Greenhouse Practical – Eric S. & Jessica S. December 6,7 & 8, 2013

Well here we are, end of term one and on the last weekend practical of the year. The weekend has turned cold with a brisk wind feeding our chills. It proved to be a productive weekend with a busy Saturday for Poinsettia sales and a tidy greenhouse. Upon everyone’s holiday farewell we we’re slow to get going on Friday morning, but made up for it with our enthusiastic selling skills! First thing first the poinsettias were priority, checking and watering those that are thirsty. To our surprise, we had a furry visitor. Bruce! J-Rows new companion perked up our spirits and got us smiling for the day.

Jessica tackled the task of rearranging the annuals on to the benches so they could be fed through drip lines while Eric prepared seeds for storage. The hanging baskets were all checked and treated where needed and after a rather slow sales day, our Friday came to an end with the holiday feeling a few days away. Saturday was a good day of sales with us jumping from task to task. After checking over the crop, Eric gathered up the last of the gator bags and got them ready to put away for the winter while Jess took care of some pathos cuttings and then spaced and organized the crop. Finishing up some seed collection to put in storage, we got the orders for delivery ready to go. With the weather treating us a little more festive, Saturday was over.

Sunday was quiet. Unfortunately there were no customers to be seen. This gave us the opportunity to clean, clean, clean! Jess did a great job on the floor that was beginning to look pretty outdoorsy! Eric finished up some Interiorscape paying special attention to our poor poinsettias in front of the library and touched up some painting in preparation for the great Congress exhibition. After a quick wash, the trailer was shining and looking sharp!

We’d like to say thank you to those that supported us by purchasing poinsettias. Also a Merry Christmas and happy new year as well!

Weekend Practical - Ajay, Jordan and Johnny. November 29 - December 1, 2013

On Friday, November 29, we had sold 10+ poinsettias which is the weekend best and we had the chance to make some happy customers. We also had a nice surprise, which was Jeff’s new pet Lenny who kept us company and made our day go by a little quicker. Jeff had to give us the morning run down of the daily operations such as; opening the till, daily check list, watering plants, etc. After that we were on our own! As far as daily tasks it was a productive day. Jordan tackled the task of printing up signs as well as laminating then for the benches, Johnny and I started the daunting task of painting congress materials. This would turn out to be a weekend’s worth of work.

Saturday, the 30th, Poinsettia sales slowed to about half of the amount on the first day. None the less we all kept busy by making stunning new planter boxes that included three or more poinsettias. While Johnny worked diligently on the big job of painting Jordan and I held down the greenhouse. We kept up with watering plants, cleaning windows, and painting additional pots for congress. We also started to sand the large white, steal, table located in the middle of the working area in preparation for painting on Sunday.

On Sunday, our final day, we had yet another productive day. We started by cleaning ledges and sweeping in abnormal spots to clean the place up a bit. Johnny unfortunately had yet another full day of painting. We completed smaller jobs such as; collecting gator bags from around campus and finishing any touch ups on the pots we painted the day before. Jordan had the exciting job of watering the plants indoors while Ajay stayed in the greenhouse to help any potential customers. Unfortunately poinsettia sales came to a halt today. The biggest job today would be painting the work bench. We did it with time to spare so we decided to clean some more! This concluded our weekend practical and overall we believe we did a fine job.

We hope you agree! - Ajay, Johnny, Jordan