While we haven't gone completely organic, over 90% of our fertilizers are. My largest organic line is E.B. Stone Organics. All the fertilizer in the picture are organic. What I like about these fertilizers, besides being organic is the addition of Humic Acids and soil microbes including mycorrhizal fungi. We have been recommending mycorrhizal fungi be added to the soil for years. These fungi are part of the web of life in the soil that is often missing from soil that has been disturbed, (digging, tilling, grading).

Our best seller in the organic line is Sure Start. In the beginning we always recommend the addition of Sure Start at planting time with supplemental feedings of the All-Purpose. The E.B. Stone line also has specialty foods like Azalea-Camellia food or Tomato and Vegetable food which are also popular. The Tomato Vegetable food is great for those trying organic food growing. We like the Fish Emulsion too, since it also has Kelp Meal added which seems to make a difference.

You'll see that we do not carry any Miracle-Gro. We decided a while ago to stay away from the easily identifiable products sold by the chain stores. The other reason is Miracle-gro in our area seems to cause tomatoes to grow, but delay the blooming and fruiting. This is quite common as we have lots of customers who come in early summer complaining about the lack of fruiting. “Sure the plants grow great , but...” Nine time out of ten they are feeding with nitrogen rich Miracle-gro. We try and get them to use our organic Tomato and Vegetable food which usually solves that problem. I love it since it shows that we are different, with ideas that work.

I would imagine that there are some customers who choose not to buy the organics based on price or lack of name recognition. After a couple of years of carrying the organics most now know what we offer and either jump on the organic bandwagon or still head to the box for what they know. I will say however that being known as the place to find organics is a great thing. If you have been thinking about switching some of your fertilizer lines to organic I don't think you will be sorry. Its hard at first when you get the confused look some people give when you tell them you don't have Miracle-gro. Nothing like seeing someone leave without purchasing, but it takes time to get the word out. Once the word is out those looking for that lifestyle choice will find you and others will learn why organic fertilizers are actually better than synthetics.