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Sidenotes
By Peter Kidd, September 2009
As I write this in August, things are pretty slow in my end of the state. I check my answering machine, and out of 15 calls, 11 are debt consolidation firms, 3 are looking for jobs, and maybe one lead. My saving grace is that I have been through a couple of these down cycles, so I really have little or no debt to maintain monthly. No monthly payments on trucks and equipment. One of the things I learned along the way was to invest in equipment and vehicles during upscale economies, using the depreciation to offset higher incomes. Put a significant amount as down payment and keep the notes short term. This way, when the worm turns, I have low maintenance and no payments. It is an important piece of knowledge in this business.
The majority of what work we have done this season has been existing client work, virtually nothing off the street. It stresses the importance of keeping sound relationships going with clients. In an economy like this literally no one escapes unscathed. Those who have not lost employment have lost a third of the value on their major asset, their homes, and 401k's have morphed into 201k's. And face it, in many circumstances we are a bit of a luxury that can be put off for another year.
We took a week off making my crew using its vacation time, trying to build some sort of backlog. I am busy putting out quotes and pitching them. Experience has shown me the phone will be quiet till summer vacation is over and the kids are back in school. Hopefully the fall has a way of taking care of itself, and the college kids are back in school and the crew shrinks.
Rumor has it my old buddy Mike Dirt is headed north to talk with us. Dirt only comes in October, since the early days when Phil Caldwell and I hosted him. He is in it for fall foliage, specifically the sugar maple! I can tell you personally, Dirt has a fond affection for New Hampshire. I doubt he gives many chats per year any longer, but he never says no to us.
Dr Dirt is a master. We, as practitioners of horticulture owe him a huge debt. He translated the knowledge and wisdom of esoteric horticulture to the lexicon of working people. He has not only crossed a cusp in time, but has bridged it. But that is only a part of his contribution. The scientist, plantsman, teacher, and researcher in him has continued on digging and changing, and note taking, into the present and projecting into the future. For those of you who have not seen and heard and met him, you are in for an incredible treat. He is one of the few speakers with that combination of being both knowledgeable and animated as a speaker. This is a very rare breed! Mark my word, I, too was once on the speaking circuit and have attended hundreds of lectures. He is one of the most personable people I know. And he can talk as much or more than I can.
Witty and funny, Dirr was always testing me as we walked the grounds of St Anselm College or Gem Evergreen or Millican. For the first few visits with Phil and myself, he would constantly grill us, as contractors, for the inside scoop on plants.
A good example was when he asked Phil and me, "Are the PJM clones as hardy as the PJM itself." I showed him a couple examples of zone stretching trees, like the Fringe tree. He always has his eyes open. More impressed by the wild asters at the edge of the parking lot of at Bickford's, after breakfast, than with a specimen of a weeping Norway spruce. After seeing some specimens at John Bryant's home of 'Endless Summer' hydrangea in full tilt bloom mid-October, he was raving all the way down the driveway about seeing so many wonderful plants. As he bubbled over, I chuckled, and he said "What?" I looked at him and winked and replied, "If I could only get my hands on you plants persons for a week, I could teach you a lot about negative space." He cracked up, confessing "Well I 'spose we do cram things in a bit too much." To which I replied "Yeah, I plant for twenty years in mind, you guys dig it all out in five and do it again."
But this is one of the most interesting and endearing qualities about Dirt, he sees and respects information and knowledge outside his loop, or intertwined with his loop. He doesn't just gather his information from propagators and nurseries, but from those of us who have to warranty the plant and evolve our positions around practical results.
Anyway, my apology about the economic news, but the old hippy in me always has known we are simply managed by the East India Trading Company or its equivalent and they got greedy and sopped up all the gravy. We are left to the crumbs of out and out greed and misplaced consumerism resulting in holding the hot potato when the music stopped. Plus we still have this pretentious attitude that we need to police the world. I am wondering how much each mortar costs. I already know the cost of Hummers. Oh well, just keeping walking, there is nothing else to do. Some do therapy, I write poems. Be well.