GREEN BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Urban Organics Produces New 100 Percent Organic Soil Products
Urban Organics, producer of SweetPeet, is rolling out a new line of 100 percent Organic products—SweetLand Soils. They are using worm castings and composted fish waste from its new Aquaponics operation in Brunswick. SweetPeet has long been the choice of many local gardeners and commercial landscapers, now, due to high demand for complimentary organic products, Urban Organics has decided to launch the new line.
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SweetLand Soils composting piles and machinery at Urban Organics facility in Brunswick. |
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The newly constructed soil-mixing building is made from discarded |
“We are really just using the same model, mimicking nature, to produce a closed loop feeding cycle that has been used for thousands of years in nature,” said Mark Bishop, Urban Organics founder. Animal manure is commonly used and spread over fields to stimulate crop growth. Unfortunately, synthetic fertilizers and petroleum-based products are typically used to grow crops on a large scale.
“Today’s commercial farming system is totally unsustainable and if we can begin to show the public what can be done in their own gardens, with no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, then maybe we can impact some of the larger farming systems,” Bishop said.
Urban Organics also farms worms (vermicomposting) for the “castings,” a super rich natural fertilizer that is teeming with beneficial microbes that strengthen and protect the root zone of plants. The worms’ digestive process converts manures and other organic bi-products from the farm into the rich castings. Urban Organics mixes the castings with several secret ingredients to produce the ultimate potting soil. SweetLand Soils Potting Mix is the end result.
SweetLand GardenSoxx is another new product designed to be the foundation to a floral or vegetable garden. A fine polymer mesh tube is filled with SweetLand Soils’ growing mix and the tubes are placed on any surface including concrete, asphalt or ideally an old tired unused school play ground. When using SweetLand GardenSoxx a garden can be installed in just a few hours.
Urban Organics aims to get urban gardeners and schools in the inner city interested in this product because it is a no-till system and does not rely on healthy existing soil. The system can be easily fitted with drip irrigation tubing that makes the product a snap to maintain. The school garden can produce a great deal of edible produce and beautiful flowering plants that can be sold to the area community on school market days. Students learn valuable lessons about ecology, biology and economics, possibly leading to career choices in organic agriculture or landscaping, both growing fields of study.
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A video producer captures the story during |
PolyPrep, an eco-educational visitor center at FreeBird Farms, is to be completed by this fall.They will host school groups for age appropriate presentations, demonstrating the science and trade secrets behind all natural farming practices.
The Polyculture (fish, plants and worms) greenhouse and a brand new soil mixing building have just been constructed at FreeBird Farms. This greenhouse has another unique twist, it will be heated in the colder months bio-thermally by the compost piles right outside the greenhouse doors. The network of tubing will pump water from underneath piles into the greenhouse, heating the water used in the aquaponics system. Heating the water is much more efficient than heating the air in the greenhouse because the warm water is what will carry nutrients from fish waste to the plants roots.
For more information, visit www.UrbanOrganicsOhio.com or join the Sweet Peet fan page on Facebook.