Victory Seeds^®

Rare, Open-pollinated & Heirloom Garden Seeds

 "Preserving the future,
one seed at a time." ™

Victory Seed Company
"An Address from Mike Dunton for 2011"

Hello Friends!

Well, we all made it through 2010 and are well into yet another year of uncertain economic times.  Nationally, the unemployment rate is over 9% and here in Oregon it is closer to 11%, keeping in mind that these statistics are government provided numbers and primarily based on people receiving unemployment benefits.  This does not include folks that have taken lesser paying jobs or who are simply out of work and fighting to make ends meet.

Last year, as I looked forward to 2011, there was a certain amount of fear and apprehension about the future.  But I suppose, that this is always the case.  In tough times, we all have the opportunity to reflect on what is most important to us and to hone our skills at differentiating between wants and needs.  It seems that a new era of self-reliance and frugality is upon us.  An evolution in the simplicity movement of the 1990s perhaps.  And comparing these current trends with the era of rampant waste and consumerism from the 1980s up until the crash, I think that this is a good thing.

Money is still tight for all but the very well off and as a result, folks are now gardening more out of necessity than for hobby.  Gardening, in good times and in bad, makes sense.  It provides a form of exercise, it gets us out into nature and the fresh air, we use our minds to solve problems, it provides an opportunity for our minds to wander, and in this stressful, hectic day and age, all of this is great for our bodies and souls.  Remember, "health is wealth."

As a family and an organization, we continue to "plan for the worst and hope for the best."  We are constantly evaluating our business practices and operational procedures and make changes as necessary in order to keep fiscally strong.  The costs of doing business continue to skyrocket and in these challenging times, we intend to remain strong, viable, and continue to be around to provide you our Victory Seeds^® at an affordable price.

Some of the highlights for 2010 and goals for 2011 are:

• With all of your support and with the belt-tightening measures we made last year, we were able to add three staff members to help with packaging and order fulfillment.  This has nearly eliminated long shipping delays like those experienced during the last year's busy spring season.

• No printed catalogue again for 2011.  Discussed ad nauseam at this link - click here.  We are so sorry for the inconvenience.  We know folks like to hold something in their hands in the dead of winter, but it is simply too costly in dollars and resource time and the return just isn't there.  If I have time in the future, I will try and get a 2011 catalog created in PDF format for folks to download.  But honestly, it is a low priority.  You can still place a mail order by clicking here and following the outlined procedure.

• Last year I tried to carve out time for a newsletter and blog and that just did not pan out.  Company communication, although an important part of my work, is a small part of my responsibilities.  Things like farming seed tend to take precedent.  That said, I have recently set up a company Twitter account, and hopefully soon will start using our Facebook account to communicate with you all.  Click here to learn more about getting connected.

• I work at keeping the web site up to date on nearly a daily basis.  Since it worked so well this past year, we will continue to communicate news alerts that you may be interested in but again, social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter will be more efficient.  I can literally post updates from my phone while I am out working in the field.  Very cool.

• Giving back a portion of what we are blessed with is a huge part of who we are.  In 2010 we were able to provide charitable support to over forty organizations.  Since we are a small company and receive hundreds of requests per year, we focus our charitable work on established organizations that can reach as many people in need as possible.  If you are further interested, click here.

• I started a very time consuming project last May and worked every spare moment until late November creating our new web site.  With a lot of customer input and feedback collected over the years, we were able to create a new site, from the ground up, with the best features from our old one along with many new customer-centric tools.  These include your ability to access your order history, put yourself on waiting lists for out of stock items, communicate with us through a customer relationship (CRM) system, as well as many other tools that help to maintain accuracy and efficiency.  It is additionally even more safe and secure.

On a more personal note, as a family run organization, we continue to grow as a direct result of from the support of your orders and word of mouth recommendations to your family and friends.

I want to take this time to personally thank you for your past and continued support of our seed variety preservation work and truly hope that you find happiness, peace and prosperity in this year.

~ Gardening (and personal) Success to You and Yours in 2011! ~

Mike Dunton

March 10, 2011