Fall is almost here, and I can feel the change happening. To me it is always the most obvious that seasonal change is upon us first thing every day. There is nothing like that cool, crisp morning with a beautiful sunrise and a light layer of fog covering the ground.

I thoroughly welcome that change every year. No more daily watering, checking the heat index, or, for me, coming up with something to entertain my kids for the day.

School is back in session! I truly love having them home all summer, but we are all ready for the routine to start again when September comes.

Perhaps it is because of the ages of my kids right now, but September still feels like the beginning of a new year for me in many ways.

We are planting our new fields, accepting fall and spring orders for the next season, and gearing up for winter. It is definitely a new chapter for us every year at this time.

I also get a moment to reflect on the end of summer and especially the Farwest Show. I felt like the Farwest Show had great enthusiasm and I loved seeing new and old friends throughout the three days. I felt so encouraged and excited seeing new nurseries exhibit for their first time as well. It is a testament to our thriving industry, and I love to see that.

I was able to sneak away from our booth and walk the show a little bit and was amazed with how the plant material all looked. Truly! Top notch! I am always so impressed with the plant material, but everything seemed to look even that much lusher and more beautiful this year. If you were a plant exhibitor at the show, kudos to you and I am proud and humbled to exhibit next to you.

My oldest son, Luke, has spent the last couple years gaining more and more knowledge and information on drone sprayers. I am more than confident that if they needed a new sales rep, he would absolutely be able to do it at the age of 11. It is all we hear about the week of the show. He is absolutely convinced that we need it and that it will solve any issue we could ever have in regard to our nursery operation here at Columbia Nursery.

This year, we apparently need at least several other “cool” machines, robots, drones, remote control mowers, etc. after talking with him. It is incredible to see how many new innovations in agriculture (and even nursery in particular) are available right now. And they just keep coming!

Innovation and mechanization are here for the nursery industry and is only improving year after year. It’s a train I am excited to get on, but I still need to figure out “what” and “how” for us personally.

I will say, I truly feel reinvigorated and ready for the “new year” and the fall season ahead. It makes me excited to see all the beautiful plant material, new machinery, suppliers, and especially my friends. It is a great time to be in the nursery industry and I don’t take that for granted.

I feel ready to get these fields planted and then welcome the inevitable rain and cooler weather that’s around our corner.

From the September 2024 issue of Digger magazine | Download PDF of article