The Dons' Organic Garden

DonTesla · Apr 30, 2017

Gonna need to bring in some of the Jah-certified homies for this one...

@DonBrennon
@fumble
@Rasta Roy
@greasemonkeymann
@Grandpa GreenJeans
@Mohican

What would you do if you had access to basically free material and lots of it..
My buddies work is not sure what to do with their massive piles of pine fir woodchip compost!!!
Literally massive piles of untreated sawdust are catching fire, too,
And fields of bark and slabs with bark on them, literally as far as you can see.
This normally gets used for coloured landscape woodchips but this company has no time for that.

I'm thinking of maybe making some ferment out of sawdust to make Bokashi
And turning the rest into animal bedding, use the Animal bedding to finance labour and tpt costs

The aged hog aka bark slabs, make a bit or lot of Biochar perhaps..help sweeten the ph of the compost a bit

We have access to about 5 acres of space (2+3) close to the site, and can maybe rent more from the company for cheap

Lots of buckets and trucks around. The end game would be pallets and pallets full of all natural fungal dom amended aerated inoculated compost hitting at least one place in each of the capital cities in Canada

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

We aren't talking any tiny piles here, folks.

I guess theyre a little more like mountains, lol.

My costs are so low that its literally saying sell me! don't waste us!

I got a few tests to run, just compiling a list of sawdust and soil testers but this may be the start of something very big..
stay tuned for more!

any input is much appreciated, as always, growthers! thanks!

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

https://www.rollitup.org/t/dons-dirt.939586/

:weed:

Rasta Roy · May 1, 2017

DonTesla said:
Gonna need to bring in some of the Jah-certified homies for this one...

@DonBrennon
@fumble
@Rasta Roy
@greasemonkeymann
@Grandpa GreenJeans
@Mohican

What would you do if you had access to basically free material and lots of it..
My buddies work is not sure what to do with their massive piles of pine fir woodchip compost!!!
Literally massive piles of untreated sawdust are catching fire, too,
And fields of bark and slabs with bark on them, literally as far as you can see.
This normally gets used for coloured landscape woodchips but this company has no time for that.

I'm thinking of maybe making some ferment out of sawdust to make Bokashi
And turning the rest into animal bedding, use the Animal bedding to finance labour and tpt costs

The aged hog aka bark slabs, make a bit or lot of Biochar perhaps..help sweeten the ph of the compost a bit

We have access to about 5 acres of space (2+3) close to the site, and can maybe rent more from the company for cheap

Lots of buckets and trucks around. The end game would be pallets and pallets full of all natural fungal dom amended aerated inoculated compost hitting at least one place in each of the capital cities in Canada

You should start a soil supply or compost company brother! That's what I did/am doing! We sell bulk soil blends, compost, and organic fertilizers (neem cake, crab shell meal, and Langbeinite) in mid-Michigan, pick up or delivered from our compost education lot. We have a compost pile, vermicomposting area, and small garden we use specifically for community education on sustainable living that we are doing for the first time this season. And as soon as we can secure a second work area or warehouse we are happy with, we will be bagging our product and selling them across the states and Canada.

It all started with me finding out I could rent vacant lots from my city for dirt cheap!

Sounds like you found your own kick start sir! Dream big!

fumble · May 1, 2017

How could you NOT put it to use?!

greasemonkeymann · May 1, 2017

DonTesla said:
Gonna need to bring in some of the Jah-certified homies for this one...

@DonBrennon
@fumble
@Rasta Roy
@greasemonkeymann
@Grandpa GreenJeans
@Mohican

What would you do if you had access to basically free material and lots of it..
My buddies work is not sure what to do with their massive piles of pine fir woodchip compost!!!
Literally massive piles of untreated sawdust are catching fire, too,
And fields of bark and slabs with bark on them, literally as far as you can see.
This normally gets used for coloured landscape woodchips but this company has no time for that.

I'm thinking of maybe making some ferment out of sawdust to make Bokashi
And turning the rest into animal bedding, use the Animal bedding to finance labour and tpt costs

The aged hog aka bark slabs, make a bit or lot of Biochar perhaps..help sweeten the ph of the compost a bit

We have access to about 5 acres of space (2+3) close to the site, and can maybe rent more from the company for cheap

Lots of buckets and trucks around. The end game would be pallets and pallets full of all natural fungal dom amended aerated inoculated compost hitting at least one place in each of the capital cities in Canada

damn, the kid in me is juuuust imagining a pile of grass clippings half the size..
well, you asked what i'd do?
that's it.
contact the entire area code's landscapers and hook that up

Mr.Head · May 1, 2017

DonTesla said:
View attachment 3934091

We aren't talking any tiny piles here, folks.

View attachment 3934092
I guess theyre a little more like mountains, lol.

View attachment 3934093

View attachment 3934094
My costs are so low that its literally saying sell me! don't waste us!

I got a few tests to run, just compiling a list of sawdust and soil testers but this may be the start of something very big..
stay tuned for more!

any input is much appreciated, as always, growthers! thanks!

You know I'm here to place that order bro. Just let me know when you're ready.

We need a good coast to coast organic supplier.

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

@Mr.Head I appreciate the support brother, respect. What province are you again? I may need a hand during holidays running the show? :mrgreen:

Feel free to pm/email me too hey, for real, its good to have a homie who sees the vision and need for a build a soil up here

Are there any other good companies out there, though people? for example, The frass I loved from Toronto, I cant find anymore, mealworm frass isn't the same,

Here is my current supplier list for you and any the Canadians who may be reading here

EDIT they will become suppliers of our organic solutions or become friendly competition lol

Reindeers Naturals,

Coco Peat Bricks
Kelp meal
Alfafa meal
Neem meal
Fish Bone Meal 10-6-4 water-soluble
Seaweed Extract
Diatomaceous Earth Rocks (not powder!)

Shipping starts at $17 and averages $30 and maxes out around 80 when doing massive orders

Welcome Harvest Farms

Alfafa Meal
Diatomaceous Earth Shard/Powder
Fishbone Meal 5-22-1
Greensand
Gypsum

Unfortunately they don't sell a compost that has it all, no biochar, no pumice or rice hulls, lava rock, glacial rock dust, but still
I suggest checking their sites and perhaps going in with a friend to get wholesale costs if one of you has a way to unload excess in your region, donate to gardens or sell on shelves, you can get the costs of your amendments and meals down from $30 per kg locally at your store to $2.30 and up per kg when putting in orders for $500 or more.. even finding a store or unlicensed dispensary to sell soil to the peoples who need to take care of themselves.. I'm sure if you go down to talk to some owners you will get opportunities.

$500 in stores gets you: roughly 20-30kg in amendments

$500 wholesale, you're talking more like 100kg

. worth about $2 to $3k

its so easy but the problem is the store owners are jumping on all the inferior and intro ingredients and no one is filling the voids or educating them all to keep it clean and to have more pathogen free options

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

Rasta Roy said:
You should start a soil supply or compost company brother! That's what I did/am doing! We sell bulk soil blends, compost, and organic fertilizers (neem cake, crab shell meal, and Langbeinite) in mid-Michigan, pick up or delivered from our compost education lot. We have a compost pile, vermicomposting area, and small garden we use specifically for community education on sustainable living that we are doing for the first time this season. And as soon as we can secure a second work area or warehouse we are happy with, we will be bagging our product and selling them across the states and Canada.

It all started with me finding out I could rent vacant lots from my city for dirt cheap!

Sounds like you found your own kick start sir! Dream big!

You rent vacant lots from your city for dirt cheap?! I would love to talk about your model more .. I have access to a screener 6 hours away that has sold about 1million cubic yards of soil and there is access to about 3million more yards, there, its glacial rich soil, I think I'm gonna buy the land as its through my fam, we're pretty close, and lease bagging equipment, but I'm not sure if I have a spare building up there, I suppose a hoop house would provide rain cover as we build something bigger, if HQ'd there, all I know its quite potent soil there, I almost need to mix the soil with the compost which is in BC at my bro's work and let it leech some nitrogen.. our tests showed it was so rich in glacial deposits it was almost toxic in N, our sunflowers grew 12 feet the first year in a sem--decent spot with half sun!

Or should I headquarter out west where the compost is and just make bio char and sawdust bokashi and massive amounts of woodchip compost. I suppose we can always bring a semi load to the prairies and mix with soil, and have piles in both provinces. I gotta see the cost of moving stuff that far, our two yards are 1770km apart lol but each has literally millions of dollars sitting in excess sitting there doing nothing.. EDIT : dumps of bark, 50 tonne piles on the one side, sawdust catching fire, and on the other side, 16 feet deep of soil across 55 acres and I can buy the last 23 acres for $25k and I have the money but its quite remote and far from cities! if DonPetro and my fam were on good terms, it would be a bit more unanimous of a cake walk. They are close to each other. I could rent a house out west quite easily but living and buying land up north, my girl would need some working!

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

greasemonkeymann said:
damn, the kid in me is juuuust imagining a pile of grass clippings half the size..
well, you asked what i'd do?
that's it.
contact the entire area code's landscapers and hook that up

Grease, thats genius because they likely have to pay dumping fees, I used to own a small landscaping company and thats one of the headaches we faced, we would dump for free and in peoples yards in a heart beat if it saved us the 1.5 hour round trip and $80 in fees and $20 in gas.

EDIT
Im gonna get on that, and hammer that list

greasemonkeymann · May 1, 2017

DonTesla said:
Grease, thats genius because they likely have to pay dumping fees, I used to own a small landscaping company and thats one of the headaches we faced, we would dump for free and in peoples yards in a heart beat if it saved us the 1.5 hour round trip and $80 in fees and $20 in gas.

EDIT
Im gonna get on that, and hammer that list

EXACTLY
landscapers would be alllll over that
I know they are eager to give me leaves and grass, I can get WAY more than i'd ever need.

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

fumble said:
How could you NOT put it to use?!

I know right, having access to cheap soil on cheap land half a province north where the season is shorter and cooler and far from city life, I understand not buying land and living there, but THIS, access to 100 tonnes of free material, the most expensive stuff is $40 per tonne, literally can help stop fires spreading by making bokashi, and free biochar for years, and compost for centuries.. I did the math, if we mix my families soil who has no use for it, retired multimillionaire, and mix that with an equal portion of compost out west, which is only like a tiny % of it, and aerate it, added castings to 15% volume, we would have enough soil for 35 million Canadians to have 118 gallons each so there is a LOT of soil here.. if we made a 4 billion gallon batch, took care of all of Canada, I think we would still have well over 50% of the hog and wood chips left. Its kinda staggering and a blatant calling when we think of it that way, something has to be done for sure!

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

greasemonkeymann said:
EXACTLY
landscapers would be alllll over that
I know they are eager to give me leaves and grass, I can get WAY more than i'd ever need.

Truly a good idea man, for sure hey

the bosses wont let me bring grasses on to the site, I will need to haul some semi loads to the acreage in BC and get the grass delivered there, unless I'm renting land off of the company, just got word its an option, they do have a massive lumber yard with room to spare somehow. As soon as boss is back we will pick his brain, see whats the best feeling option is, he's just on holiday atm.

For you, do you like to mix all your composts together, with lots of greens, or do you like to keep some more wood based and fungal dom and lower in nitrogen for that finish in flower.. I know the plants like nitrogen all the way just less in the end but I was thinking of making a vegging compost and fruiting compost, having both inoculated and supported by bio char, but keeping the two separate from each other as well as separate from the bacterial vermicompost and anerobic composts as well (bokashi, BIM, Lactobacillus)

But at the same time no one probably builds more well rounded compost than you so I'd love your opinion!!

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

@Rasta Roy ! Regarding langbeinite, bro, I've been eying it up as an organic S-Po-Mag / K-Mag option, is it 100% Rasta certified, metal free and all kosher and on the up and up for that clean mean style? the rock phosphates have turned me off a bit, and I'm trying to go quite glacial and volcanic if I can .. this langbeinite seems legit though. Love that you got a garden going now too and are incorporating education, thats music to my ears!

natureboygrower · May 1, 2017

not sure of how much of purists you guys are,but any concerns with grass clippings that have been sprayed with insecticides or fed chem ferts? ive thought about using them but unsure i want to intoduce that to my compost pile?

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

natureboygrower said:
not sure of how much of purists you guys are,but any concerns with grass clippings that have been sprayed with insecticides or fed chem ferts? ive thought about using them but unsure i want to intoduce that to my compost pile?

I am a purist you could say

I am getting the sawdust tested, all composts too.

Very good point, @natureboygrower I knew I was forgetting some smart dudes but twas a long day. I just called all the top / main lawn care companies in my city and 3 out of the top 3 use a product called Fiesta, an iron based NONorganic compound they say is "natural" and "safe" for pets and kids but is "sticky for one hour", another company said "give it 3 hours", I asked another if I could use it on bricks they said it will "likely stain light coloured and grey bricks orange",

has anyone ever heard of this? Or a product called GreenGreenGrass? apparently its all organic but haven't found a company using it yet here. Thanks for chiming in though @natureboygrower !!

That also reminds me of @NaturalFarmer who I always like to hear what he has to say

Rasta Roy · May 1, 2017

DonTesla said:
You rent vacant lots from your city for dirt cheap?! I would love to talk about your model more .. I have access to a screener 6 hours away that has sold about 1million cubic yards of soil and there is access to about 3million more yards, there, its glacial rich soil, I think I'm gonna buy the land as its through my fam, we're pretty close, and lease bagging equipment, but I'm not sure if I have a spare building up there, I suppose a hoop house would provide rain cover as we build something bigger, if HQ'd there, all I know its quite potent soil there, I almost need to mix the soil with the compost which is in BC at my bro's work and let it leech some nitrogen.. our tests showed it was so rich in glacial deposits it was almost toxic in N, our sunflowers grew 12 feet the first year in a sem--decent spot with half sun!

Or should I headquarter out west where the compost is and just make bio char and sawdust bokashi and massive amounts of woodchip compost. I suppose we can always bring a semi load to the prairies and mix with soil, and have piles in both provinces. I gotta see the cost of moving stuff that far, our two yards are 1770km apart lol but each has literally millions of dollars sitting in excess sitting there doing nothing.. EDIT : dumps of bark, 50 tonne piles on the one side, sawdust catching fire, and on the other side, 16 feet deep of soil across 55 acres and I can buy the last 23 acres for $25k and I have the money but its quite remote and far from cities! if DonPetro and my fam were on good terms, it would be a bit more unanimous of a cake walk. They are close to each other. I could rent a house out west quite easily but living and buying land up north, my girl would need some working!

Yeah being a factory fallout town, there's a lot of empty lots that used to be places where houses stood. They rent the lots for dirt cheap (my main lot is 2 and a half acres and costs me less than a 1000 watt ballast for a whole year). The only stipulation is that they must be used for urban agriculture purposes. Most people just do community gardens. I got a touch more creative

The most difficult thing is freight rates for bulk products. Like right now, it's more affordable for me to order bulk rice hulls through the local garden center, have them pay for shipping (Im assuming they have some deal set up because they're always getting stuff shipped?) and pay more per yard. Than it is for me to get a cheaper price per yard ordering directly from PBH but having to pay freight weights. Mostly because I have to get sooo much shipped to get that lower price per yard...but by the time you add the shipping costs...so my main advice...invest in some trucks lol. Like I'd love to buy all the composted bark you got, but the shipping rates for all that stuff would probably kill me!

Rasta Roy · May 1, 2017

DonTesla said:
@Rasta Roy ! Regarding langbeinite, bro, I've been eying it up as an organic S-Po-Mag / K-Mag option, is it 100% Rasta certified, metal free and all kosher and on the up and up for that clean mean style? the rock phosphates have turned me off a bit, and I'm trying to go quite glacial and volcanic if I can .. this langbeinite seems legit though. Love that you got a garden going now too and are incorporating education, thats music to my ears!

It can contain small amounts of iron oxide (iron and oxygen) but not the toxic metals that can come from rock phosphates. Rock Phosphate can contain toxic metals because they are built up deposits of dying organic matter upon layers and layers of other shit too (this is a poor ecology lesson lol), frequent mining of the Phosphate rich rocks has left us with the underdeveloped deposits that contain more of the other bullshit than Phosphorus. Langbeinite is collected from deposits of salt that were left behind years ago; as opposed to being mined from the ocean like some rock Phosphate. So it doesn't have new layers adding to it's existing deposits and creating toxic build up. It gets my approval for sure!

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

Rasta Roy said:
It can contain small amounts of iron oxide (iron and oxygen) but not the toxic metals that can come from rock phosphates. Rock Phosphate can contain toxic metals because they are built up deposits of dying organic matter upon layers and layers of other shit too (this is a poor ecology lesson lol), frequent mining of the Phosphate rich rocks has left us with the underdeveloped deposits that contain more of the other bullshit than Phosphorus. Langbeinite is collected from deposits of salt that were left behind years ago; as opposed to being mined from the ocean like some rock Phosphate. So it doesn't have new layers adding to it's existing deposits and creating toxic build up. It gets my approval for sure!

Very cool explanation. So are there vastly different sources for Langbeinite or its all equal you would say? None of it is too salty for lack of a better word? Thanks man!!

DonTesla · May 1, 2017

@giglewigle you might like the above posts, amigo!

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