And then there were nine. Each January, the joe gardener Company selects the 10 best new “must have” gardening products for the New Year. Yesterday was supposed to be the date we revealed the top products selected for 2009.
Little did we know…
It had been a hectic day. Although the posted announcement was planned for online distribution sometime in the morning, various obstacles in obtaining last minute information throughout the day had continued to delay our official public notice. Around 5:00 yesterday afternoon, and literally minutes before we were finally ready to post the much anticipated official announcement, we received a shocking email.
At the last second before posting, the representative for one of the 10 winning products notified us that he had just that moment received word from the manufacturer that this product would not be available for sale; not now and not anytime in the future. Although details were sketchy, he alluded to patent issues and didn’t have any more specifics to offer. Such a shame. We’ve always prided ourselves on finding the latest, newest, cutting-edge products, but I guess this time we arrived at the dance a little too early. This one bit the dust before we could even flaunt its virtues.
So here’s what you won’t be hearing anymore about from us. The Cepia 1-touch Multi-purpose Power Sprayer was going to be the answer to a lot of people’s prayers. It is (or was) a one-gallon, battery operated tank sprayer that eliminates the need for manual pumping to maintain a constant, high-pressure flow rate. The small motor built into the pump sprayer and powered by two AA batteries provided enough juice to operate for about six continuous hours on a fresh set of batteries. Trust me, during the testing process, I became well acquainted with the staying power of this little workhorse. As part of our evaluation process, we duct taped the squeeze trigger in the on position to see how long it would run. Oh my gosh, I thought my sample would never die. Outdoors, this is not a problem as the relatively quiet hum of that little motor would hardly be noticed. But in my office while I’m trying to conduct business is another story. If I had a nickel for each time my family made a comment…
Although we’re very disappointed to lose one of our most highly rated selections for 2009, we chose not to fill this void with another product, simply to round out the lineup. Unfortunately, for this year at least, we didn’t find many new products that excited us enough to extol their virtues by selecting them as a “Best of the Must-haves”. Instead, we did something we’ve never done before. We reconvened our team of testers to review the wining products from previous years. By popular vote, we brought back a few of our most popular alumni for an encore appearance in 2009. Consider them the “best-of the Best-ofs”.
By the way, truth be told, considering how strongly we stand on sustainability and eco-friendliness, I was a little apprehensive to feature a chemical spraying device as a joegardener “must-have” selection. However, since this is a “multi-purpose” sprayer, our approach in favor of this device was to promote its ease of use when applying liquid, repellents to deter deer and rabbits. And that’s an application I’m sure we can all take advantage of!
JL
Oh yeah, here's the list of the joe gardener Best of the Must-haves for 2009