Think Outside of the Box

Last night at the farmers market, a lovely woman who had her eye on our new crop of red salad bowl lettuce asked me a question that gave me great pause.

While holding the deep crimson, burgundy colored collection of lettuce, she asked me "why does this cost so much?"

I stood there speechless.For those of you that know me, you know how rare it is for me to be without words. Working to collect my thoughts and respond without reacting to a question that not only took me off guard but also elicited a rush of righteous indignation, I smiled and stated that "this is our price point."

All night, I thought kept thinking of how I would have liked to respond, what I really would have liked to say. So today, I have decided to address our price point in this blog post- as a way of not only answering the original question but also of helping to educate and encourage our community to think outside of the box.

The price tag put on an item for sale has a great variety of components factored in. As a grower, even before we get to the seed, soil, water and fertilizers, there was the physical set up of the nursery. Early in 2009, we began building the racks that now hold our flats of plants. We paid the legal fees to become a state licensed nursery and a county certified grower. Next, we purchased certified naturally grown perennials that we then planted into our landscape and now use as mother plants [take cuttings from] in our nursery.

Then came the purchase of flats, containers, cell trays [to start anywhere from 72 to 341 plants at a time], tables to work from, row covers and hoops to help with germination and temperature regulation [no greenhouse yet], overhead irrigation, specialized misters [very young sprouts/plants have special needs] our soil medium [a professional plug and germination blend -not a potting soil and not even sold in our area - Thanks, Ag Supply of San Diego County for making our lives easier by now delivering to our door! - you guys rock!]

In winter, we began the process of seed sourcing - finding reputable sources of the finest quality, unique heirloom and or organic flower and vegetable seed. We take great pride using premium seed provided to us by family owned businesses and organizations dedicated to heirloom seed storage and biodiversity. We understand and honor the connection between the health of our local environment, our local habitats and ourselves as being intricately tied to the plants we as a community choose to put in the ground and in our bodies.

In late January, we began sowing many of the seeds which are now the plants you see at the markets. In early February, we began to take cuttings from our perennials - something we continue now on a weekly basis. Did you know it can take anywhere from 2-6 months before we are able to bring a plant to market based on rooting/germination time and the growth cycle of a plant?

A plant nursery is just that, we care for the daily needs of a living, breathing creation of nature that is completely dependent on us for its survival and well-being. Just like young children,these plants are 100% [minus the rain] dependent on the nurserymen and women who care for their every need. And just like children, is it really possible to ever account for all that we give to meet their needs and help grow healthy and strong?

Now that spring is in full swing, each day we enjoy being able to start new plants and watch how quickly they are growing. On an average day, we water twice, transplant starters that are well established and spend time removing spend leaves, unwanted pests, etc from our stock.

Weekly, we manually fertilize the heavy feeding plants a diluted omri approved chicken manure made as a tea [kind of yucky, but it works great!]. Through the irrigation, weekly we run a dilution of cold pressed sea kelp that has been sustainably harvested off the coast of California. When needed, we treat the nursery with omri approved insecticides/fungicides to keep pests and diseases at bay.

Then there is market. Beginning this week, we are at three markets weekly.This process consists of loading the wagon with tables, the tent, lights, cords, signage and of course the main event- the plants! That process alone takes a bit. I wander the nursery racks, hand selecting plants that are mature and healthy-making sure there is plenty of variety and at least a few new additions each week. Plants are then labeled [sometimes we need to write the variety on the back -especially true for lettuce, tomato and melons].

We are a family owned and run business. Completely. The nursery is our families backyard. The "help" you see at markets - it's our family. All of the marketing, displays, signs - yep, I do those with the help of Vista Print.

Perhaps when we look first look at a 4 inch vegetable starter, we can not see all that has been done to bring this product to market. I do get that. I also realize that over the past many years we have been conditioned to look first and foremost at an items price tag as the measure of value instead of what true value really is.

So let me ask you, when was the last time you purchased a garment directly from the person who made it - all the way from fabric selection to final alterations? Or purchased a chair directly from the carpenter themselves? When you meet your local growers, you are meeting the person who has tended that plant or yummy strawberry all the way from seedling to your garden and then table. When you meet us and purchase our products, you are not only helping to invest in the local environment, local businesses, local economies, and local communities - you are investing in the well-being and livelihoods of families, your own neighbors. Can we really put a price tag on that?



Enjoy the day! [and thank you for allowing me to say what I really wanted to say last night but didn't have spell-check and proof readers that brought me back from the longer rant-like version I originally drafted]



Carrie-Anne

Rolling Hills Herbs & Annuals