Michelle Obama & Cookie Monster

My son is in love with cookie monster - when he was younger he would talk about "cook mon" all the time. So I was happy to come across this. Michelle Obama will be making her debut on Sesame Street in November, speaking on none other than our favorite topic: Gardening!
She will be kicking off the 40th anniversary season of Sesame Street with a discussion and demo on vegetable gardening and healthy eating. If you have kids (or not) and did not plant a garden this year, I urge you to try it in 2010. Even a small container garden can produce enough tomatoes for a family.
Political views aside, it is great to see a politcian (or their wife in this case) promoting our industry and the ease and fun associated with growing a vegetable garden.
Now, I am off to find some cookies. Oops, I mean vegetables.

TKJR

Get out and DIG

I love the fall season. Every morning for the next 8 weeks or so, I cant wait to get up and go outside in the dark cool mornings. Above ground plants are slowing down, getting ready for winter. But you can almost hear the roots growing. Fall color is beginning to show. Get outside and enjoy! This is a great time to plan, so get outside and get digging.
Now I need to brag a little. Last fall we planted 197 shade trees for a new subdivision. Now, a year later we have not lost a single tree. Our men and women did a great job planting and mother nature has been very good to us since this installation.
My grandkids, Colin, Jack and Camryn get cuter every day. They love it outside - I think they are little tree huggers already. And we've got another one on the way at the end of October. My daughter in law is looking great and we will keep you informed.
Finally, an update on work - it is time for snow plow bids. What an awful thought. Playing in the snow, sledding, skiiing, snowball fights are fun but pushing it, plowing it, shoveling it is "yuck". But we all enjoy and need a paycheck so you will see us or hear us on those wintery nights. Puerto Vallarts sounds too good!!

Apologies, Apologies and did you ever wonder where the trees come from?

First of all Serena Williams gets no pass here on her lame apology. I think she is a spoiled brat. And Kanye West same thing. I am sure many of you are surprised I know of his existence. Why does he exist? Speaking of dogs of the human race, Rod Blagojevich - please dont buy his book. And why did they let his wife out of the jungle?

J Frank Schmidt Nursery of Gresham, OR, invited myself and our nursery manager, Robert Livingston to tour their nurseries. What a trip! Talk about putting two kids in a candy shop!
The many nurseries in Oregon probably produce 80-90% of all "baby trees" in the US and Canada. The growing conditions, weather, temperature, humidity and soils are the best in the US.

For us, as growers, this size plant is known as a liner. We buy them young and small in a bare root state & line them out in our fields togrow landscape size plants. Then they are sold to garden centers, municipalities etc. throughout the midwest.

The Schmidt family is a 4th generation nursery family with over 60 years experience and now produces shade trees, ornamental trees and shrubs in over 3000 acres on 9 nurseries. Their knowledge, horticultural technology, organization and production are unsurpassed in the industry. They work with most of the Arboretums and Universities across the nation to experiment with new superior plant introductions.

Our total trip consisted of a too short 54 hours with 17 hours of ground and air travel and 16 hours of touring the nurseries: learning, learning, learning how this production of millions of plants per year takes place. The Schmidt family and all their employees are the best of the best. I have to say Bob and I enjoyed eating the fresh pacific salmon as a highlight of the trip.
Yes, we did fly on 9/11. It brought back and refreshed our memories of that tragic day. God bless all of those victims and their families.

TKSR