Another one in the books

As you peruse these pages, the warm buzz of summer has given way to the crisp air and orange and red hues of autumn, and another busy and bountiful growing season is ending. School is back in session, another college football season has kicked off, and for half of the country, winter will be here before we know it.

I suppose that merits a quick moment of gracious reflection, and also a moment to just kind of catch our breath. What a year it’s been in our little corner of the ag world!

Coming into the season, many wondered whether the new plant parents that came on board during COVID-19 would abandon ship, throwing down their trowels and watering wands in favor of boarding passes and rental car keys. Would they slow down on gobbling up cool new self-watering planters and automated irrigation sprinklers for their Victory Gardens, and turn their attention back to things like flat screen TVs and the latest video game system?

Well, we all now know that those folks have indeed stuck around, and they’ve stuck around in a big way. Greenhouse operations enjoyed yet another season of high sales and even higher engagement from consumers and plant lovers.

And yet, that’s not to say any of it was particularly easy. Of course, nothing truly worth doing ever is, it seems …

Labor shortages, young plant shortages, plastic pot and wood pallet shortages, the list of speed bumps you had to drive over on your journey goes on and on and on. Hopefully that whole supply chain snafu will sort itself out soon enough, but unfortunately, many industry experts believe the supply chain will only become more constrained moving forward.

Hard to believe, right?

Still, I prefer to focus on the positive. Many of us have a whole lot to be thankful for, and not much that we can look back in anger about.

So, I’ll be taking a quick moment to bask in the good vibes, as we prepare to hunker down for another winter, with all the promise and rebirth of a new spring season beaming brightly, just over that horizon.

Here’s to the Good Times!