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Gifts

Title: Message
Hi.
 
I don't know how many people on the list receive Johnny's newsletters, but just in case you don't, here is their Gifts for Gardeners List.
 

 
The November 2004 Johnny’s Selected Seeds Update from Rob Johnston Jr., Chairman

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If you have difficulty reading this newsletter, please visit the web-based version of our monthly newsletter.

Dear Grower,

        A cold northwest wind is blowing, and we've succumbed to wearing layers. It's November.


Gift ideas for gardeners

        I know it's early for this, but if I wait a month it will be after Thanksgiving and into that feared month of stress sweat. If you want to avoid some of that, take a couple of these gift hints. The gardener on your list will enjoy getting any of these from you, and will henceforth have a higher regard for your intelligence. She or he may even feel more understood by you.

        Gift Certificate - perfection for a wannabe gardener, support for the established one.

        Small stocking stuffers:         Too big for stockings:
Gift certificate promotion

        We are trying something as a way to bring in some cash. Thanks to our US customers in the South and Southwest and our foreign customers in warmer climates, our business through the fall is good. But the income doesn't begin to match our expenses, which, due to costs of seeds and catalog production, are at their highest this time of year.
        So, for every gift certificate that you buy for at least $25, we will give you $5 credit. For example, if you buy gift certificates for 3 friends and relatives, you'll have a credit of $15. We've never been very successful at attracting "holiday" gift business, but this is your chance to help change that, and if you do we will appreciate it. Thanks.


Trip to Italy to Terra Madre Conference

        In October Janika and I attended a remarkable conference of food producers in Torino, Italy called Terra Madre. We were two of nearly 5000 delegates from 130 countries. We made some new friends, and discovered a few vegetable varieties new to us. We will be following up on those.
        I wrote a memo of notes and pictures of the trip for Johnny's staff, but I think that as an Update subscriber you would enjoy it, too.
        The document link for the Terra Madre Conference is in Adobe PDF format. You need the PDF reader (which is free) in order to view it. You can download a free copy of Adobe's PDF Reader here.


To order a new 2005 catalog

        We send catalogs to all of our customers automatically. To order another one for yourself or somebody else, use this link for a Commercial edition and this link for a Home Garden edition.


Kitchen Gardeners International, Sauerkraut, and Wendell Berry

        In the KGI October newsletter there's a link to an article by Wendell Berry and an article on making sauerkraut, which is timely for November, though it's so good for you and so tasty and you could enjoy it all year. It's not hard to have cabbage all year, either freshly harvested or stored. Fresh sauerkraut made frequently in small batches is extra good. I grew Gonzales cabbages this year. Gonzales makes very small heads of tender, tasty fresh cabbage. Mine are about grapefruit size. The commercial kraut makers use big heads of cabbage but that's the economy of the commercial deal and the kraut made from little heads is just as good. In fact, if you pickle a tender, juicy, sweet, small cabbage like Gonzales, the kraut is lovely. Also try Farao and Tendersweet. And for long storage through the winter grow Storage No.4. If you read the Berry article and it provokes any thought, r*@johnnyseeds.com.


Oil those wooden handles

We like wooden tool handles. Most of the tools with handles that we sell have wooden handles. And we prefer oiled handles because they are more comfortable to hold and don't make blisters like shellacked handles. You can use the ordinary hardware store linseed oil, but that usually has chemicals in it like cobalt, which shouldn't be high on your list of substances you want your skin to absorb. We sell Tried and True oil, which is free of the chemicals. Once a year is a good frequency for applying more oil to a handle. By the way, if you are reading this and you're qualified to know something about hands absorbing chemicals, please r*@johnnyseeds.com.


Progress report

        -- 2005 catalog. The Commercial edition is being printed, and should be in the mail as you read this. Most of you commercial growers should be receiving it mid to late November. The Home Garden edition will be sent in December, with the aim to get it to home gardeners around New Years. In the meantime, if you want seeds, tools, winter reading material, or holiday gifts, use the website or call us.

        -- Small, lightweight tiller. Jon Hill is still busy working with a fellow engineer, Art Haines, refining their prototype tiller that runs on a rechargeable battery. It's light enough to carry with one hand like a wheel hoe. Its purpose is to prepare the soil surface for seeding, not for tilling under green manures or breaking sod. Most people that see it work want one, commercial growers for beds in the greenhouse, and home gardeners. Jon and Art are working on a final design that will be less expensive. There is a 50% chance that we will have these to sell by March, 70% by May. j*@johnnyseeds.com if you want to question or comment.

        -- New website. Our new website is taking a bit longer to finish than we first thought. The final design should be ready in one to two months. And it's not like you don't have a functional website now, just that we're looking forward to the new, more functional one.


Coming up…

        Enjoy Thanksgiving. Call us if you need anything.


Be well,
  Rob Johnston
  Founder and Chairman

PS - If you would rather not get e-mails like this from Johnny's, click on the link below, send the e-mail, and we will take you off of our e-mailing list.  <r*@johnnyseeds.com?subject=remove>

Johnny's Selected Seeds
955 Benton Ave.
Winslow, ME 04901
1-800-854-2580 
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