Seattle Home & Garden Show

About a week later and multiple trips to and from Seattle and yet another trade show is in the books! The Seattle Home and Garden Show was a week plus of daily fun and information all aimed to helping you turn your house into the home of your dreams. We at Charley’s would like to thank all those who made their way down to the Lumen Field Event Center last week and visited us at our booth! I personally would like to thank those who came out on Thursday and Sunday which were the two days I sat in attendance at our booth. It was a wonderful experience, getting to see and talk to a lot of returning and potential customers was a fun time filled with some conversations I’m sure I won’t forget soon. Having the opportunity to explore all the other booths and events taking place at the show was also a great time, though I would have to say there may have been a few too many hot tubs. I may or may not be saying this because there was no display unit that we at the show could test out. Regardless, the Seattle Home and Garden Show was a great time had by all and afforded us the opportunity to get our name out there and meet so many wonderful people!

We initially went down at least a week before the show began. We were a part of the Pacific Northwest Small Farm and Garden Lifestyle contingent that set up the sole garden display at the show. If you went, you more than likely know what I’m talking about. For those who couldn’t make it, allow me to explain. We were a part of a 5,000 square foot indoor garden space that displayed all the garden based booths the show had to offer. The ground was covered in a special green turf type carpet to give off the impression of grass inside the building. The front corner of the display housed a father sun duo who specialized in growing edible plants from what I can tell. Garden beds of multiple varieties were scattered along the floor. Some were large and oblong metal beds that sat around knee height at their peak. Others were magnificent wooden planter boxes that were raised off the ground to aid those who have bad backs or knees. Even though I’m in my late twenties, I quite liked the idea of having garden beds that didn’t require me to arch my back uncomfortably or get down on my knees to root around in the dirt. Standing gardening is a movement I’m very much willing to stand behind (see what I did there?) There was a standing, self-contained hydroponic garden. It sat vertically with different tiers hosting a multitude of edible plants from salad greens to tomatoes and I’m pretty sure I saw a squash blossom. The lights came out of the top, I don’t remember what the name of the system was so a description probably isn’t much good to you as a reader, but this thing was awesome. (I have a list of all the vendors who participated in the garden area display, I’ll include it at the end of the blog. Don’t worry!)

Rounding out our garden display area was a stall selling anything and all things bee. All kinds of honey, beeswax candles, bee keeping equipment and even a small display hive full of live bees! There was a booth that a few days out of the week had baby goats and goat yoga! The baby goats were adorable, but could get pretty loud. I’m told one got out of the pen at one point and it took about five full grown people to capture it and bring it back, unharmed, but a bit tired. There was also a chicken coop display fully equipped with chickens. Not sure who decided what chicken would be there on what day, but start of day Thursday there were three roosters and one hen in the coop, by around noon I want to say, there was the hen and a single rooster allowed to be kept together. Again, I’ve never owned nor looked after chickens before in my life, but it occurred to me that perhaps three roosters in a small area isn’t the best idea. Being indoors also seemed to have an impact on these roosters as they were sounding off every few minutes, slightly annoying some and surprising others and even totally scaring young children whose strollers got left in front of the coop momentarily. It was an interesting if not slightly unfortunate situation to be right next to the chicken coop for the entire show. On one hand it provided some entertainment in the down time, on the other I felt no remorse when I stopped at Ezell’s after the show. Did I mention one of my neighbors seems to have gotten chickens in the past few days? At least that’s what I’m telling myself to provide an explanation for clucking I heard yesterday outside while checking on my Brussel sprouts…

To round out our little indoor garden area, our beautiful 12’ x 10’ Cedar Heritage Greenhouse! We also had a stand displaying the polycarbonate that we also sell (click that tab up in the top left corner) as well as a nice table set up where you could find our daily attendant! Our employees had a lot of fun meeting all the wonderful people that stopped by our booth during the show and answering all the questions you had! To the woman who wanted to know how much the display greenhouse and everything in it that wasn’t currently alive would cost, unfortunately we still do not have an answer for you, I’m sorry… For everyone else, I hope you were able to get your questions answered! While we may not each know everything about the business, each of our employees has specific knowledge that makes them incredibly valuable to our team and we hope we could provide you all something useful in the form of answers. Overall, we are glad that we had the opportunity to come down and hang out for the week plus. After these few years of limited social interaction it was nice to get out and see people! Perhaps not everyone shares my opinion, but I was happy to see everyone out and about. Sure traffic was better when no one was going anywhere, but, well there’s really no upside to the traffic coming back… However, I’m still glad people are returning to life outside their homes.

This show was fully equipped with solutions to every problem a home owner may run into when attempting to modify and elevate their home space, indoors and out. From flooring options to chicken coops and every hot tub in between, this show had it all. Personally, whenever I’m at these shows I kind of feel like I’m back in grade school going to the science fair. Though there wasn’t an overload of tri-fold poster board the sentiment was the same. This blog may not be as long as others or as informative, but I still felt the need to let everyone know how much fun we had last week! From the other business representatives to the people competing in the video game competition, this was a home and garden show to remember. I’m not saying I’d go back again next week for another trade show, but I did have fun. I am certainly happy to not have to commute to and from Seattle, that traffic is not fun, but I will never forget the experience. Once again, thanks to everyone who sat behind a booth and helped set up the show! Big thanks to all those who came out to see the show, we did it all for you! Seriously, why else would we set up these elaborate displays if you’re not going to come out.

Proud sponsors of the Pacific Northwest Small Farm and Garden Lifestyle garden display include; Sandy Point Gardens, Charley’s Greenhouse and Garden, Flower Feather Farm, The Smithshyre, Kitsap Goat Yoga (a division of The Smithshyre), Powder Hound Woodworks, True Garden, Bees in the ‘Burbs, ARAN Farms, Olle, Subpod, Strombergs, Seattle Worms, Cindy Hill Andersen, Forage and Tend, John Hibbs, Ciscoe Morris, Miller Barns and Max’s Boxes. Without all of these sponsors and the hard work and dedication of the individual employees none of this would have been possible. Multiple crews from different companies work jointly in creating a cohesive display that allowed for proper exposition of each company involved without sacrificing flow and maneuverability within the display. The show was executed in a flawless manner and everyone involved had a hand in making sure of it. We at Charley’s want to take this opportunity to thank both the Seattle Flower and Garden Show for hosting and inviting us to such a fantastic trade show as well as all the amazing individuals who made the garden display possible. We truly could not have done this show without all of you and we hope you understand how important your contributions were. Thank you!

If you read all that, you’re the real M.V.P. Thank you so much for reading my little love letter to a home and garden show. I promise next week we will return to our normal, informative blog posts all about something to do with your greenhouse! Enjoy the warm weather coming our way, try not to get too mad when it’s still cold in the morning and watch out for the wind. Be kind to others and enjoy life! Until next time!

-Brian Bill