Recently, at a local sales meeting, I was introduced to the host superintendent but was told, "He's not organic guy!" I sat there thinking about that comment for a few minutes and realized that everyone who grows grass (or any plant material for that matter) is "Organic!"

Why? First of all, all plants are carbon based so they are organic but more importantly they are grown in a biologically active carbon rich environment and by definition alone THAT'S ORGANIC. In 1988 we started EarthWorks and began building "organic" fertilizers. At that time organic was a buzzword and was starting to get very vogue. But we weren't trying to capture this new wave of environmentalism (although we didn't turn it away either) we were trying to fix broken soils and help people grow better plants.

"The Soil First" approach is all about building and supplying carbon to carbon poor or biologically weak soils. It starts by balancing the soil chemically (soil testing) so that air and water can move through the soil profile. This provides the environment for beneficial bacteria to proliferate. Microbes need carbon to metabolize (much like we do) and since so many soils in our industry have had their carbon burned out over the years we provide high quality carbon and mineral sources so that these microbes can start working at peak performance. The better the microbes work the more nutrients are mobilized, the more water is available, and the better the checks and balance system is to fight off pathogens. Now that's "organic", so you see - We are all "Organic!"

Soil fertility is sorely misunderstood in our industry because it's not as easy to understand as the new chemistry introduced to take care of this season's disease issues. Soil fertility requires reading a lot of numbers on a soil test report, and understanding what they mean and then figuring out what to do. We tend to simplify fertility down to just nitrogen, but that can cause even more problems. But stay with me for a minute, because remember - We are all "Organic!"

A soil is a living and breathing entity and it needs carbon, available carbon, and a lot of it. This is what we set out to do 25 years ago, provide a way that a turf or ornamental plant manager could provide available carbon and nutrients to the soil plant environment to provide optimum growing conditions. As agronomists we knew that it wasn't as simple as putting sugars in a jug or pasteurizing some waste product and calling that organic; it was about understanding how microbes feed, how you can best flocculate soils for optimum water movement, and most importantly how to best mobilize nutrients so plants can recover and perform at their peak.

Replenish 5-4-5 was the first product introduced, and to this day is the most important. It was crafted using rich, digested compost materials; then more carbon, molasses and humic acids were added to jump start the biological life in the soil to help mobilize tied up nutrients. We knew that the cover cropped turf environments were constantly taking minerals out of the soil and using them up, so we added rock minerals to the product to re-mineralize the depleted soils. This insured that whatever plant material was growing in that soil would be able to take up the nutrients that it needed when it needed it. The addition of the available carbon products aided that uptake by stimulating microbes in the soil to help make these nutrients soluble.

To support the slower process of soil building we added our liquid product line. The first liquid product in the EarthWorks line was KICK, a powerful soil conditioning and plant nutrient product. Designed to help quickly stimulate microbial populations and open up tight soils to further aid biological activity. We soon heard success stories from superintendents of deeper rooting, better recovery, improved water holding capacity, and less disease issues.

Over the past twenty five years we have had testimonials from hundreds of golf course superintendents, sports turf managers, parks and rec facility managers, lawn care operators and landscapers from all across the world. We have expanded and improved the product line to include over half a dozen dry products and many more liquid products. Additionally, we perform and evaluate over 10,000 soil tests annually to help clients create more success stories every day.

Our story is not one of being "organic" but instead of being a Carbon Based Fertility Company. We understand how a soil works, and we build products and strategies to address those needs. We make it easy for you to focus on long-term soil and plant health, rather than seasonal chemical fixes. Having helped build amendment programs for many of the newer golf courses in the state of Virginia, and by supporting so many turf and ornamental growers in the area for over 20 years we can truly say that when we start with the soil - We are all "Organic!"

Joel Simmons President EarthWorks