Happy New Year! Wait, what? In June? Well, yes—you’ll find out why later in this post :) We invite you to read the longest post on our blog to date. If you want to find out what’s been going on with us over the past year and what we’re planning for the next one—make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and sit back and relax.
Our 11th season together is just coming to an end. The store is closing its doors until October 1, when the new seed catalog for the 2023 season will be released. Now we need to focus on growing our own tomatoes and peppers to harvest as many of the best seeds as possible.
For most of us, the concept of a year is a period that begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. On our farm, however, things are different. The year ends exactly on the day we ship our last package of seedlings. The very next day—June 1—a new chapter begins.
As always, a new year is a time to take stock, reflect on the past, and set goals for the next 365 days. Let’s start by summarizing the past year.
Undoubtedly, the biggest change for the entire market of hobbyist seed varieties was the WIORiN inspections that have been taking place since around November of last year. All of these inspections were initiated based on tip-offs, and they resulted in the disappearance of a great many entities from this market. Admittedly, most of them were simply traders—people who bought large quantities of seeds abroad and then repackaged and sold them in Poland. However, it wasn’t just them who were affected—producers were as well. We, too, have been subject to an inspection, which we will most likely resolve successfully. This has significantly changed our perspective on the entire seed business; we have become an active member of several international associations working to regulate the trade in seeds of hobbyist varieties.
The inspection resulted in a veritable bloodbath among sellers of registered seed varieties. This situation led to significantly greater interest in our store. We recorded the best fourth quarter in our history. Everything was developing very dynamically until the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. On that day, sales of seedlings and seeds practically came to a halt. No wonder—vegetables are not essential goods. We held our breath, waiting to see how events would unfold. In the days that followed, sales slowly returned to normal, though people’s concerns about the events beyond our eastern border were evident. We had a chance at our best year ever, but the war thwarted those plans. Each subsequent month was weaker than the last.
In early January, we prepare a seedling production plan for the upcoming season. We projected sales to be about 30% higher and increased production accordingly. Now that the season is over, we can safely say that instead of increasing, sales actually fell by about 5% compared to the previous year. However… let’s call it a hunch or a lucky coincidence—more on that in a moment.
The struggle with the weather, frosts, and weather anomalies—
typical for our industry—is nothing new to us. April was cold, and May also brought frosts. Fortunately, there were no major incidents. Shipments of seedlings began in early May and went very smoothly. We had a phenomenal team—suffice it to say that out of tens of thousands of seedlings, there were only three errors regarding order contents (i.e., someone received a different variety than they ordered). We’ve never had a result like this before.
Then came a disaster—and a fortunate coincidence related to our overproduction: and its name is… Poczta Polska S.A. We’ve been shipping our seedlings exclusively via Pocztex for the past 5 years. We’ve had very positive experiences in previous years—less than 2% of 1,000 packages were damaged. It’s worth distinguishing between two issues here—physical damage to the shipment (broken plants, damaged box) and delays in delivery (i.e., delivery after the specified date, which results in damage to the seedlings). This year, it was precisely the latter factor that proved to be the dominant issue—what good is it that all the packages were in very good condition if they took 5 days to reach the customer? It would be understandable if these delays affected the smallest villages located at the ends of the earth.
But no, not here—most of the delays occurred in Warsaw and other major cities. In small towns, deliveries were efficient and fast. Ultimately, we suffered losses amounting to several thousand zlotys. Nearly one and a half thousand seedlings were destroyed. We had to send a package to one of our customers… four times! Of course, Poczta Polska refuses to accept responsibility and is rejecting our complaints. The case will certainly end up in court, but one thing is certain—for the future—never again will we use Pocztex. Let our experiences this year serve as the best advertisement for this wonderful company. It’s hard to believe that for so many years we defended the company’s good name like lions, only for it to now give us the middle finger, despite such a flagrant breach of the signed contract and its obvious fault.
As a result, we’re considering many options; next year, it certainly won’t be Pocztex—we must uphold the highest standards, and this company no longer meets them. We’re initially considering InPost and DPD. It’s also possible that we’ll deliver some of next year’s shipments ourselves. It’s also worth mentioning that we’ll be offering in-person pickup for both seedlings and seeds.
Changes to the website. We’re launching two new sections on the site:
- Tomato First Aid
Any of our
customers can use the form on our website to send us an inquiry. If you’re concerned about a disease, don’t know what’s causing yield problems, or aren’t sure what the spots on the leaves might mean—don’t hesitate. Start by taking the best photos you can, then send them along with a description using this form: Over the past 40 years, we’ve seen many vegetable-growing issues; we don’t know everything, but there’s a good chance we’ll be able to offer some advice. Additionally, the reports submitted to our help desk will allow us, over time, to create a knowledge base on problems with growing tomatoes and peppers, which will later be made available to everyone visiting our website. - Gallery
In winter, it’s nice to reminisce about summer, and in summer—about winter. With that in mind, we’re launching a photo gallery. We’ll be posting various photos from our farm there.
Contests. We’ve prepared two contests for this year. The first will begin in early July and run through October 1. It’s, of course, the Biggest Tomato Contest! Yes, in response to many of your questions and requests—after a two-year hiatus—we’re bringing this idea back!
The second contest will feature the most interesting photos from your crops or garden (or maybe your kitchen?), with tomatoes or peppers as the central theme. We plan to launch this contest in the winter, so we can reminisce about warmer days. So always keep your camera handy—you never know what interesting things might happen 😊
Each new year brings new experiences, challenges, and opportunities. Regardless of the difficulties we face, however, it’s entirely up to us whether we see only problems or solutions. One thing we know for sure is that our competitors can only envy us for having customers like you. We do this for you, and we thank you.
