Introducing Snip-n-Drip

Water is the key to a healthy, productive garden. With our new Snip-n-Drip Soaker System, you can get water directly to the plants, without wasting a single drop.

Watch the video to see how it works.

The Springtime Moment

It's the time of year when Gardener's Supply employees come to work wearing a glow from a sunny weekend outdoors.

On our Who We Are page, several employees share their stories, and today I think of one from Joe McHugh, who works in the marketing department:

"On the first weekend in the spring when it's finally warm enough to work in the garden, my wife and I rake all the debris from the winter and the old leaves, clear the paths, and set out the Adirondack chairs. In the afternoon, we sit down and have a glass of bubbly in the garden with our jackets on and only the daffodils blooming."

Have you had your springtime moment yet?

Learn more about the employee-owners of Gardener's Supply in Who We Are.

—David Grist, Gardener's Supply

1 Million People Want to Know

I grow my own fruits and vegetables for all sorts of reasons. Growing food is fun, rewarding, saves money, and adds amazing taste and beauty into my life. And, for health concerns, I know exactly where my food came from and what went into producing it.

So how come I can't have the right to know what's in the food I buy in the store? That's the goal of the Just Label It campaign, which last month submitted a record-breaking 1.1 million signatures to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in favor of labeling genetically engineered (GE) foods. And in polls by ABC, MSNBC, NPR, the Washington Post, Consumer Reports and others, consistently more than 90 percent of Americans surveyed favor labeling of genetically modified organism (GMO) ingredients.

The FDA response so far? "We haven't made a decision yet."

Seems labeling our food would be simple. After all, we already list the ingredients and nutrition information. Well, as always, there are two sides to the story.

The reasons for labeling are pretty obvious:

• More than 70 percent of processed foods contain GMOs. Consumers have a right to know what's in their food.
• Consumers have valid health, environmental and philosophical concerns about GE crops.
• For religious or ethical reasons, many Americans want to avoid eating animal products, including animal DNA.
• Many Americans are concerned about the negative effects of GMO use on the agricultural economy and small-scale and organic farming.
• Surveys show a wide majority of Americans support mandatory labeling.
• At least 21 countries and the European Union have established some form of mandatory labeling.
• Mandatory labeling will allow consumers to identify food products they want to avoid.

So why not label? Well, here are some of the arguments on the other side.

• Labels on GE food imply possible bad health effects, which are inconclusive.
• Labeling of GE foods will add cost to foods.
• Consumers will get less choice if retailers eliminate GE products because of perceived consumer aversion.
• Consumers who want non-GE food already have the option to purchase certified organic foods.
• The food system cannot currently accommodate segregation of GE and non-GE products.
• No GE products currently on the market or under review contain animal genes.
• There would be several issues to resolve: what technologies are covered, what percent of a GE ingredient must be present to require a label, what about meat and dairy raised on GE crops, and how will regulators verify claims of GE/No GE?

Maybe you haven't decided whether GMOs are good or bad. But, you don't have to make a conclusion about GE foods to have an opinion on labeling our foods. Even if you believe GMOs are the key to feeding the world, we still should have labeling. There are enough concerns about GMOs that consumers should be given the right to decide for themselves. And the logistical hurdles can be overcome. The European Union, Japan, Australia, Russia and even China have all figured it out. They are among the countries requiring GMO labeling. That means U.S. GMO products sold there are also labeled. I guess we have already figured it out, too.

If the federal government won't act, the states may lead the way. Here in Vermont, our lawmakers are considering legislation to require GMO labeling. Unfortunately, Monsanto is already threatening to sue Vermont if the legislation passes, a battle our little state may not have the means to fight. That's right, Monsanto may sue us for requiring accurate information on labels. But don't fret. California voters will consider a similar initiative this fall. Now that would be a fair fight.

Learn More

On our web site, read about how GMOs fit into the history and technology of plant breeding in the article How Genetic Engineering Differs from Traditional Plant Breeding.

If you want to learn more about the labeling issue, Colorado State University has a brief, balanced fact sheet called Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods. Some of that article was excerpted here.

If you are already convinced, please join the Just Label It campaign.

—Jim Feinson, Gardener's Supply

Marigolds Keep Aphids Away

For more information, read the article Controlling Aphids.

Recently, I was growing some basil in our testing lab. When I came in after the weekend, I noticed that the plants in several of our containers were infested with aphids, but the basil that I had planted in a windowbox with marigolds were aphid-free.

I had always heard that marigolds repel aphids, but now I know it first-hand to be true.

—Deborah Miuccio, Gardener's Supply

Four Makeovers for Your Porch

Before: A great porch makes a canvas for furniture, comfortable cushions and accessories.

Looking to breathe new life into your porch or patio? We've created four makeovers that show you how to expand your outdoor living space, create a welcoming setting for summer entertaining and add curb appeal — without spending a fortune!

Slideshow

Colorful cushions and accents
transform ho-hum into Wow! See all four makeovers.

Start your makeover by mixing and matching colorful cushions to spruce up existing patio furniture. The fabrics you choose will begin to set the overall ambiance — for example, bold colors and patterns for drama, or soft pastels for a more romantic feel. Build on the look by adding functional accessories, such as extra seating and side tables. Then add the finishing touches with attic treasures and vintage-shop finds.

The photos in this post are from a makeover we call "dramatic interlude," in which a front porch is transformed from stark to stunning with cushions in striking fabrics, creating an impressive entryway and a stylish place to entertain guests.

See all four makeovers.

After: This front porch went from plain Jane to packing a powerful punch with cushions in striking patterns that boldly state your personal style. Add stately topiaries in containers and you’ll have a comfortable place to entertain guests and an impressive entryway to your home.

The Sustainable Bouquet

Dahlias grown by Dan Pearson of Dan's Dahlias in Oakville, WA. Here, they await pick-up from the buyer at the Seattle Wholesale Grower's Market. Photo: David E. Perry

San Francisco's Baylor Chapman created this boutonniere with foliage from fuzzy lamb's ear, forget-me-not blooms and the fruit and leaves of an alpine strawberry. Photo: David E. Perry

We're swooning over the glorious photos in Debra Prinzing's new book, The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers (St. Lynn's Press, 2012), photographed by David Perry. The concept of local, sustainable food is really taking hold across the country. But what about flowers?

Here's a bit from the book's introduction:

"Are you drawn to a voluptuous heirloom rose like a bee to honey? Is burying your head in a just-picked garden bouquet and inhaling its perfume a joy-inducing experience? You are not alone. Our love affair with flowers is ancient and visceral.

"But lately something has been missing from everyday flowers — you've probably noticed. That clutch of gerbera daisies or tulips from the supermarket may appear picture-perfect, yet it feels disconnected from the less-than-perfect (but incredibly romantic) flowers growing in your own backyard. The mixed bouquet delivered in a happy-face vase by a floral service is pretty enough, but somehow looks unnatural, as if it were produced in a laboratory and not in real garden soil, nurtured by sun and rain. These blooms feel far removed from the fields in which they grew. And they are, in more ways than one. To the many of us who seek that visceral joy of just-picked bouquets to bring into our homes or use for special celebrations — or give as gifts to others — the flower has lost its soul. What happened?"

More Information

• Read the article Planting My Bountiful, Blooming Backyard, in which Debra plans her new landscape, centered around a cutting garden.
• Get your own copy of The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers, and check out Debra and David's blog at the50milebouquet.com.
• Learn how to plant a cutting garden in the article, Feed Your Soul and get plans for cutting gardens.
  

Secret to Tomato Success: Coir

Tomato Success Kits are lined up to test coir-based planting mixes against traditional planting mixes. Results from our gardens — and from the gardens of testers across the nation — show that our new Eco-co™ Coir is an outstanding addition to container soil mixes.

Tomato plants grown in a coir-peat test mix (above left) are more vigorous than plants grown in a traditional peat-based mix (right). The harvest was larger, too.

Our Tomato Success Kit has been a favorite for years because you can grow a crop of tomatoes almost anywhere. In our quest to make it even better, we started working with the planting medium. Research led us to something called coir, a crumbly material made from earth-friendly, recycled coconut husks.

We mixed our new Eco-co Coir and our Self-Watering Container Mix at different ratios and tested the resulting planting mixes in the kits. When we felt we'd found the perfect blend, we asked test gardeners across the country in a variety of regions, climates and growing conditions to try it and compare it with our current planting mix. The results? They found that the new blend produced an even bigger crop of delicious tomatoes — the same results we found in our own test gardens.

Two ways our New Tomato Success Kit is even better:

• We improved the planting mix. In test after test, our new soil blend of 50 percent Self-Watering Container Mix and 50 percent Eco-co Coir out-performed other soil mixes.

• We improved the fertilizer. It's still 100 percent organic and slow-release for a long-lasting supply of nutrients; now it's fortified with calcium to promote healthy growth and minimize blossom-end rot, a common tomato ailment.

Testers also found that plants growing in coir-peat mix needed watering less often than those growing in traditional peat-based mixes. Adding liquid fertilizer, such as Plant Health Care for Seedlings, to the coco coir-based mix within the first two weeks after planting improved the long-term availability of nutrients and plant growth.

To learn more about coir, read the article Coir: A Better Way to Start Seeds

What is Coir?

Coir, pronounced kwar, is also known as "coco coir" because it is made from fibrous coconut husks. A rising star in the horticultural industry, coir is an effective, economical and earth-friendly addition to traditional peat-based blends.

Unlike lower-grade coir, our Eco-co™ Coir is specially processed to remove salts and minerals and to balance the pH for optimal plant growth. (Without this treatment, coir may contain a harmful level of salt, and its pH may inhibit nutrient update.) Eco-co™ Coir comes compressed into bricks for easy storage, making it more convenient and less bulky than other planting media. A compressed-coir brick expands quickly to about 10 quarts of potting mix.

—Ann Whitman, Gardener's Supply