GROWER DAY

Two years ago I was nervous and excited. We’d just sent the first palettes of Urban Garden Magazine to grow stores around North America. How were they going to go down with retailers and growers? Would they love it, hate it, treasure it, or trash it? Not only had we put everything on the line to get things off the ground, but we’d worked night and day for months to get to this point. Finally it was crunch time.

I’ll never forget the day when the phones started ringing and emails began to flood into our inboxes. The feedback was clear. People thought we were a little crazy, but in a good way. And they certainly appreciated the growing advice—big time! Urban Garden Magazine was an overnight success!

Phew! We knew it all along—why of course we did! (Ahem!)

Since then, I don’t mind telling you, it’s been one hell of a learning curve—building room after room for testing products, sourcing info, answering queries, meeting experts in plant lighting, HVAC, plant physiology, entomology, irrigation, growth media, my head nearly exploded on several occasions. The challenge of keeping up with the latest innovations in indoor gardening needed to be met on a near-daily basis. But it’s all good, and our office hasn’t stopped buzzing since day one.

You’ll have no doubt noticed the “Grower Day” feature on this issue’s cover and maybe you’re wondering what it’s all about. Let me tell you straight up. Grower Day is a meeting of the finest growing minds in the world combined with an exhibition of the most cutting-edge and innovative growing equipment you’ve ever seen—all in one place. So if you’re as passionate about growing as we are, then we earnestly hope that you can make it.

It’s all kicking off on Saturday, October 2nd at Los Angeles Convention Center—the biggest hydroponics and indoor gardening show in the world. Can you believe that? If you can’t, don’t worry—I barely can myself!

No wonder I can feel that same strange combination of nervousness and excitement returning to my stomach. But it’s the excitement that dominates. We’re bringing the entire industry together for our inaugural show in the US.

So if you’re a grower or somebody who works in a grow store who thinks they’ve seen it all before, please think again. We’ve come this far, join us for this very, very special event.

You’ve got da’ love!

Everest