Five things that you should know about the PMC for February 25, 2021:
COVID-19 Update
All COVID protocols continue. Nobody is out due to quarantine thankfully. Skagit County has moved to phase 2 of reopening and there are rumors of doses of vaccine in the county but not very many, judging by the lack of available appointments.
Sales
There have been an additional $63,000 in sales posted in the last two weeks. We are still $75,000 short of the projected sales budget of $1,100,900 for this fiscal year but with the sales season continuing for another 10 weeks it seems quite likely that sales will exceed our budget.
Harvest
Harvest continues at a robust pace in spite of uncooperative weather. There has been a lot of rain this week, plus a hail storm thrown in for a little variety. Approximately 1.5 million plants have been packed and there is a chance that it may wrap up by the end of next week – but no promises!
Shipping
Between February 23 and March 2 the PMC will have shipped out seven CD plant sale orders. Most are large, diverse orders. The PMC staff deserve a huge shout-out for accomplishing this. Getting some of the stock out of the ground during a period of freezing and excessive rain has been a challenge, but it is done and there are probably still another million plants to ship before the season is over.
Life Goes On
Since the end of harvest coincides with the beginning of spring, we start looking for any hint of spring, which will provide hope that harvest will be over soon. One sure sign is the sight of the fall seedbed starting to germinate. A lot of the deciduous species grown here start from seeds that are planted in the ground in the fall. They sit there all winter and when spring rolls around their seed dormancy is broken and when conditions permit, they germinate. The species that leads the way is usually Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) and they started coming up this week. It is nice to see some things that have not been changed by the pandemic. Another sure sign that harvest is winding down is the fields start looking empty, which is happening.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Source: Jim Brown, WACD PMC Nursery Manager