The Organic Home Nursery
(Page 2 of 6)
March/April 1972
By Roberta A. Fanning
Rachel uses this experience to point out that you don't need a degree or training to open a nursery. "You just DO it and make mistakes . . . then learn from them."
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Rachel had had no real training in the field when the Tickners opened their business. Her experience working in a wholesale nursery ("Factory is a better word," she says), dipping cuttings in plant hormone and sinking them into wet sand, wasn't much help. "They even got mad at me for asking the name of a plant I was propagating," she remembers.
Obviously, though, it does take a certain amount of familiarity with plants to operate a top-notch nursery and to answer the hundreds of questions that customers ask. Donn, who was raised on an apple orchard in the area and has picked up an incredible knowledge about growing things over the years, has that familiarity. For instance, I recently heard a lady customer query, "I had the most delicious fig last week, but it wasn't a Kadota or a Genoa. What did I eat?" Donn immediately ran through a list of probable names and hit on the right answer.
Next to plants, a nurseryman most needs to know about balanced blends of potting mix. Initially, even Donn wasn't always sure of himself in this area. At first he even tried a trial and, sometimes, error method of throwing in a little of this and a pinch of that . . . until he added so much cottonseed meal to a planter that the potting soil began to decompose and burned up a fuchsia plant!
If you plan to formulate your own potting mixture, Donn now suggests that you consult the nearest state or university agricultural extension service and translate their information into organic terms. He also recommends THE U.C. SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING HEALTHY CONTAINER-GROWN PLANTS (Extension Service Manual 23, $1.00 from the University of California at Berkeley).
When the Tickners had enough properly started and potted stock on hand, Donn contacted the Santa Cruz County agricultural commissioner and obtained the license necessary for a home nursery (starting with a fee-exempt permit that allowed him to sell a maximum of $500 worth of plants). He also went to the State Board of Equalization, paid the required $65 advance and obtained a resale number (which amounted to a promise that the Tickners would collect the state sales tax).
A retail business means retail prices and Donn established his by hanging around other nurseries and making comparisons. From the start, he made sure that what he charged his customers was competitive and, if possible, less than the figures quoted by the next guy. For example, the Tickners' tomato sets are 10¢, eggplant seedlings 15¢ and bottle brush starts (Anybody? Please?) are $1.30.
In the beginning, with no advertising and only word-of-mouth customers, Donn and Rachel were strapped for rent and food money. Winter—a hard time for any nurseryman—was especially tough . . . but somehow they managed to make it through that crucial first slow-business season. Donn pruned apple trees, sold the crop from his own small orchard and survived a horrible two-month stint inspecting tomatoes for the Department of Agriculture. Rachel tended the family garden and newly arrived daughter, Celeste . . . and used her canning skills to keep food bills to a minimum (the Tickners are vegetarians).
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