Five things to know about the PMC for June 3, 2021
May Financials
The May financial reports have been completed. There have not been any big changes since last month. Total PMC revenue is up from last year by over $30,000, mostly from PMC plant sales. Total PMC expenses are also up from last year by $15,638. Some of the biggest increases were in Accounting due to the review conducted this year, Brokered Stock, which is offset by a commensurate increase in revenue, and Cold Storage due to later-than-average order pickup dates.
There is still another month left in the fiscal year so it is hard to say exactly how profitable the year will be but it looks like expenses will be less than the budgeted amount for the year and total revenues already exceeds budgeted revenues by $68,500. It seems that net revenues for the year will exceed the budgeted amount. And during a pandemic!
Spring Seed Planting
Last week the conifer seedbed was planted and this week the deciduous hardwood seedbed was planted. It is always a big relief to get that over with. Now we wait to see what comes up. Spoiler Alert: the Ponderosa Pine seed planted last week is already germinating!
The majority of the deciduous, hardwood seed that is planted in the spring is sown on the surface of the soil. They require light to germinate and if they are covered, they do not come up. The trick to keep the seeds in place and not blowing away is to keep the seedbed moist at all times. That means weekend irrigation and at any other times when it appears the surface of the bed will dry out.
There are two more species to plant this spring. The next is the native filbert which has to be planted by hand due to the large size of the seed. They also require bird netting over the bed to keep the crows away. The last species planted will be Quaking Aspen. Since plants in their family produce seeds that do not store well, one waits until seeds are produced in late spring and use fresh seed.
Irrigation
Unless one has been in the Arctic lately it will not come as a surprise to learn that keeping up on irrigation has been part of the daily routine this week. The best part of that is that the PMC has an irrigation system that is up to the challenge. There is a certified water right for three wells on the property that each have 40 hp pumps and are rated at 500 gallons per minute. The wells can be used individually or in combination.
The water is distributed to 6 fields through underground sub-main lines. Each field is composed of 15 risers that terminate in 3” gate valves. Each valve is connected to 30’ x 3” aluminum hand lines. By using all three wells at one time this way we can irrigate 22 acres. That is a pretty robust system that will get used plenty in the coming weeks and months.
Weeding
There is a six-person weeding crew currently working hard to keep the PMC as weed-free as possible and succeeding. What they have done looks great and they are on track to complete this round before the new spring deciduous hardwood seedbed starts growing too many weeds. During this warm spell, they are starting an hour earlier to beat the heat as much as possible. They also have ice for the water cooler and frozen fruit bars for relief.
Life Goes On
“I beg your pardon, but I never promised you a rose garden.” If I had it would have undoubtedly included some of our fine native species such a Nootka Rose, Wood’s Rose, and Pea Fruit Rose. We are fortunate to have these and many other great species in our back yard, front yard, and many other locations in the landscape.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Jim Brown, WACD PMC Nursery Manager
https://wacdpmc.org/about-us