It's been a very interesting week. Today was the most expensive! One of my local competitors went out of business and had an auction for his equipment. I bought a Troy Built 3" Chipper and shredder for $300.00 (Lowe's lists it for about $800.00), an Echo string trimmer for $95.00, and an assortment of attachments for the Echo trimmer (pole saw, edger, and tiller for $125.00) Plus a tow behind drop spreader for $120.00.
Ron, the owner, wanted to know if I would need his help as a sub contractor. Mowing is all he is interested in for evenings and weekends (he got a grant to go back to school to become an accountant).
On Monday, I put an article on lawn top dressing on my blog. I only received 1 response on my blog, but I received 51 emails from interested people in my area (my blog is posted on the Hartsville web site). It seems that nobody offers top dressing service here. I spent most of the rest of the week researching top dressing and learned that the two main organic material components can be classified ad "Green" mulch and "Brown mulch. Green is high in nitrogen and brown is high in carbon.
I also received 29 requests for leaf removal this fall. Leaves are considered "Brown" organic material. Because the soil here in South Carolina has such low carbon content, I feel this is an untapped market. I want to offer a high carbon organic material as a top dressing for lawns next spring giving me 6 months to market it. I have a reliable manure supplier already set up and have worked out a method to mix the various ingredients for a good top dressing.
Here is my delema! I can mix and enhance the top dressing material during the next 6 months to get an adequate supply, but how do I store it? Do I have to bag it to keep moisture out? can I make a compost pile and leave it exposed to the environment? Should I make a compost pile and cover it with a tarp?
I want to concentrate on building soil, humus and organic lawn care services and products.
Any suggestions or experience will be appreciated.
Steve
Ron, the owner, wanted to know if I would need his help as a sub contractor. Mowing is all he is interested in for evenings and weekends (he got a grant to go back to school to become an accountant).
On Monday, I put an article on lawn top dressing on my blog. I only received 1 response on my blog, but I received 51 emails from interested people in my area (my blog is posted on the Hartsville web site). It seems that nobody offers top dressing service here. I spent most of the rest of the week researching top dressing and learned that the two main organic material components can be classified ad "Green" mulch and "Brown mulch. Green is high in nitrogen and brown is high in carbon.
I also received 29 requests for leaf removal this fall. Leaves are considered "Brown" organic material. Because the soil here in South Carolina has such low carbon content, I feel this is an untapped market. I want to offer a high carbon organic material as a top dressing for lawns next spring giving me 6 months to market it. I have a reliable manure supplier already set up and have worked out a method to mix the various ingredients for a good top dressing.
Here is my delema! I can mix and enhance the top dressing material during the next 6 months to get an adequate supply, but how do I store it? Do I have to bag it to keep moisture out? can I make a compost pile and leave it exposed to the environment? Should I make a compost pile and cover it with a tarp?
I want to concentrate on building soil, humus and organic lawn care services and products.
Any suggestions or experience will be appreciated.
Steve
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