By P.J. Heller When the Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District and Fire Safe Marin wanted to reduce the impact of wildfires in Marin County communities north of San Francisco, they brought in a unique crew from Star Creek Land Stewards to remove fire fuel. Some 1,200 goats and sheep from Star Creek grazed hundreds of acres, removing fire fuel including …
By Ken McEntee Like most businesses across the country, mulch and soil producers count the inability to hire workers among their greatest current challenges, said Robert LaGasse, executive director of the Mulch and Soil Council, of Shallowater, Texas. In the wake of the council’s annual conference, held in September in Memphis, Tennessee, LaGasse said the national trucking shortage and supply …
By P.J. Heller Mulch and soil sales, that skyrocketed during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, may have dropped to pre-pandemic levels or below at the end of the major selling season in May and June 2021. Coming out of 2020 with sales increases of 20 percent to 40 percent, there had been predictions of a significant …
By Kathleen Marquardt Pine grows naturally on the sandhills of the Carolinas, and the longleaf pine, which is straight, strong, and pliable, has become a valuable commodity for many tree growers and harvesters. In earlier days, pine trees were harvested primarily for their wood, and much of it being sent to Europe where there was a shortage of lumber. Pine …
By P.J. Heller The farm-to-table social movement – which promotes serving locally grown food at restaurants and other eateries – is being reverse engineered into a table-to-farm effort that offers benefits to businesses, government and especially the environment. Among the companies across America flipping the farm-to-table concept is Rust Belt Riders, headquartered in Cleveland., Ohio. It collects food scraps from …
By P.J. Heller Coronavirus pandemic advice: Wash your hands often. Wear a face mask. Socially distance. Get vaccinated. Garden. Garden? In a year of on-and-off-again stay-at-home orders, businesses forced to shutter and employees having to work from home, a tanking national and world economy and concerns about the food supply — not to mention the more than 27 million Americans …
By P.J. Heller It could turn out to be one of the most notable marriages of 2020. No, not the Dennis Quaid and Laura Savoie nuptials, or the tying of the knot between Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi, or even the exchanging of vows between Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost. We’re talking here about something more down to earth: …
By P.J. Heller Zach Eaton remembers how long it used to take when loaders had to stack soil and mulch at the P.R. Russell facility in New Hampshire. “If we got 20 trucks [with raw material] in a day, it would take all day and maybe some of the next day to stack it [the processed material] and get it …
By P.J. Heller Their business may be going to pot, but that is fine with Jonathan Lee and Garrett Rodewald. The co-founders of Gaiaca Waste Revitalization in California are among a growing group of entrepreneurs who are capitalizing on the need for companies to manage burgeoning amounts of cannabis waste. “Somewhere right now, there’s a state talking about legalization; updating rules …
By Kenneth Artz California may soon ban gasoline-powered gardening tools such as lawnmowers and leaf blowers statewide, following the lead of approximately 60 California cities that have already banned the use of gas-powered yard equipment. In an effort to reduce emissions of air pollutants and carbon dioxide, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is now considering a statewide ban, which …
