SG565: Cultivate Happier Plants Using Organic Soil with Mark Highland
Are you an organic gardener? Do you use organic potting soil? Back in 2006, the idea of organic potting soil would have been an emerging area in the world of horticulture - but it was a question and a concept that Mark Highland had been thinking about for a while. Mark Highland is known as The Organic Mechanic and produces some fantastic organic products, with his first product being organic potting soil. Today, I’m thrilled to share my chat with entrepreneur Mark Highland, who was an early innovator in developing environmentally sustainable gardening products.
Help a gardener + their garden grow... Please Share this Episode
“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson.
Tweet This
Interview Questions
Tell us a little bit about yourself, Mark!
Time Stamp: 11:20
Education played a big part on how you got people to buy your organic products, right?
Time Stamp 18:35
When you went to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, was organic a big focus of your training there?
Time Stamp 21:45
When you went to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, was organic a big focus of your training there?
Time Stamp 21:45
Now, every entrepreneur has a story of the naysayers they faced when they started their business. Do you have any examples? What did your friends and family think?
Time Stamp 23:30
Do you feel an intense amount of pressure to get going to be first in the market before someone else beat you to it?
Time Stamp 32:30
You created a relationship with Wholefoods and that was a massive turning point for you, correct?
Time Stamp 37:35
For folks who are in the gardening space and have a new gardening product they want to sell, you would probably advocate getting into the trade show circuit. How did you handle the tradeshow grind, as it were?
Time Stamp 40:40
Is there an ingredient in your potting soil that maybe since 2006 you have a different perspective on and has since evolved in the last decade?
Time Stamp 46:55
Let’s do a little primer for folks about some of the ingredients you do have in your potting soil. First, let’s start with Pine bark, what so great about it?
Time Stamp 51:45
Coconut coir
Time Stamp 53:35
Rice haul
Time Stamp 59:15
What are your thoughts on worm castings?
Time Stamp 1:07:10
You have compost listed in some of your products. What is compost to you and how do you define it?
Time Stamp 1:08:45
Well, one of the ingredients that’s not in your products is peat, help listeners understand why that is.
Time Stamp 1:14:30
Can you please walk us through your product line.
Time Stamp 1:19:10
How do you manage quality control on your products?
Time Stamp 1:29:30
How about your remaining products? I know you have teabags, plant foods, walk us through those.
Time Stamp 1:32:00
I read online your company went through a terrible flood a couple of years ago. What happened exactly?
Time Stamp 1:34:20
Do you have any parting words of wisdom you’d like to share with folks about going organic this year?
Time Stamp 1:42:10
Websites:
Profile on Rodales Organic Life: The Organic Mechanic
Idea for an Organic Potting Soil Business Hits Pay Dirt
Facebook:
The Still Growing Facebook Group Welcomes These New Members to the Listener Community:
Nancy Williams
Mary Wachsmann
Christopher Wery
Stacy Bradifeld
John Lange
Molly Routhieaux Braley
Eric Doss
Brooke Moren
Michelle Skryzmoski Hamilton
Sandra Hayes
Mark Miley
Own Rogers
Still Growing Listener Advisory Board:
Beth Engle
Denise Pugh
Amy Fairbanks Von Achen
Patricia Chandler-Newport
Debbie Gibson
Peggy Anne Montgomery
Resources:
Rhubarbade and Strawberry-Rhubarbade
Home cooks have enormous potential to beat food waste
9 Tips for Growing the Perfect Peonies
7 Ingenious Ways to Update Your Backyard For Spring
Before-and-After Porch Makeovers That You Need to See to Believe
This Season's Trendiest Flowers Are Also Edible
How To Make Farmers Love Cover Crops? Pay Them : The Salt : NPR
Walnuts and the First Forest Farms - AramcoWorld
Welcome to the Farm - The Elliott Homestead - Book Review | Montana Happy
How Americans Gardened 260 Years Ago
8 of the Smallest, Cutest Gardens and Outdoor Spaces
Supercharge Your Soil For Spring!
Spring Cleaning: 8 Garden Chores You Can Do In 15 Minutes
Saffron growers look to get a foothold in the US
Dolphin Succulents Are The Latest Craze In Japan
Mycorrhizal Planet - Nurturing Fungi to to Build Soil Fertility and Support Plant Health
Why the interior of your shed is just as important as the exterior
What to Cook for the First Week of Spring
Cook your way through spring with these 5 main ingredients
Why I want my politicians to spend some time in a garden
How to Start a Kitchen Garden for Beginners
How to grow your own veg – without a garden
Year-round Potager Garden Seed Set
The First Principles for Starting a Kitchen Garden—the French Way
Listen to the Show
Subscribe to Still Growing
You can always find Still Growing on iTunes or on my favorite app: Stitcher Radio.
What listeners are saying...
I never write reviews but this is the best gardening podcast out there. Jennifer has interesting topics and guests and is not one bit annoying like some others are. I love that she involves her kids at the end of the podcast - usually with poetry or music. Really good podcast.
- Barbcfc, Mar 23, 2016
Still Growing is one of the reliably informative gardening podcasts from North America. The format consists of an intro (personal gardening status chat, seasonal remarks), an extended interview with a guest, and an outro with funny outtakes, side remarks, and some chatter (poems, readings) from the host's children. The podcast is focused on reliable knowledge - the guests are typically experts like academics, master gardeners, gardening entrepreneurs or public garden leaders. The intro and especially the outro give it a homey feel. Given I live in the high northern region, just a little below the Polar Circle, I'm always looking for more cold-weather oriented gardening information. Jennifer Ebeling is in Minnesota, so that's helpful to me! Vegetable gardening (my main interest) gets a good share, but is not predominant. Most topics transcend your specific gardening interest and are applicable to many styles: landscaping principles, vermicomposting, greenhouses. The episodes are typically an hour long, which is just fine for me.
- cwaigl, May 29, 2014
Best gardening podcast out there. Her preparedness leads to a good interaction with the guests and brings out the best in them. Very informative and yet personable.
- Corn bug, June 15, 2016
This is a great podcast. Really well produced and organized with good sound quality. I love the mix of information and personal touches. Jennifer has great guests and asks the best questions. You can tell she really does her homework. I listen to several gardening podcasts and this is my absolute favorite!
- So Cal Gardengirl, June 19,2016
Jennifer Ebeling
Latest posts by Jennifer Ebeling (see all)
- Twenty Reasons NOT to Garden and WHY I IGNORE THEM ALL with Garden Humorist Luke Ruggenberg - May 18, 2018
- Stoneleigh: America’s Newest Public Garden, PLUS an in-depth chat with Ethan Kauffman about his vision and the plants he loves most in the garden - May 11, 2018
- Practical Organic Gardening Explained, Plus How to Solve Garden Challenges Naturally with Mark Highland - April 20, 2018