Let the Shows Begin! 

As with the start of the new year, it also means the start of travel for the team at St. Lynn’s Press. In January, Paul and I traveled to MANTS (Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show) in Baltimore, where we connected to the garden nursery trade industry, and then in February we exhibited at the Wisconsin Public Television’s Garden Expo in Madison.

Both shows were well attended: MANTS had almost 1,000 exhibitors and over 10,000 attendees. And in spite of the below-zero temperatures in Madison, the attendance there was over 20,000. Both events provided more opportunities to connect with buyers and readers of our garden books. The feedback from both shows was overwhelmingly positive. At MANTS, garden centers who never heard of us were elated to see our books; and in Wisconsin, some folks stopped by our booth and declared that they had bought our books at past shows, and were happy to see all of our new titles. We love meeting new folks, and welcome familiar faces from past shows.

We are proud to show off our collection, including new titles such as The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion, The Downsized Veggie Garden, Good Berry Bad Berry and The Cocktail Hour Garden. Author Helen Yoest was there at Madison as well; she is the author of Good Berry Bad Berry. While at the Expo, Helen spoke at 2 seminars about berries and foraging. Afterwards, she signed her book at our booth – and gave away some of her Plants with Benefits basil seed packets as well.  And some St. Lynn’s Press authors also made it to MANTS, including Maria Zampini, Denise Schreiber, Doug Oster and Kate Copsey.

Folks were also intrigued by our newest title: Salt Rising Bread. Since we’re still in production with this book, we handed out postcards detailing what this title will be about. Turns out that many garden folks like to bake too: we enjoyed numerous conversations about this new book. Salt Rising Bread is an old-time bread that has been a well-kept secret: it relies on a starter made with cornmeal and potatoes. The aroma of this bread is unusual too – a cheesy scent that’s quite distinctive. But this bread has many fans – and we hope that this book will bring more around to this unusual delicacy. (I just wanted to give a big shout-out and thanks to Mary, who stopped at our booth in Wisconsin. We chatted about this book, and about bread baking in general. Mary emailed me a bread recipe that she uses all the time. How nice was that?)  We meet the best folks at these shows – and it makes all the effort to get there worth it.

Another event that took place last month was the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, held in Seattle, Washington. The event ran from February 17-21 this year, and offered a slew of great workshops – some of them hosted by St. Lynn’s Press authors, including Karen Chapman, Kate Copsey, C.L. Fornari, Sue Goetz, Dee Nash, David Perry, Jenny Peterson, Christina Salwitz and yes – Helen Yoest.

St. Lynn’s Press is currently exhibiting at the Pennsylvania Garden Show of York, which takes place March 4-6, at the York Expo Memorial Hall.  If you can visit, our booth number is 328. And on the calendar as well: we will be exhibiting at this year’s Farm to Table Pittsburgh Conference on March 18 and 19 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. We’re excited to be a part of this – and would love to see you there as well!

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