If you have not visited Oregon to experience what is grown here, you need to. This issue of Digger is the Nursery Country issue, featuring the state’s quality plants and the growers who produce them. It’s a good read, filled with good information. However, there is no substitute for driving the roads, walking the farms, […]
Winter is coming
By — Posted
This might sound like a plug for Game of Thrones — after all, the Season Eight premiere isn’t that far away! But seriously, winter isn’t just coming, as they say. It’s here. Preparations must be undertaken. From a grower’s standpoint, we are almost done getting the plants ready to survive the winter. Some growers, meanwhile, […]
Support is critical
By — Posted
My name is Mike Hiller, I work at Kraemer’s Nursery in Mt. Angel, Oregon, and I am proud to be your new OAN president. But how did I find myself in this position? Several years ago, Mike Coleman approached me to consider joining the Executive Committee of the OAN Board of Directors. I asked him […]
Climbing skyward
By — Posted
Wow. I know it’s a cliché, but I honestly can’t believe how fast time has flown over the last year. It seems like it was just a month ago and I was scrambling to put together my very first Digger column. Funny thing is, they haven’t gotten any easier — especially after hearing people say […]
A favorite ‘holiday’
By — Posted
Growing up in a typical American household, we had all the usual holidays, such as New Year’s Day, Easter, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We celebrated birthdays too, just like many of the rest. But growing up in an Oregon nursery family, there was one more “holiday” — the Farwest Show. As far back as […]
The ‘offseason’
By — Posted
Sometimes I feel that people outside the nursery industry think we only really work during our harvest season, which for most of us is in the spring. The prevailing thought among my non-industry friends seems to be that after we ship the present crop and plant next season’s crop, we simply kick back and wait. […]
Move forward on immigration
By — Posted
I’d be willing to bet most folks in our industry don’t have an elaborate tie collection. I myself own three. They rarely come out except for the occasional wedding or funeral, but this past May, I packed all of them up and headed to our nation’s capital to do some politicking on behalf of our […]
Fun and business
By — Posted
It seems spring has just started, but it’s coming to an end already. Summer’s just about here. It’s a welcome transition. It means we can regroup after spring’s “harvest havoc” and start to focus on production and future planning. Because it is summer, hopefully there are plans that include something fun and relaxing. And hopefully, […]
What does efficiency look like?
By — Posted
Regardless of what part of the country you are in, it seems labor is tight for nurseries in need of help. We all know our businesses must reckon with limited options if we are going to remain open. One way to address the labor shortage is to do more with less. Everywhere we look, we […]
An adventure worth taking
By — Posted
On a recent weekend, I did something I don’t do enough — I went to a retail garden center. You see, as a nurseryman, the honest truth is that by Sunday, I usually feel like I’ve seen enough plants. I can’t wait to go out into the woods for a run, clean the house, putter […]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »