I am so excited today. I actually turned my attention towards our nursery today. In July when I ordered my plants, I put them in a wheelbarrow filled with dirt. I put the labels under them buried in the dirt. And then I left them. I did water them now and again. Oh yeah, we did put the urc's in sand in tubs to grow. They did well.
So today, I finally made it out there to the garage to label them properly and plant them in my raised planter. The kids helped me. I wish they did not because with the exception of Bailey, the kids were in my way. And it took longer with their help. It is worth it in the long run to let them help because some day they will be our laborers.
I felt good in what we did. I only lost the labels for one group of plants. And the rest are labeled correctly. It feels good to get out there. I hope we are able to grow more plants during the fall and winter. I know that it will take up a few years to make a profit, but the more we plant the sooner it will happen. Plus, it is healthy for the kids to have a project through the winter.
Well that is about it. Hopefully, I will do more later.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Going on vacation
Well, like the title says, we are going on vacation. Luckily it is only three days. But I never got the liners in the ground. When I went out to water, I found the liners dried out. They were all still in the paper wads they were shipped in.
The other day when I was going to pot the liners, and my son reminded me to put them in the ground, I had made a mix of dirt for the liners in the wheel barrel. So, I planted them in the wheel barrel. I put the plastic bags with the names of the plants on it, and buried them under dirt next to the plant the bags name. Sounds like a disaster, right? As, soon as I was done, I figured out that I had 6 other liners that were in tiny pots. The leaves were all starting to dry and look sick. I felt so bad, but I don't have the dirt to plant them in. Maybe when I go out to water them today, I will find a solution for those six.
My plan is to water them well before I leave tonight. Then, I will pray they survive.
I am very serious about my backyard nursery. I just need to get dirt, a composting pile, and some beds made. I thought we had a bed made, but then Justin decided that it was not good enough. So now I have to wait for him to do it right. I am thinking about telling him to let me use the bed he made, and he can make the rest how he envisions them.
I know that this is a long term plan. I am excited to see it grow. I just keep reminding myself not to give up before I see the exponential results of my actions. I read that many people try something and don't see results so quit. But they quit right before they were about to see the results of their actions. Sometimes results take a while to see, but when they do show up, the results are far more then could have been imagined.
By the way, we ran out of money buying all kinds of plant stuff but we still needed dirt. Justin had left over sand from a job he did, and had mu from the front landscape left over, and bought a scoop of top soil and mixed them all together for our potting soil. He sifted the mulch to get the fine parts out before he added it. The rest was too big for potting soil. He also added pearl lite to the mix. He is creative like that.So much more to say but I will save it for later.
The other day when I was going to pot the liners, and my son reminded me to put them in the ground, I had made a mix of dirt for the liners in the wheel barrel. So, I planted them in the wheel barrel. I put the plastic bags with the names of the plants on it, and buried them under dirt next to the plant the bags name. Sounds like a disaster, right? As, soon as I was done, I figured out that I had 6 other liners that were in tiny pots. The leaves were all starting to dry and look sick. I felt so bad, but I don't have the dirt to plant them in. Maybe when I go out to water them today, I will find a solution for those six.
My plan is to water them well before I leave tonight. Then, I will pray they survive.
I am very serious about my backyard nursery. I just need to get dirt, a composting pile, and some beds made. I thought we had a bed made, but then Justin decided that it was not good enough. So now I have to wait for him to do it right. I am thinking about telling him to let me use the bed he made, and he can make the rest how he envisions them.
I know that this is a long term plan. I am excited to see it grow. I just keep reminding myself not to give up before I see the exponential results of my actions. I read that many people try something and don't see results so quit. But they quit right before they were about to see the results of their actions. Sometimes results take a while to see, but when they do show up, the results are far more then could have been imagined.
By the way, we ran out of money buying all kinds of plant stuff but we still needed dirt. Justin had left over sand from a job he did, and had mu from the front landscape left over, and bought a scoop of top soil and mixed them all together for our potting soil. He sifted the mulch to get the fine parts out before he added it. The rest was too big for potting soil. He also added pearl lite to the mix. He is creative like that.So much more to say but I will save it for later.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The plants arrived
Wow. We got four shipments of plants via UPS. It was very exciting and overwhelming. We stuck the unrooted cuttings. That was a good experience. We haven't watched the videos yet. We really need to do that. We have gotten all of our information from the growers board and from the free plants website. We have liners and rooted cuttings that we need to plant in the ground. And I was about to plant them in pots when I remembered that plants do better in the ground, according to the growers board. Actually, my 7 year old son asked me, "aren't these suppose to go in the ground?" Then it hit me. Yeah! What was I thinking? So, I came inside to watch the video about planting your stock plants. Then I realized that none of the videos say anything about planting rc's, liners or stock plants. So, now I am going to post asking where to start on the videos. My guess is that someone will say just start anywhere. And that is probably the best advice because this is the third time I went to watch a video and was stuck on which one to start on.
Well, we have a start and it is exciting. Have to go, the baby just woke up.
Well, we have a start and it is exciting. Have to go, the baby just woke up.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Start of Something New
My husband, Justin, is a coal miner. He is wearing his body down really fast and he is tired of working midnights. So, we talked about what business we could to start together. We wanted one that we could make a family business, teaching the kids a trade. And we wanted to be able to help others once we got started. We decided on a nursery. We imagined a traditional nursery where customers come and buy just about everything for their backyard landscape. Right away, we both agreed that I would have to carry this dream through to fruition because Justin has his hands full working 6 and 7 days a week.
I went to the computer and immediately googled, how to start a nursery. I read a few articles about starting a traditional nursery. Then, I came to a website called the Backyard Nursery. I was so excited! The website promoted a program that teaches people how to start a nursery out of their backyard with very little investment. The website also talked about the wholesale side to the nursery business. I did not even know that there was a wholesale side to nurseries. The site was filled with so much information that I could not take it all in. And the site gave away so much free information. The site was filled with practically everything you need to know to get started. That is what gave me the clue it could be for real.
I called my mom because Justin was asleep as he works midnights. I asked her to go to the site and look at it with me. We read things together and discussed the possibility of this working. We were now both excited. When Justin woke up, I showed him the site. He too became excited. We decided that on payday we would order the program. And we did.
When we got the program, I was happy but a little less than before. I think that I was just overwhelmed with all the information. I tried to sit down with Justin and make a plan. I was a little too intense and set him off. So, after reading an email from the company about taking the first step, I decided that I needed to go outside and start getting cuttings from our plants and try to root them. Justin joined me. We were so uncertain about how it was done. But we had so much fun. We just used a tray with soil and stuck the cuttings in. We felt better because we now knew how to propagate plants. These plants that we are rooting will just be for give away. But the experience was invaluable. It was as if after taking cuttings we felt like professionals. I checked a few today and there are roots growing.
I began looking at the rooted cuttings and the unrooted cuttings(rc's and urc's) on the growers board to see what I wanted to buy. A few days before pay day, I started to order. Before I knew it I placed too many orders. Four I think. Maybe five. We shall see how many invoices I get. I am so excited. We have rooted cuttings, unrooted cuttings, and liners that will be shipped Monday or Tuesday. I don't know what to do with them but that is Justin's part. I just know that we need to start growing our stock plants now. And I ordered mums for fall. I hope that it works out to sell the mums in the fall. If not there is always next fall.
Our goal is to replace our income in two years. I just saw a person on the board who had a huge backyard nursery in two years, so I can see the possibility.
Now there is so much to do. I need to print a copy of all the invoices we have paid. I need to start a file for our business. I need to make letter head for our business. Oh and how about applying for a nursery licence. That will be necessary before we can sell anything.
I am so very excited. But just a warning to all you newbies: other people will be negative. Don't let them steal your dream. They don't know the information and opportunity you have your hands on. But truly, you have found a pot of gold.
I went to the computer and immediately googled, how to start a nursery. I read a few articles about starting a traditional nursery. Then, I came to a website called the Backyard Nursery. I was so excited! The website promoted a program that teaches people how to start a nursery out of their backyard with very little investment. The website also talked about the wholesale side to the nursery business. I did not even know that there was a wholesale side to nurseries. The site was filled with so much information that I could not take it all in. And the site gave away so much free information. The site was filled with practically everything you need to know to get started. That is what gave me the clue it could be for real.
I called my mom because Justin was asleep as he works midnights. I asked her to go to the site and look at it with me. We read things together and discussed the possibility of this working. We were now both excited. When Justin woke up, I showed him the site. He too became excited. We decided that on payday we would order the program. And we did.
When we got the program, I was happy but a little less than before. I think that I was just overwhelmed with all the information. I tried to sit down with Justin and make a plan. I was a little too intense and set him off. So, after reading an email from the company about taking the first step, I decided that I needed to go outside and start getting cuttings from our plants and try to root them. Justin joined me. We were so uncertain about how it was done. But we had so much fun. We just used a tray with soil and stuck the cuttings in. We felt better because we now knew how to propagate plants. These plants that we are rooting will just be for give away. But the experience was invaluable. It was as if after taking cuttings we felt like professionals. I checked a few today and there are roots growing.
I began looking at the rooted cuttings and the unrooted cuttings(rc's and urc's) on the growers board to see what I wanted to buy. A few days before pay day, I started to order. Before I knew it I placed too many orders. Four I think. Maybe five. We shall see how many invoices I get. I am so excited. We have rooted cuttings, unrooted cuttings, and liners that will be shipped Monday or Tuesday. I don't know what to do with them but that is Justin's part. I just know that we need to start growing our stock plants now. And I ordered mums for fall. I hope that it works out to sell the mums in the fall. If not there is always next fall.
Our goal is to replace our income in two years. I just saw a person on the board who had a huge backyard nursery in two years, so I can see the possibility.
Now there is so much to do. I need to print a copy of all the invoices we have paid. I need to start a file for our business. I need to make letter head for our business. Oh and how about applying for a nursery licence. That will be necessary before we can sell anything.
I am so very excited. But just a warning to all you newbies: other people will be negative. Don't let them steal your dream. They don't know the information and opportunity you have your hands on. But truly, you have found a pot of gold.
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