Find an article in the Digger Magazine (from the last 5 years) that is of interest to you and share a short review of the article. How can this information be applied to nursery, greenhouse, or Christmas tree growers in your region?
Go to the Oregon Association of Nurserymen web site to find an article in their Digger Magazine:
Digger Magazine – Current Issue http://www.diggermagazine.com/ (Links to an external site.)
Digger Magazine – Archive Issues http://www.oan.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=18
Beverly Luke
The article “Digging in to edibles” by Tracy Miller (2019, May) covers the growing demand for edible ornamentals among urban and suburban landscapes and the growing trend of incorporating edibles into more traditional ornamental gardens. This trend has come about with the increased interest in homesteading among younger generations and the rising awareness about sustainable food production along with the benefits of home-grown, organic produce.
Many popular edible plants like tomatoes, peppers and garlic are now commonly planted ornamentally along with kale, lettuce varieties and various mustard greens that are not only nutritious but add an aesthetic value to the garden or landscape space. One aspect of using edibles is the availability and versatility of berry shrubs such as blueberry, serviceberry, cranberry, honeyberry and raspberry which grow freely in my region and can be great landscape plants with multiple benefits. Local nurseries and growers would likely benefit from including more edible ornamentals in their stock, especially hedges and shrubs that can also function as privacy hedgerows and decorative placements.
Miller, T. (2019, May 24). Digging in to edibles. In Digger. Retrieved from http://www.diggermagazine.com/digging-in-to-edibles/
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Jordan Sloan
One of the articles I decided to read was written by Jon Bell and it’s called “Growing at The Right Pace”. This article is all about sizing your nursery or other plant related business to meet the markets needs. Currently the nursery market is doing really well and plant sales are the highest that they have been since 2007. This means that many greenhouse producers are trying to increase production, but the qualified labor force is limited so growers are having a hard time finding the workers they need to expand. This limited labor supply though is keeping sales relatively stable and prices high. The article then goes into a little detail on how growers can take advantage of this strong market by using unique branding, increasing incentive for new employees, releasing new variety, and creating long term growth plans.
The information in this article is really useful for the Oregon nursery industry. Growers that are thinking about expanding need to consider how they will attract employees, and change their operation in order to make them more efficient, and maximize profits. This means automatizing their operation more, creating incentive programs for employees, and growing the most desirable crops and varieties.
http://www.diggermagazine.com/growing-at-the-right-pace
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