Well, I can’t think of a much better looking way to introduce Sprout! Farms’ produce to the world – or at least to the people dining off of the special menus this week. Chris prepared this salad with my organic pea shoots, mozzarella, balsamic vinegar, sesame and shaved carrot – pretty darn good. Ashtabula Harbor’s Restaurant Week on Bridge Street runs 24 Feb – 5 Mar.
I added 22 new products today, including 2 varieties of organic, Non-GMO sweet corn.
My goal is to get 1,000 new plant orders ready for your gardens by May 1st. From now until May 1st, for every 100 garden starter (“Ready-To-Grow”) plants ordered, I will discount each plant on your order by 2%. That means that if I get 1,000 new plant orders by May 1st, everyone will get 20% off each plant. Since payments aren’t processed until delivery, everyone will be getting the full value of the discount, no matter if you order in February or if you wait and order in April. (Although, remember that to get your ‘dream garden’ items, you must have your order placed by 5 March. If you are ordering in April, you’re available selection may be limited to what I already have growing.)
I am offering this discount only to those who place an order through the website – but every sale, no matter when or where it was placed will count toward the 1,000 plant goal.
Keep track of the progress bar on the right of the page to see what your discount will be. (The thermometer is manually updated, so it may take some time to reflect your order; I’ll try to do it at least daily.)
Let’s get growing!
[thermometer width=200 align=center]
I found a new platform that allowed a lot of flexibility in design and worked with an e-commerce platform that has a lot of flexibility as well. As a result, the look of the website has changed a bit in just the past couple days.
By clicking on the ‘Shop’ button in the top menu, you’ll be able to see all the products I have, whether they are available as produce, or if they will be available as a garden starter plant. You’ll just have to select which one you want in the product options pricing area.
To easily find a product, there is a search button on the upper right-hand menu, as well as a product category area on the right, where you can look at everything within a particular category, such as ‘Garden Starter/Vegetable/Zucchini’.
I’ve got a lot of the basics, and will be continuing to update the site with new information, such as an area for growing methods and tips and another for cooking tips and recipes.
With all the rain and ‘warmer’ weather this week, I am starting to hope that there will be no more snow, so I can get back outside. I know that is wishful thinking, but I’m still going to dream.
Anyhow, I’d like you to start thinking about your garden this year. Not everyone has a greenhouse or room indoors or even the time or desire to start their garden indoors. So – I’d love to be able to provide your garden’s starter plants.
All of my garden starters are grown organically using organic soils and biodegradable pots that 1) don’t harm the environment – they are made of plant-based materials, and 2) allow you to plant the entire pot rather than transplanting into your garden – no transplant ‘shock’. These pots save you time and unnecessary waste. If you want, read more about the pots HERE. I try to use only organic and heirloom seeds when available, and I don’t use any chemicals or pesticides in my growing process.
I have a bunch of seed varieties already this year, but if you have a special request e-mail it to me. I typically use Johnny’s Selected Seeds as my seed provider, so if you find something there, just send me the link and I’ll take it from there. Johnny’s is a US based, employee-owned, Non-GMO facility. If you find something you want somewhere else, that is fine too.
To get your garden starters ready for transplanting in your garden right after the last frost, I’ll need to know what I’ll be starting for you by the end of February. The 2017 Old Farmer’s Almanac puts the last frost in Ashtabula area around 18 April this year, so I will plan on a delivery date of 28 April, to be a bit on the safe side. (Download a PDF copy of their planting dates calculator HERE.) Of course if you don’t want to pre-order, you can always wait until the last minute and choose from the many garden staples I’ll grow for all the procrastinators out there.
I am working on updating my product pages and building an order form, and will get those posted as soon as they are completed. Sign up for the newsletter to be automatically notified when those pages are updated.
-Jim