Five things that you should know about the PMC for March 4, 2021
COVID-19 Update
All COVID protocols continue. Nobody is out due to quarantine thankfully. Skagit County has moved to phase 2 of reopening.
Sales
There is not a new sales report to reference, but sales continue to come in daily and the goal of meeting or exceeding the sales budget nears. More to report next week.
Harvest
Harvest is almost finished. In fact, today could be the last day of lifting bare root seedlings, which is a statement that has been three long, highly anticipated months in the making. The crew will still have quite a few live stakes to process but it should not take very long with the whole crew working on it.
Shipping
It is important to note that even though harvest is over the PMC is still selling and shipping plants. Thanks to cold storage that will continue until early May. It is also important to note that even though the PMC will continue offering plants until early May, the increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation can adversely affect plant vigor and planting success, so the sooner one can get things planted the better.
Life Goes On
After all plant processing is finished the crew will begin field cleanup. That involves removing any plants not already taken, as well as cleaning up the cutting blocks for another season’s growth. After that, it will be time to plant this year’s transplants. That involves a 6-row mechanical transplanter, 10 people on the transplant crew, over a quarter million plugs, and some of the best soil around to put them in for one growing season. That will take 2 to 3 weeks, after which it will be time to conduct the first weeding pass of the year. So far, the weeds are not bad, but some of those cool-season annual weeds are not waiting to do their thing.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.
Jim Brown, WACD PMC Nursery Manager