Garden Centre fun

[Pixelated]

We now have our garden centre open, at the far end of the grocery store's parking lot. This despite the fact that OTHER garden centres in the area are still prohibited from opening, which has resulted in some snarky comments even from my coworkers.

Anywho ...

I did not sign the sign-up sheet to work in the garden centre because I hate the heat and humidity. And wow, am I glad I didn't.

1) Customer wants to return some plants; he bought too many and doesn't need these four or five plants. Now, thanks to COVID, we are not accepting ANY returns. (Anytime I see people coming to my register with [Store Brand] clothing I warn them of this. And yes, some have opted not to make the purchase. Smart move, IMO, as the fitting rooms are also closed ....)

So Garden Centre Supervisor (who is often a supervisor in the store and takes no crap from anybody ) tells him sorry, he can't return them, that there are NO returns on ANYTHING at this point.

Okay, CS folks, all together now:

"THERE'S NO SIGN THAT SAYS THAT!!!!!"

GCS stands her ground and customer stomps off with his unwanted plants.

2) Just to top off things in general ... the one or two registers in the GC decided to crash. As in, totally deceased.

So there's a lineup of 12 or more people who have to be told that they will have to bring their purchases into the store to be rung out.

Okay, CS folks, all together now:

"I'M NOT WALKING ALL THAT WAY!!!"

To be fair, I don't know what they've got out there ... buggies, flats, whatever, so I can't honestly say how tough it would be to drag ten bags of fertilizer and a dozen potted plants into the store. But the overall result was a multitude of angry customers abandoning their proposed purchases and stomping out.

There was a lot of stomping going on that day ....

3) A couple of customers opted to come into the store. They decided to bring them to the nearest open register ... which was #2. Which was mine. Oh, did I mention that #1 was shut down because one of the belts was malfunctioning? (There's a long belt that carries the groceries to the cashier and then a shorter one that carries the checked-out and bagged groceries to the end of the register's aisle. It was the shorter one that kicked the bucket.)

So I got shifted to register #4 while a cashier from the GC rang up the garden people. I was told I'd be on #4 for the rest of my shift. Shortly thereafter, I got moved back to #2 ... they decided the GC cashier would just bring them to me to be rung out.

Y'know, I think I'm starting to figure out why I'm so drained after a standard week of work ...

[Food Lady]

Plus, while I understand why people want to buy that stuff, they don't actually need it to survive. But they are going to get pissy anyway.

[Slave to the Phone]

Plus, while I understand why people want to buy that stuff, they don't actually need it to survive.

I beg to differ! I need my pretty, colorful posies!!!

I think a lot of people are doing panic gardening because of fears of produce shortages. I think these fears are real, a lot of produce is harvested by migrants who might not be as available now as before. By now, we should be seeing stone fruit in the stores...

I do think those panic gardeners haven't really thought much about what they are doing. Gardening isn't as simple or as easy as it appears.

[Pixelated]

I'm wondering if some of this is just a warm-weather alternative to the "panic baking" that has taken hold (here, at least) for the past month or so. This is one of the reasons why we rarely have flour on our shelves and haven't had yeast for a month or more.

[Food Lady]

I beg to differ! I need my pretty, colorful posies!!!

I think a lot of people are doing panic gardening because of fears of produce shortages. I think these fears are real, a lot of produce is harvested by migrants who might not be as available now as before. By now, we should be seeing stone fruit in the stores...

I do think those panic gardeners haven't really thought much about what they are doing. Gardening isn't as simple or as easy as it appears.

*chuckles* I get you. I need spring decor from Dollar Tree. I hadn't thought of the veg garden angle, though. Panic gardening makes sense. I hadn't noticed about the fruit but I eat very little of it so I wouldn't have thought of that. Gosh, I don't even think I know all the seasons for things. I only grow houseplants that can take a lot of neglect.

I'm wondering if some of this is just a warm-weather alternative to the "panic baking" that has taken hold (here, at least) for the past month or so. This is one of the reasons why we rarely have flour on our shelves and haven't had yeast for a month or more.

Oh, my goodness, yes--I was at the store a couple of days ago and there was NO flour. Fortunately I don't use it so no problem for me but I suppose if someone needs a birthday cake they have to buy a mix.

[Slave to the Phone]

We are preppers, but I still did a little panic nursery buying in the middle of Feb. Because I have been gardening for years, I knew what I needed for my spring and summer garden, bought it and haven't been back since. This was going to be the year that I planted a smoke tree, but there weren't any in stock yet. I didn't throw a fit, I just went home and cried myself to sleep. OK, that was a lie, I went home and put a board over the hole and started using it for a compost pit.

However, I have a friend who works at a nursery to tell me all the stories I need. Idiots are actually buying seeds, doing something with them that possibly included soil and water, then returning in a week demanding a refund for defective seeds.

Fruit trees have been flying out the doors with the SC's refusing to purchase any soil amendments, which really won't work out well. Even if the SC's had perfect soil, they will still probably complain because fruit trees shouldn't need time to grow before producing fruit.

I totally understood the quarantine baking, baking is a great winter activity. I didn't understand why cheese making didn't take off, cause slowly cooking milk is also a good winter activity.

Craft brewing has also been very popular, but shouldn't be blamed for the lack of baking yeast. The two hobbies use totally different sorts of yeast.

[RealUnimportant]

I didn't understand why cheese making didn't take off, cause slowly cooking milk is also a good winter activity.

The amount of milk required to make most cheeses is considerable, and with shortages and then purchase limits obtaining sufficient supplies isn't easy or cheap. That's not counting getting hold of the other specialist ingredients.

[Slave to the Phone]

The amount of milk required to make most cheeses is considerable, and with shortages and then purchase limits obtaining sufficient supplies isn't easy or cheap. That's not counting getting hold of the other specialist ingredients.

I wonder if milk shortages are a regional thing. Out here, the stores ran out of milk during the first week. That pretty much happens whenever snow is predicted, so I considered it to be normal. After that, milk was never in short supply and did not have limits.

A week after the schools closed, the dairy farmers were begging people to drink milk. I was buying gallon containers of Shamrock Farms milk for 1.50 per gallon. Half gallons were 1.99.

Rennet is really the only specialized ingredient a novice cheese maker would need, and I have been able to find rennet tablets in most major grocery stores. Look in the baking section or if there is a section devoted to preserves, it will probably be there. Look on for a small box on the bottom shelf. I don't like to use the tablets, so I source liquid rennet from craft beer and wine supply places.

I wonder if cheese making has more of a mystique than it should. Pioneer women made cheddar cheese on a wood burning stove and many cheeses can be made with just a hot water bath.

Back to garden center fun, I heard from a friend that Home Bigbox has run out of manure, which is causing a run in the other local garden shops.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Craft brewing has also been very popular, but shouldn't be blamed for the lack of baking yeast. The two hobbies use totally different sorts of yeast.

And you would expect the typical customer discussed in this forum to know the difference?

[Kit-Ginevra]

Indeed I believe those who make their own cheese are specially commended in the Beatitudes

[Food Lady]

At this point I only buy powdered milk, as I no longer use liquid milk on a regular basis. Pretty much my only milk consumption is hot cocoa or the occasional latte. The store ran out of my brand in March but it's back now so I buy two canisters at a time. I buy at least a gallon of heavy cream a month, though. So far the brand I like--no thickeners nor preservatives--has only run out once.