Five things to know about the PMC for June 10, 2021
Jacq is Back!
Jacquie Gauthier has returned as our new PMC Sales Manager, taking Jess Oman’s place when she moved on to another job. Jacquie held this position from 2006 to 2010 and left for the corporate world. She saw the position vacancy announcement, expressed an interest in it, and what can we say – we are glad to have her back!
For those of you who knew her during her first stint with the PMC, please reach out and welcome her back. For those who do not know her yet, reach out and get to know her. She has already been fielding a variety of inquiries as well as getting to know our new inventory/sales software.
Sales Orders for Next Year
As mentioned above, Jacquie is keeping busy fielding inquiries, most commonly plant availability questions for next year. Some requests are quite large, which is good because there are a lot of great-looking plants in the fields in need of forever homes.
For those with known plant materials needs for next year, we encourage you to place orders. If needs should change, orders can be reduced or canceled until January 31 without incurring any restocking fees. Orders can be increased anytime.
Spring Seed Planting Almost Complete
The PMC was able to get its Beaked Hazelnut planted this week which is a labor of love. The seeds are the size of Hazelnuts or Filberts, which they are. They are way too big to go through any of the seed drills and must be hand planted. Then bird netting has to be placed over the bed to keep the crows away…and they are a formidable opponent! With careful monitoring and luck, we will see a bumper crop of 2-year-old Beaked Hazelnut seedlings in 2023.
PMC at WADE
Join us at WADE this Tuesday at 2:00 pm when PMC Assistant Manager John Knox presents his work with gravel beds. Gravel Beds are potentially a method for extending the bare root planting season.
At the end of bare root season, seedling roots are healed-in in beds of pea gravel. These beds have soaker hoses on a timer and are kept moist. As the roots of the plants encounter the pores between the pea gravel, they branch becoming more fibrous. It is these fibrous roots that improve the plant’s ability to take up moisture and nutrients. Plants growing in these beds have the potential to develop root systems that can survive being pulled out and planted during the growing season.
This study is not complete but John will describe what he has done so far, what we have found out, and what is being looked at currently. Join John Tuesday at 2 as part of the riparian restoration session at WADE.
Life Goes On
The conifer seed bed that was planted 2 weeks ago is germinating. Most will be grown for 2 seasons and be available winter-spring 2023. There are a lot of things that have to happen correctly between now and then. We will keep you posted.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Jim Brown, WACD PMC Nursery Manager
https://wacdpmc.org/about-us