Park Seed Memories

More Fun with Felines: Fluffy in the Greenhouse

Nevermind that you can't grow cats with catmint seeds, nor puppies with poppy seeds--we've still been having big fun with pets at Park Seed lately. When we bemoaned our poor luck with getting any employee cats to sit on a Bio Dome, one reader wrote in with the step-by-step instructions we should have followed:

My advice:
(1) Warm the top -- e.g. put a lightbulb inside
(2) Make it clear to the cat that you do not want it to go anywhere near it. Then leave the room for awhile.
Cindy

Thanks, Cindy--clearly, you know and understand how cats think! And all of the cat-lovers here got a big laugh just picturing what our cats would do.

Also, when I alerted Buddy's Mom, Patty, that her kitty was featured in my blog, she wrote back to say that another of her feline friends also has a fondness for gardening. Or Park Seed gardening accessories, anyway! Here's what Patty wrote:

Bless your heart! Thank you! I do a prison ministry, writing to about 70 inmates across the US. I've printed off your newsletter, with Buddy's picture, to send to a few of them.  I have a picture of Fluffy, on the Park heating mats, with the seedlings. (We adore our kitties 4!)

The Bio Domes are on Park Seed Heat mats. Whenever I opened the door, Fluffy scampered in, and stretched out on the back of the heat mat. As the seedlings grew and were transplanted into 2x2 pots, she became very indignant with me, as "her" heat mat space disappeared! She started walking through the seedlings, looking for a place to lie down, so I had to ban her from the greenhouse!
Patty

If you look closely in the pictures, you can see Fluffy peeking through the seedlings (above left) and lurking behind the Bio Domes. Poor Fluffy--ousted from her cosy spot by those pesky plants!! And not a catnip seedling in the bunch, either.

Cindy and Patty, thank you so much for your wit and wisdom. And the photos! If your gerbils are gnoshing your garden greens or your dog is digging up your daisies, take a picture and send it along to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. After all, pets are part of the gardening family, too!

Proof at Last--Park Seed Bio Dome Supports Cat Naps!

Months ago, someone contacted us at SuccessWithSeed.org, asking whether the Park Seed Bio Dome was sturdy enough to support a 10-pound cat. The writer was eager to set up a seed-starting station, but suspected it would be a temptation to the family pet, who is partial to perching on any and everything in sight. Needless to say, we took this as a challenge!

First, we quickly proved that the Bio Dome easily supports ten pounds--a pair of my workout weights solved that. But the more interesting question remained: how would an actual cat interact with our beloved Bio Dome?

  I immediately rushed home with a brand new Bio Dome and tried to entice my cats, Megan and Sean, to sit on it.

  As you can see here, neither the cats nor our dog, Brogan, did anything more that take a quick sniff and walk away. I suspect they might have been more interested if I'd had something actually growing, like catnip. Or Milk-Bones.

Next, fellow eCommerce Director, shutterbug, and pet-lover Christa tried to get her cat, Scamp to participate. But as documented elsewhere, she had the same luck I did. As in NONE. In fact, not one of our employees succeeded in luring their felines into a photo-friendly pose vis-a-vis the darn Dome. Finally, we invited our newsletter readers to join in the fun.

And the result?

That spectacular, unposed shot of Buddy the Cat (top), lounging on top of not one but TWO Bio Domes! We are most grateful to Patty Backman for sharing this fabulous image! Here's what Patty told us about her photogenic feline, Buddy:

"He was about 8-9 months old, then. He and his 2 brothers just showed up, last October. When I went in to start cleaning up and getting ready to plant, Buddy just made himself at home. There were 2 Bio Domes, side by side. He is stretched out across the top of them."

Thank you SO much, Patty! At last, we can all rest easy, knowing that Park Seed provides a patented pet perch that doubles as a superior seed-starting system.

Do you have any photos of your pets swatting at your seedlings, galloping throught your garden, or otherwise being adorable in proximity to your plants? Send them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. We love to share pictures and stories of what's growing in YOUR garden!

Customer Claire Promotes Customer Care

Once again this year, Park Seed/Wayside Gardens associates had a howling good time on Halloween! Last year, I showed you pictures of my eCommerce pals in their costumes, but I didn't really dress up for the occasion. This year, however, I had an inspiration for a costume that was both fun and useful!

As you know, I spent most of the last five weeks doing customer service training. Our owner and our president have joined together in taking a strong stand on the need for our company to keep our  focus on our customers.(Ya gotta love that attitude!) I've spent many, many hours lately exhorting my trainees and colleagues to deliver Thumbs Up! Customer Service--that is, extraordinary customer service that delights our customers and exceeds their expectations!

So in pondering what to wear for our "Spooktacular" costume contest, I decided to be...YOU!

Yup, as you can see here, I am dressed as a happy gardener, sporting my National Gardening Association hat (on head) and gloves (in breast pocket), my Garden for Victory tee-shirt, and a real rose (from my recent thank-you bouquet). And if you look closely, you can see, posted on my rake, the instruction to everyone at the company: "I am your customer--delight me!"

To my delight, dozens of my students throughout the day grinned and gave me a big Thumbs Up! when they saw my get-up. People held open doors, fetched treats for me, and shouted "Thank you for coming to Park Seed. How may I help you?" I was even pleased and surprised to win an honorable mention in the costume contest.

It was definitely great being YOU for the day! It was a fun way to bring to life a key message for all our associates--customers are real people who deserve all the courtesy and respect we can give them. And best of all for me, unlike friends who were itchy in their gorilla suits, drooly from their vampire fangs, or sweaty in their ghoulish make-up, I was quite comfortable in my gardening garb!

Have you called our customer service department lately? If you have a story about great customer service, please email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com and share it! And if you were not satisfied, please email me so I can help fix it. We want you to have a predictably positive experience with us...every customer, every call, every day.

Behold--the Queen Speaks!

If you have visited this blog before, you know that I really enjoy my friendship with Stephanie Turner, Park Seed Company's Director of Seed Product. You also know that I really enjoy ribbbing her by referring to her as The QUEEN of Seed! Turns out that in addition to being a queen, she is also a GIANT!

Yup, that's the opinion of SeedWorld magazine. And in our industry, that's an opinion that definitely matters! They have on their website a terrific interview with Stephanie where she shares her thoughts about trends and topics in the seed industry. So now's your chance to hear what The Queen has to say. Enjoy!

The Perfect Pumpkin

I can't let Halloween pass without sharing a little something to make you smile. I received this adorable picture of the perfect pumpkin via a family connection. This charming youngster is Isaac, and he is too cute for words!

I'm told that his folks scooped out the pumpkin and filled it with water before adding Isaac. Who would have thunk it--pumpkin as baby bathtub!

I don't know if this is a home-grown pumpkin, but I can't resist pointing out that Park Seed has long offered lots of pumpkin seeds, including Pumpkin Big Moon. Given that those guys can grow to be 150 pounds or more, I'm thinking they have great baby bathtub potential!

In any case, many thanks to Isaac's family for letting me share this sweet shot! Got any good pictures of babies or kids in pumpkins that you've grown? Send 'em along! Just email them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. And have a safe and fun Halloween!

Class "Gets Growing" via Park Seed Contest

My colleagues over in the eCommerce Department have just announced the winner of their most recent contest, called "Get My Class Growing." They tell me it was the toughest contest they've ever had to judge! You see, they received a boatload of heartwarming essays from students, teachers, and parents explaining why their classroom should be selected to receive a Park Seed gift certificate. Several winners were selected, including  one overall winner...DRUMROLL PLEASE...

Fremont Middle School in Pomona, California!

A caring and generous teacher at Fremont took time to submit an essay on behalf of the school's Earth Club. The club was formed and is led by Mr. Eddie Neumann. He has apparently recruited a significant number of students into the club, where they participate in recycling, organic gardening, and preserving natural resources.

The winning essay goes on to say,

"The students at Fremont Middle School have taken pride in an impressive garden area. This area is approximately 30' x 100' and as mentioned, is all organically maintained by the students. Obviously, the learning experience for the students is priceless. The students are learning lifelong skills and values. "

We are pleased to send Mr. Neumann and his club a $150 gift certificate from Park Seed, so that Mr. Neumann doesn't have to dip into his own pockets to keep the program growing. And of course, we salute them for putting a "green" spin on the project, focusing on organic gardening techniques. Park Seed has long championed the organic approach. All of our seed are untreated and we never sell genetically modified seed. And we do carry a wide array of seed that are certified organic.

It is my sincere hope that the Earth Club folks will send me pictures and articles about what they do with their winnings! And likewise for the other runner-up grade-level winners and contest participants. I love seeing what young gardeners can do, and hearing what they have to say about their experiences in the garden. Thank you to everyone who submitted an essay. And keep in touch--let us know what's growing on at your school!

If Only You Could Smell My Blog!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. One of the best things about working at Park Seed Company is getting to know and spend time with all the really nice people who are part of our corporate "family"! As you know, I've been doing a lot of customer service training lately. It's something I enjoy doing, and it's a subject I strongly believe in.

To put the frosting on my cake, two of my colleagues sent me these gorgious flowers to thank me for the extra effort involved in developing and delivering that training.  WOW!

As you can imagine, I've been smiling all week, thanks to my generous friends! And people have been popping into my office every day to admire the flowers and exclaim over the delightful fragance that is wafting into the hallway. Too bad Typepad doesn't offer a "scratch 'n' sniff" blog feature!

In any case, in addition to customer service training, I also have been designing and delivering a leadership training program. And one of the things we stress as a good Rule of Thumb is to "Maintain constructive relationships."

I'd have to say that there's nothing more powerful for building strong relationships than saying "thank you" to teammates and coworkers. It doesn't even have to be anything elaborate, like this huge bouquet. Just a sincere word or quick note can really make a difference. So take a moment to let someone know that you appreciate them. You'll both have something to smile about!

More Bunnies in the Garden!

At the beginning of the year, I had a little fun talking about a Bunny in the garden...with the Bunny in question being author Gertrude "Bunny" Foster. Today, I get to have fun with bunnies and authors again, only this time, we're talking actual twitchy-nosed, fluffy-fuzzed bunny rabbits!

 

The author in question is Loretta Hayward. She entered Park Seed Company's recent Garden Poetry contest, and one of her poems was selected for our "top picks" list. Much to our surprise, we later learned that Loretta is a published author, as well as being an accomplished gardener! Here's the poem she sent in for our contest:

OUR FINE GARDEN FEAST

To the garden I must hurry

To the garden I must go.

Early in the morning

I must visit every row.

 

With dewdrops  on the lettuce

So crisp and sweet they taste.

Early is our harvest--

No portion will we waste.

 

Yellow peppers are in blossom.

Green pole beans are in bloom.

Honey bees gather pollen

in the garden’s sweet perfume.

 

The strawberries all have ripened.

They are red and juicy-sweet!

Every bite is purest pleasure,

Every mouthful a special treat!

 

Let us picnic in the garden!

The finest feast is growing there.

Vine ripe bounty now awaits us-

A basket banquet we can share!

 

So, you ask...what about those bunnies I promised??

 

Well, it seems that Loretta and Ben Hayward have a rabbit breeding businessand a lovely website, www.GardenGateCards.us, that combines their love of bunnies, gardens, and the creative arts! Here's the email I received from Loretta that clued us in about her background:

 

Hello!
I am glad to see my poem in the top 10 listing of the Poetry contest! ... The poem has just been published in my second book, "On the Banks of Durbin Creek-Four Seasons for Bunnies!" It is fully illustrated with our photography of our rabbits, flowers, and gardens (some of which are from Park Seed!)
Thank you! 
Loretta Hayward

 

Right now, The Haywards are traveling to the American Rabbit Breeders Association convention. But when they get back, Loretta has promised to send us some pictures of her bunnies enjoying the family gardens. So stay tuned!

 

And don't forget to send me your own garden pix, poems, or pointers. I love hearing from you! You can email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com anytime.

Return of the Giant Zinnia

What do gardens and friends have in common? Among other things, both gardens and friends always make you smile when they pop up time and time again. I was quite pleased to have an old friend of this blog pop up in my email box this morning, and I'm still smiling as a result! Mr. Bush Prisby wrote in with an update on his Mother's adventures with the GIANT Zinnia in her garden. 

Hello!

Although her garden didn't quite bloom as full this year, my mum grew another giant zinnia 83 1/2 " tall! Last year's version was a mere 77"!

The Morning Glory got off to a slow start and hasn't even bloomed yet, but has found the zinnia to be a favorable trellis in itself.

Bush Prisby

P.S. We just got a killing frost so the Morning Glory+Zinnia will not be blooming together this year...

If you look closely at the picture, you can just barely see Ms. Adelene Prisby, Bush's Mum, on the left, working her amazing magic with that zinnia. Ms. Prisby has been gardening with Park Seed for more than 50 years, and we are so grateful for her and for all our many loyal customers! If you have pictures of your garden and family to share, please email them to me at ckuhl@parkseed.com. My goal is to post as many stories as possible from generations of great gardeners like YOU!

New Friends on Campus

I mentioned that I've been extra busy of late, and I am certainly enjoying that. One of the things keeping me busy is designing and developing training programs. Some of the training has been for our existing directors and managers. And most recently, I've been working with incoming Customer Service Representatives--you know, those nice folks who answer the telephone when you call any of our Park Seed or Wayside Gardens 800 numbers!  I had a lot of fun with the group that started training last week, and thought you'd like to see some of their smiling faces, since you won't get that pleasure on the telephone.

We've spent a lot of time talking about you, by the way!

Yup--we've been focusing on who our customers are, and how we can find ways to delight you with our products and services.

You know I love hearing from you, so email me at ckuhl@parkseed.com if you have thoughts to share about your experiences chatting with our CSRs. Or to send us a picture of yourself and your family in your garden. We keep customers' pictures posted all over the Customer Service area, to see your smiles and enjoy the beauty that you create in the world through your gardening. Keep in touch. And keep smiling!