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Natural Times Ten

September 2007

Last month I promised to tell you how a single conversion can affect the lives of many people. Let’s start with my conversion. Long before green was cool - the fashionable thing to do, I’d managed to establish a very successful landscape maintenance business. We had five trucks on the road servicing about 750 residential properties a week with fertilizers and weed killers just like every other lawn care business.

Then we announced to everyone that we were going organic - chucking the chemicals. We thought that almost everyone would be thrilled. WRONG! In short order we lost over a third of our customers. I ended up running my business in the red for over 3 years. I’m sure a lot of people thought I’d lost my mind.

I was spreading corn meal and alfalfa instead of conventional commercial fertilizers and turning down paying customers who were demanding the same old treatments. I was taping off sections of my own yard and doing tests. I even ventured into the use of biosolids - human waste. I was having trouble getting anyone to work for me because I was doing things no one else was doing. All my comrades and vendors were pointing their fingers at me and laughing. The general opinion was “it can’t be done. ” I was an outcast - an object of ridicule.

But, I was doing what I thought was right, so I decided to ignore what other people were thinking or saying. Within 3 months of the time when I spread my first bag of organic fertilizer on my own ordinary city lot size lawn, I witnessed such a power shift in the energy that I was motivated to sell that house and buy my 3 acre homestead. I wanted more space to experiment.

By the second year when all compost we’d spread started to release all its energy we had the best lawn and gardens for miles around. Strangers actually pulled into our driveway to ask, “What are you doing? ” “What are you spraying to kill pests? ” I knew I was on the right track.

If I can do this on my property, what can I do for others? But, even better, how can I help people do these wonderful organic procedures themselves? That’s when we opened our first small garden center. We had just enough space to tinker with our special RON’S BLENDS and stock some bagged, bottled and bulk materials.

Then a great opportunity came up. We found an abandoned garden center on 3 acres which has now grown to 5 with the possibility of expanding up to 20 acres. Finally we’d have the space to run experiments and demonstrate the wonders of organics to many more people. But, it was big gamble. We’d finally reached a state of financial stability in our little shop. Did we have the time, energy and money to take on this big challenge?

Remember, I’m convinced that every person who converts to organics will influence about 10 others to convert - either intentionally or by example. My hope is that this “green ” virus that is attacking our nation will become a pandemic. Since my mission is to do my best to make that happen, I had to take on this challenge. My dream is to build the largest organic garden center in the country.

One thing that gave me some courage in attacking this project is the sharing nature of the organic community. As a newcomer to the industry, I’d approached some of the giants like Malcolm Beck of Garden-Ville, Sabino Cortez of Erath Earth, Jay Mertz of Rabbit Hill Farms, Stuart Frankee with Medina, and Howard Garrett, the Dirt Doctor, who was then on WBAP radio every weekend. I was a neophyte - a nobody, but each of them was very generous with advice and encouragement. My new garden center would be the avenue by which I could repay those kindnesses by passing on that knowledge. Then that knowledge would pass on and on via my satisfied customers. This energy is exponential.

Here’s a great example. After five years of pleading for organics behind the scenes the Mesquite School district is now top dressing their athletic fields with compost. Adding organic material significantly reduces compaction - softens the soil from a concrete-like surface a soft cushion-like texture. This will translate into fewer and far less serious sports injuries - knee, ankle, elbow and even brain injuries. Over the years coaches, student athletes - and their parents, are going to notice the difference. These are converts to organics just ripe for the picking. Now the city parks department is running some trial on organics. The possibilities here are unlimited.

Think about fresh air and sunshine. When a bad idea is exposed to these cleansing forces, it shrivels up and dies. When a good idea comes to light, it grows stronger and stronger. I know that I’m promoting ideas that will save the world one yard at a time. One changes ten. Ten change hundreds. Hundreds change thousands. That feels good.