February 10, 2011

Gnome Week: Day 1

Today is the first day of Schmidt's Official Gnome Week.  Its our version of Shark Week from the Discovery Channel.  Gnome Week is our way of celebrating the little guys in the garden and their extraordinary work they accomplish that usually goes unnoticed..  Why gnome week?  Well, working at a garden center and seeing all the fantastic gnomes that travel in and out of our store, our staff has become more than a little obsessed with all things gnomes. Its our way of saying thank you for all the joy you bring us.  We decided they deserve their own week so we can explore the complexities that make up this small yet important being.  Its such a special week that I've even added a few extra days.  Heck, gnomes probably run on their own time system so its probably a regular week for them.  During the week of gnomes each day I will bring you information you may or may not gnome (he he) about my special friends in the garden.  Each day will have a gnome saying of the day, I will introduce each one of the gnomes occupying my garden and bring you more information than you thought existed on the subject. 

Gnome week also coincides with the opening of the new animated movie Gnomeo and Juliet.  The story is about two feuding yards between the blue gnomes and the red gnomes.   They come alive when no one is watching  but while they are battling each other two young gnomes fall in love from opposing sides.  The movie opens Friday Feb. 11th.  The Schmidt's staff already has their movie tickets so we can do some serious gnome "research" and report back to you on Saturday. 
Movie Poster
                             
 Gnome Lesson of the Day:  General Gnome Information

For today's lesson I thought I would give some general information about gnomes.  Garden gnomes originated in Germany in the mid 1800's.  They were made of terra cotta and featured conical hats and solid color clothes and wore white beards.  Gnomes are always born as twins.  They have a life span of 400 years.  They are able to smell 19 better than humans and are 7 times as strong. They can predict the weather and have ESP capabilities.  They love to dance and smoke pipe tobacco.  Gnomes are guardians of the animal world and protect and live peacefully among them.  Their enemies include trolls, goblins and cats believe it or not.  Tomorrow I will explore further into the gnome world and give a more detailed description of these garden inhabitants.

Gnome Saying of the Day:  "There's gnome place like home."
Gnome of the Day:  Albus, the gardener

Albus the gardening gnome

Albus is not afraid to get his hands dirty.  As you can see he keeps himself busy bringing in fresh veggies from his garden.  He migrated here from Albania where he was under constant fear of being eaten by a dragon that lived in a cottage cheese cottage and had a sweet tooth for gnomes.  Albus was so petrified of being eaten by this dragon he left his home country with his brother Aberforth (discussed in tomorrow's gnomes) and fled to America.  After settling in Oregon, the older of the brothers, Albus, found he could now relax without fear of always hiding from gnome eating dragons.  He began to spend all of his days outdoors, enjoying his new found freedom and discovered the joys of tilling the earth and growing his own food.  He made many friends right away with his easy going attitude and his willingness to help a friend in need.  He can be found in other parts of the yard helping out the other gnome inhabitants with their own gardens and any miscellaneous projects they have going on.  Once in a while I will even find a basket of fresh veggies at my own door that he has picked and prepared for me.  This is Albus.

A note to readers:  Albus and Aberforth are brothers from another story.  You may have heard of it.  Its quite famous.  Its a book called Harry Potter. I am also a Harry Potter nerd as well as a gnome geek.

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