Last week I mentioned that I was visiting my mom in Florida. Well I had to mix a little business into the pleasure as I had a trade show to attend to check out the latest offerings for this coming spring. And while most of the items where just the same old thing, there were a few notable exceptions.

The first thing that is worth noting is that certain products are coming down in price for 2020. With a more eco-friendly society with regards to recyclables there is a lot of plastic that needs recycling. Most of it goes to the plastic bottles for soda or milk, but much of the remainder goes to plastic flower pots, watering cans and lawn ornaments.

To that end, because of so much recycled scrap to recycle, manufacturers are getting scrap almost for nothing and that brings the finished price down substantially. Some of our most popular plastic flower pots, that we have had for years, will be almost twenty-five percent less this year compared to last.

And some newer plastic pots in a twenty inch diameter size with interior saucer will retail for around $16.99. Along with the flower pots, plastic bird feeders have also come down, but not as dramatically. There were a few new styles, but most of the new styles were made of metal to better stand up to squirrels and chipmunks. There were some cute new hummingbird feeders, mostly made from glass that will be coming in late April.

The Naked Bee hand lotion company, that we started carrying many years ago, have added many new scents for spring like Vanilla, Rose & Honey hand lotion and an assortment of SPF 15 lip balm in clear or colors. They also came out with a new Orange Blossom Honey hand sanitizer that kills germs and smells great.

But the product that I thought hit the biggest home run, was a new way to make an old product, pickles. Mrs. Wages pickle mixes have been around for as long as I have been in retail, which is over thirty-seven years now, and they have made all sorts of mixes for traditional and refrigerator pickles.

The new product now will make pickles from two cucumbers in just six hours with just one package of the new 1 Step Pickle. The product is liquid as the vinegar brine is already made with all the spices in one pouch. Just put the cucumbers and the brine mix into a jar and set your timer. Vicki can't wait to be in this for the store this spring so that she can make some pickles with our granddaughter, Alayna.

Alayna loves pickles and it would be a good way to get her interested in making them. She already does well with making chocolate chip cookies, so pickles that don't need to be boiled or canned should be a breeze. This product will be a good way for many parents to teach their kids or even grandkids the benefits of making pickles themselves. There is even a mix for just pickling vegetables other than cucumbers.

New products or not, one thing is for sure, having a trade show in February in Florida is a good way to start thinking spring.