Park Seed Memories

As If You Needed Another Excuse...

There are a million great reasons to plant a garden and researchers from the University of Bari in Italy have just given us another one: looking at beautiful things actually helps reduce sensations of pain! I ran across a blurb about this in my Arthritis Today magazine. Then, with a little digging, I found a more in-depth article.

Apparently, researchers put electrodes on the heads of some volunteers, who then looked at either beautiful artwork, ugly artwork, or a blank screen. While they were looking, someone would zap their hands with a laser.

As it turns out, when people were looking at something beautiful, their brains registered less pain--a third less than when they were looking at the ugly art or blank screen!

How did the scienctists know? The paper says the electrodes detected "a clear inhibition of the P2 wave amplitude, localised in the anterior cingulate cortex." Ah--of course!

Huh?

Anyway, I would think that looking at beautiful flowers and garden scenes would surely have the same efect. After all, we already know that playing in the dirt releases natural antidepressants. Likewise, looking at flowers increases feelings of happiness and lifts moods.

So...if you were hesitating at all about cracking open your Park Seed and Wayside Gardens catalogs to start getting ready for spring planting, you can stop worrying and start gardening. It's good for what ails ya!

What's your favorite reason for gardening? Fun? Fresh air? Safe food? Cheap entertainment? Quality time with the family? Educational experience for the kids? Email your reasons and garden photos to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com, and I'll share them here.

Seeing the Forest and the Trees

My, how time flies! I apologize for not posting last week. You see, I've been engrossed in a new special project. I'm a big believer in the power of communication. (Your probably guessed that, since I'm a blogger! J) To help with planning and to facilitate conversations across the Park Seed and Wayside Gardens brands and all the different functional areas, I've been compiling what I call The Big Picture!

It's really an 18-month calendar showing each area and the big tasks that they are supposed to deliver month by month. I've had fun and learned a lot from the process, as you might imagine. It's helping me see both the forest and the trees, when it comes to all the moving parts that have to consistently click into place in order to serve YOU, our customers!

Last week, I met with fourteen different areas to get their input, put the results into a giant color-coded spreadsheet, and posted it outside my door for people to start using. As I had hoped, folks are stopping by to admire the complexity, learn what other groups are doing, and doublecheck what I've documented about their own areas. In fact, this morning, I caught Stephanie and Denise scoping it out (above).

This week, I have several more groups to visit, as The Big Picture continues to come into focus. One thing that jumps out at me when I look at The Big Picture is just how far ahead of the game we have to be if we're going to get the right products to you at the right time. While you are ordering seeds for your spring garden, we are creating catalogs for the fall, and growing things to sell next spring...or even further into the future. I was told that if we want to sell you a Black Bamboo plant this year, we had to know three years ago that you were going to want it!

Well, I'm off again to interview more teams about their projects and plans. But wait...what's that noise outside my door? Ah, it seems that another Denise has come to join the fun! (We call them Denise 1 and Denise 2--just like Dr. Seuss's Thing 1 and Thing 2.)  Yes, we are busy and work hard, but we do love to laugh and have fun! So have fun in your garden and enjoy the fruits of our Big Picture as you do so.

Do you have a Big Picture of your garden? How about a garden design that you are dreaming about while the snow flies? I love hearing your gardening stories and sharing your photos. Just send them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com, and I'll post them here for all to enjoy!

Park Seed Trial Gardens Win AAS Award!

Well here's a great way to start the new year--we just found out that our 9-acre trial gardens have been recognized for excellence by the All-America Selections folks! Each year, they honor the AAS Display Garden that provides the best educational AAS programs during "open house" or "field day" events during the peak season for garden flowers and vegetables. Here's what the congratulatory letter said:

"On behalf of All-America Selections, congratulations are extended to Park Seed Trial Gardens, as winner of the 2008 AAS Display Garden Exemplary Education Category II Award. Your entry is an excellent example of an outstanding educational field day event."

Those of you who visited us on Flower Day 2008 won't be surprised at all to hear that we won the award! Here's a terrific picture from Flower Day 2007, taken by Christa Hanson.

I understand that we'll be getting a  nice plaque for our "wall of fame," plus some visibility on the AAS website. You can be sure I'll share some photos of all that when it happens. But for now, be sure to let Stephanie Turner and Chris Browne know how proud you are of their accomplishment in leading our Trial Garden team!

Happy New Victory Garden Year!

Well, I'm back from the holidays, refreshed and reinvigorated! You know, one of the joys of spending time with your family is that you sometimes learn new things about the people you've known the longest. For example, this year, we had an impromptu Fields family reunion at my father's home in Smyrna, GA. Mind you, this is a small, select group: my father, his brother, me, and all our spouses. (That's my father and me in a picture from Father's Day 2006 at lower left.)

Frankly, I have never put myself in the ranks of the "generations of great gardeners" that I so love to write about here. Indeed, I joke that I am part of Park Seed Company's diversity hiring program for the horticulturally impaired! The only gardening I recall from my youth involved the occasional tomato plant that my parents attempted, and some summer vegetable gardens of my own first when I was in high school. I'd usually just make a little squash patch. And for my mother, I'd throw in one row of cucumbers. Which always delivered enough cukes to feed a small army! (Too bad neither my dad nor I will eat them.)

In any case, I was really surprised during a family bull session when my father mentioned that he remembered his folks having a Victory Garden during World War II. This really caught my attention, because at Park Seed, we've been talking about the resugence of victory gardens for a while now.

As he tells it, his family had an open lot next to their home, and it was his job to help turn the soil to get things started. He was only 12 or 13 at the time, so that was pretty tough work for a young fellow. (Hmmm...maybe that's one reason he never got interested in gardening as a hobby!) On the other hand, it was the sort of work that seemed like a very tangible way to defeat our enemies, and it was something that even little kids could participate in. Then, as now, you can't beat gardening as a way to learn about science, nutrition, and the great returns you can get on a little investment of time and energy!

Did you help your family with a Victory Garden in the past? Are you growing one now?? Tell us about it! I'd love to hear your stories and see your pictures. Just email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. And don't forget to get one of these cool signs to let everyone know that you are Gardening for Victory today!