An Early Opportunity Harvest Time Is Here!

Down here in Georgia’s Piedmont South we are long past the strawberries and now the peaches, tomatoes, watermelons, cucumbers, lettuce and onions are showing up at the back-road vegetable stands and kitchen tables.

Here at my parent’s house, by July 4th, I anticipate having at least several eco-friendly grocery bags full of tomatoes.

My mother said there was no way she would can that much tomato sauce… I said we could get creative and dice up the tomatoes and can salsa instead!

In some ways, there is little difference in what my folks are harvesting this year versus years past.

They are both empty-nesters and they and their peers index strong when it comes to home gardening.

This blog-logue isn’t about them… it instead, is about all those GenXers and even Millennials that planted those seeds and seedlings everywhere from the new virgin gardening plot to the patio containers.

Home gardening is up this year more than 40% over last year. And folks are tending to these gardens now more than ever!

Heck, when I was at Home Depot over the weekend in this college town where I now reside, there were several Millennials picking out seeds for green beans and carrots to go home and plant.

Maybe I some times get the parental urge, but I quickly intercepted them and showed them at least the started plants out in the nursery section.

What I am most surprised at is how little the market is capitalizing on this gardening surge.

I see little of it in the seasonal promotions, little in terms of events and even less yet on the cable nets like Food Network and TLC.

I see few, if any mentions of gardening, harvesting, cooking, canning and freezing on Twitter. And to be honest, I bet some of those recipes that my mother cooks can easily be communicated in 140 characters or less.

Even the classic pubs like Better Homes & Gardens are pre-fixed on home decorating and designing and not capitalizing on just how hot this trend might be.

Where is opportunity?

• The biggest BGO (Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious) is the supermarkets and grocery stores need to be marketing the canning supplies

• What about an iPhone App just for freezing and canning vegetables?

• ZIP-Lock alternative “canning” promotion

• Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart and or Pier 1 could all be selling special designer kitchen shelves to showcase the vegetables harvested

• Ace Hardware stores can do special hands-on displays

• Brand sponsored instructional YouTube videos about cooking and canning

• Promotional contests similar to the featured competitive at the fall county fairs

• Hospitals and healthcare institutions showcasing the healthy alternatives to the preserved foods with the all natural garden harvests

• The gardening shops promoting the second round of planting – at least in the South!


Well, the list could go on…and if interested in more, call us! – 404.245.9378!

Bottomline is that with home dining up, home gardening up and limited recovery taking place at this point in time…

I hear opportunity knocking…

So… Hey, Let’s Journey and capitalize on this trend!