MM Commercial Venture

Hey Gang!

I'm going to be using MM in a commercial venture, setting up home vegetable gardens for people. Obviously, I'm not going to be able to use my own compost in this case. I have a good (commercial) source for organic compost made from leaves & yard trimmings. I can source cow manure, worm castings (pricey!$$) and something called "EcoScraps" White Compost Mix - made from 25 different fruits and veggies.

My question is, do you think this is enough variety to have a successful MM? I know it's not FIVE ingredients, but I need to find this stuff locally (shipping will kill you on this stuff) and it has to be priced so I can make money on this venture too.

Any thoughts and opinions are welcome.

Thanks!

Mr. Green Jeans wrote:Hey Gang!

I'm going to be using MM in a commercial venture, setting up home vegetable gardens for people. Obviously, I'm not going to be able to use my own compost in this case. I have a good (commercial) source for organic compost made from leaves & yard trimmings. I can source cow manure, worm castings (pricey!$$) and something called "EcoScraps" White Compost Mix - made from 25 different fruits and veggies.

My question is, do you think this is enough variety to have a successful MM? I know it's not FIVE ingredients, but I need to find this stuff locally (shipping will kill you on this stuff) and it has to be priced so I can make money on this venture too.

Any thoughts and opinions are welcome.

Thanks!

My opinion is that if you are doing business and you want to keep doing business you will want a product that is going to grow produce as you advertise it will.
The Mel's Mix is the backbone of the SFG and if you skimp with the compost, your garden will be less than advertised.

Make the extra effort to provide the superior product and include the 5 or more composts, your customers will sing your praises. If you skimp and they end up with a crap garden that negative word of mouth will be the death knell of your business.

@ camprn - I hear what you're saying, and "skimping" is NOT what I am trying to do! I guess I'll need to dig deeper for sources here. Not easy @ the start of winter in the North East, LOL.

Even the SFG Foundation had some trouble in the past selling quality compost with consistancy. My humble opinion is trusting/relying on others for quality is the key or the killer. I hope you find a good solution.

Mr. Green Jeans,

What about lobster or seaweed compost? Also, you may be able to mushroom compost.

donnainzone10 wrote:Mr. Green Jeans,

What about lobster or seaweed compost? Also, you may be able to mushroom compost.

Good ideas Donna, but I have not (thus far) located any sources locally.

Mr. Green Jeans wrote:

donnainzone10 wrote:Mr. Green Jeans,

What about lobster or seaweed compost? Also, you may be able to mushroom compost.

Good ideas Donna, but I have not (thus far) located any sources locally.

They should have a dealer in your area, but if you want enough they may just ship it to you out of Maine. I LOVE the lobster compost.
http://www.coastofmaine.com/index.shtml

I don't remember reading if you have ever made a personal compost pile. If it were me and I were new to sfg, I would make compost for myself first to see the work involved in getting all the necessary ingredients (at least five) and the work involved in making it. Then I would make my Mel's Mix and grow a season of crops to see how well they grew, for experience. You may realize it is more work than it is worth in trying to get all the quality ingredients. You can't skimp on the five. You may want to also read about mixing the compost, peat moss and vermiculite. The peat should be broken up and fluffed and moistened thoroughly before mixing. It is also very important to mix them thoroughly. There are threads in this forum you can read about problems if your MM is not mixed thoroughly.

I think learning how to do something is great, but actually getting the experience by doing it is most important.

Something you may want to also research is there has been an herbicide used in fields that they grow feed for animals. It goes through the animal and is in their waste. When that is used in compost, some varieties of plants grow normal but most varieties are stunted. They say it takes a very long time for that herbicide to break down but I wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole ever. There has been a discussion about this herbicide here also.

This topic has been split from the "How Strong Is Your Backbone" thread and offensive and unsupportive posts have been removed including my own.
My apologies to the topic's creator.

Mr. Greenjeans, are you actually new to SFGing? If you are now a certified SFGer, then I am sure you must already be doing it this way.
All the best to your in your venture.

Mr. Green Jeans wrote:Hey Gang!

I'm going to be using MM in a commercial venture, setting up home vegetable gardens for people. Obviously, I'm not going to be able to use my own compost in this case. I have a good (commercial) source for organic compost made from leaves & yard trimmings. I can source cow manure, worm castings (pricey!$$) and something called "EcoScraps" White Compost Mix - made from 25 different fruits and veggies.

My question is, do you think this is enough variety to have a successful MM? I know it's not FIVE ingredients, but I need to find this stuff locally (shipping will kill you on this stuff) and it has to be priced so I can make money on this venture too.

Any thoughts and opinions are welcome.

Thanks!

A couple of "hints". You will need to check with the SFG Foundation before selling your mix. I am a certified instructor and needed to sign an agreement with the SFGF to give them 10% of my sales to be able to mention Square Foot Gardening. And I am NOT allowed to use the words Mel's Mix at all because it is Mel's reputation on the line.

Best wishes.
Kim