with their Lunar Plant Growth Chamber challenge.

If you are a teacher or know any teachers, please tell them about our contest! Parents, kids--you are all invited to participate. I'm looking forward to hearing from you and sharing some great stories about how gardening makes a difference in the classroom. Or perhaps more properly, outside the classroom, with kids digging in the dirt and digging into every discipline through the joy of hands-on gardening.

Following Up with a New Friend

One reason that it's fun to be part of the "blogosphere" is that you get to make new friends via the Web. I've had a response from a new friend that I blogged about in September, and thought you'd enjoy her note, too!

On September 9, we had a charming letter from Laura Peterson commending the eCommerce folks on their "Grandmother's Heirloom Treasures" newsletter. In her letter, Laura says, "Some of those in the newsletter, like the double hibiscus, were not developed in grandmother's day." As it turns out, newsletter copywriter and gardening whiz Denise found out that the double hibiscus actually originated in 1846. I emailed that info to Laura, and received this lovely note back, along with her permission to share it here:

"Dear Claire,
Of course you have my permission to use my email note in your blog. As an older lady, I have trouble sometimes understanding blogs and all that electronic stuff, so I just write to you. But of course, feel free to use it,and thank you--I am flattered.

I did not know the double hibiscus was so old. In Northern Ohio where I grew up, no one I knew had ever even heard of hibiscus because then they were not cold hardy. We did have hollyhocks and Rose of Sharon, which are similar in shape. Exotic Southern flowers were the exclusive province of the greenhouse, which most could not afford.

When we moved south, I was thrilled to learn that at last I might grow these exotic lovelies! Alas,my beloved lilacs had to stay behind. Here we have crepe myrtles, though, which are so fancy and lacy--a good substitute.

I like to study your seed catalogues. In those pages I first saw hibiscus, the famous Disco Belle. I saw a living one once in South Carolina, and it was amazing for size, color, and beauty. I learned the names of many new plants and of the roses.

This does not help you folks any, because in my situation, I usually don't buy much. But I sure do enjoy those catalogues! My son gets them now, and he buys plants, then passes the catalogues on to me so they are not wasted. He has a beautiful home with gardenias, camillias, honeysuckle, and, of course, roses of many shapes and colors, so he is keeping the tradition alive.
Thank you,
Laura Peterson"

Laura, you may not "get" the blogsphere, but you certainly get the glories of gardening! Thanks again for your emails. I surely hope to hear from you again. And don't forget to send pictures! Laura, you and anyone else with a great gardening story or memory to share can always send them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. It's a joy to hear from you!