Behind the Scenes with Nursery Management magazine

Kickin’ the dirt in Oregon

Nursery Management publisher Todd Davis spent Aug. 22-24 at the Kick the Dirt tour in Portland, Ore. This event was sponsored by the Wholesale Nursery Growers of America and was attended by about 100 people from nurseries across the country. Todd hosted a panel discussion the opening night, and the discussion focused primarily on crop planning and how growers should decide what to grow. Tour buses the subsequent days visited the following prominent nurseries: J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., Hans Nelson & Sons Nursery, Fisher Farms, Woodburn Nursery & Azaleas, Heritage Seedlings and Carlton Plants.

The Woodburn stop featured a demonstration of two Harvest Automation container-moving robots. At Heritage Seedlings, attendees learned how this company saves thousands by steam sterilizes used growing media, containers and flats. The tours preceded the Farwest Show, a three-day event at the Oregon Convention Center, which Todd attended with account manager Teresa Werner. "There was a lot to learn from these great nurseries at the Kick the Dirt tour," Todd said. "But there are also things to learn from not-so-successful nurseries. Next year I propose we visit nurseries that have gone out of business and call it the Kick the Bucket tour."
 

During the Kick the Dirt Tour, Heritage Seedlings showed off its greenhouses and its steam sterilization methods.

Clarification:
A quote in the August 2011 cover story (page 21) should have read, “At their core, Myron and his family are farmers and are very mindful of their growing practices,” said Steve Taber, co-owner of Southwest Wholesale Nursery in Dallas. “They evaluate their procedures regularly to maintain an efficient method of growing quality trees and turf.”

Coming Next Month: