AeroGarden Strawberries

The Strawberry Patch has arrived!

 I arrived home from work today and found that FedEx had delivered the Strawberry Patch Garden Kit!  AeroGrow International came through as promised and the box arrived via Standard Overnight, shipped from College Park, MD.  One side of the box was covered in a Nursery Inspection Certificate from the State of Maryland Department of Agriculture Plant Protection and Weed Management Section that states the plants that I received do not contain any “dangerously injurious plant pests.”

The Nursery Inspection Certificate was made out to:

Five Aces Breeding, LLC
Harry Jan Swartz
16022 Jerald Road
Laurel, MD 20707

(3879) NIC 458
Five Aces Breeding, LLC
Harry Jan Swartz
Research Greenhouse Bldg. 398
Univ. of MD. Section C-4
College Park, MD 20742

Hmmm… I pulled up the first address and it is just a house, so I think it is safe to say that the plants are starting their lives out at the University of Maryland.  I did a little searching and found out from University of Maryland Facilities Mangement that Building 398 is an $18 million dollar research greenhouse complex that was completed in September 2003.  I guess these are Terrapin strawberries!

On another interesting note, FedEx had the shipping charges listed on the label:

Shipping: $23.13
Special: $4.86
Handling: $0.00
Total: $27.99

Wow.  Did AeroGrow really give FedEx $27.99 out of the $39.90 I paid them?  That only leaves $11.91 for the plants, r&d, marketing, etc…   Well, either way, I’m pumped that the new strawberry plants are here and I’m ready to dive into the box.  Let’s check it out.