Bacto School

Finally, the spring semester is upon us! Only 3 more months until the show!

Our bulbs are in the hoop house, wildflower seeds are sown, and there are plenty of plants in D108, a few in C105, with many, many more to come. We will be getting a nice collection from the GLTE, including a weeping white pine, retailed at $400 (though we may donate this to the hort farm to replace the one they lost).

I believe Jason will be sending out an email shortly to notify the club that there is going to be a potting party on this Friday, January 14th. An employee of McHutchison's (a wholesale broker) named Kris Ernst has given us a lot of plugs, and wishes to become involved in our show an sale, which I think is a wonderful thing to have an industry professional lending a hand.

Some things to ponder or get done in the meantime are below for each committee:

Children's: Keep on pondering activity ideas.

Construction: Remember how I talked about building A-frames to post on busy corners around campus to advertise our show, and to give direction the day of? Well, I would like you to pick the corners around campus where you think we should post them, thereby determining how many to make. Once this is figured out, we can go about purchasing the necessary materials to have your crew work on during a potting party.

Marketing: Once the A-frames are made by the construction crew, I want you guys to create a permanent sign for the frames that always says something to the effect of 'Hort Club Spring Show and Plant Sale', as well as arrows that will point in the proper direction once we determine placement of the signs. Also to be included are temporary signs that depict that date, theme, and times of the show. I think it is important that we highlight the fact that it is a PLANT SALE more so than a spring show. Perhaps it would be a good idea to post these by the pavilion during the home an garden show (we can always cover up the directions/arrows) to coincide with the fliers we hand out there.


Donations: Keep on doing your thing. As already sent out in your email this week, we need to start making phone calls. Also, we need to start having labels printed off for what we potted up before break. However, it might be a good idea to determine what we will ONLY be using for the home and garden show, and therefore will not need to print labels. For our potting party this Friday, we wont be able to make labels, as the majority of these plugs will be coming from GLTE, so hopefully we can track what we pot up... perhaps keep all of this weeks stuff on a separate bench, then once it is labeled (hopefully on the 19th), move it to a more suitable (if necessary) resting place. Also, keep in mind, things will be getting put in the hoop house too throughout the semester, so we need to make sure that those aren't overlooked when it comes to labels. For woody plants and things of that nature in larger pots, Brad would be a good person to check with on prices. Finally, our inventory system is under way, and it should be constantly evaluated to make any necessary tweaks.

Growing: Keep up with the watering, everything is our responsibility now that we are back from break. Make sure things are taken care of over the weekend. An email was sent out last week, so I think the committee is on its way. Don't forget to send the club a reminder of Friday's potting party. I thought the one before break went well for our first one of the year, but it was a small group, and things will get a lot crazier once everyone is present, be prepared... Remember to keep people busy. I think it might be a good idea if Jason/Jamey met with me, Jackie, and Brenda at least an hour (preferably a day) before the potting starts so there are a few people who know what the plan of attack is for the evening... When there are 30+ people there, it is IMPOSSIBLE for one or two people to manage effectively.

That is all I have fore now, if I forgot anything... well that's what the blog is for.


MZ