The PMC Update for September 16, 2021

Sales

Lori and Jacquie have an updated sales report and it confirms that sales remain strong. As of today, September 16, 2021, the Plant Materials Center has posted $872,524 in sales for the upcoming sales-and-harvest season. That compares favorably with a comparable time last year when sales were $480,430 on September 2, 2020.

One must keep in mind that last year was a COVID year and sales were slow due to the uncertainty of how COVID would impact planting and plant sales. A better comparison is likely the previous year when sales were $737,077 on September 16, 2019.

We believe that sales will remain strong. Jacquie handles a continuous stream of sales inquiries while Lori keeps up on invoicing and deposits.

COVID Update

It has been a while since our last COVID update but it is probably worth looking at where we are with the increase in cases and regulations. Skagit county reported 79 new cases yesterday which is about where the counts have been running the past couple of weeks.

All of the PMC staff are fully vaccinated but some of the seasonal employees are reluctant. We are monitoring the vaccination mandate for employers but it appears that it will apply to bigger employers, ones with over 100 employees. Our non-vaccinated employees are required to wear masks indoors and everyone is urged to stay home and get tested if they have any COVID symptoms.

Ongoing

Irrigation has probably come to an end. The only reason that irrigation will be used again this year is if it will be needed for frost protection. If a cold snap occurs before the plants are dormant the irrigation water can be used to provide some added protection.

Weeding continues with the hopes that it will come to an end soon.

Seed collection continues with Red Osier Dogwood, Pacific Crabapple, and Twinberry among others.

Upcoming

The final push to prepare and begin fall seed sowing is close but the near-term weather forecast suggests that is going to have to be put on hold for a while. Playing the weather game now will be a common activity it looks like.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Jim Brown, WACD PMC Nursery Manager
https://wacdpmc.org/about-us