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EMS Expands Compost Quality Program
Each of our products are produced with the quality standards for the end use in mind. Our Hawk Ridge Compost Facility’s compost quality plan includes the following: Compost Quality Control Plan
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Earthlife™ Compost Helps Grow 1210 lb Pumpkin!
This spring, Elroy Morgan selected our Premium Compost from New England Organics’ Hawk Ridge Compost Facility in Unity, ME. On October 12, 2009 Elroy stopped by for this photo after the Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival where he was recognized as Maine’s 2009 State Champion Pumpkin Grower. |
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Superhumus—Meeting the Needs of Organic Growing
For more than 20 years, New England Organics’ Superhumus has been selected for its consistency, availability and overall soil building qualities. In addition, Superhumus is weed-seed free. |
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Green Acres L&C Chooses Compost for Athletic Fields
The strict requirements of the project for proper biological, chemical and physical properties including pH, salts, organic matter and particle size were met using earthlife Compost. More than 1800 cubic yards were delivered to the project over a two week period where the compost and on-site sand & topsoil were blended to produce an optimum growing medium for the new turf. |
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Hitting Pay-Dirt with Nutri-Mulch, Super-Peat and Gro-Max!
Nutri-Mulch—Aged dark bark & compost are blended to improve plant health & outperform conventional high C:N ratio mulches. Super-Peat—A 1:1 blend of sphagnum peat & compost creates a light weight, fine textured amendment with improved porosity & slow release nutrients. Gro-Max—Sphagnum peat, Superhumus & Compost are blended to provide a growing media with improved drainage & balanced nutrients ideal for potting, window boxes, outdoor planters, flower & vegetable gardens. |
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Our Goal: 10% Fewer Greenhouse Gases by 2012
Casella and its partners are now producing roughly 25 megawatts per hour of clean energy at five of the company's landfills. This clean energy is enough to power approximately 25,000 homes and results in substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. |
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Of Mulch and Men
Last year we began using a blended mulch (half compost and half composted softwood bark) called Nutrimulch, which is produced by New England Organics in Unity, Maine. Nutrimulch is very nutrient rich, so in addition to providing all the benefits listed above, it fertilizes the plants slowly and completely over the course of the year. The results last year were quite extraordinary, and this year we are spreading approximately 550 cubic yards in a layer one-to-two-inches thick over all our ornamental plantings. |
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2004 U. S. Composter of the Year
The Hawk Ridge Compost team earned the award for its track record in facility management, operational excellence and product marketing. The facility has been in operation since 1990 and produces more than ten professional grade products designed for the horticultural, construction and agricultural markets. The facility uses compost technology from Holland (Gicom Dutch Tunnel). The enclosed composting operations uses biofiltration and scrubbers for odor/emissions control. A new 21' McClosky trommel screen was added in 2003 to help meet increased production (100,000 cubic yards). The new high production screen offers full remote control functions and radial stacking and allows us to produce both <3/8" Premium Grade and <1/4" Select Grade products. |
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Super-Peat Selected For New Sunday River Golf Course
The joint venture between Sunday River and Harris Golf, owners of the Bath and Boothbay Country Clubs, worked with famed golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. When it came time to select materials, the Harris Golf team went with New England Organics based on their experience with earthlife™ products for maintenance/topdressing on the Bath and Boothbay courses. For the Sunday River Course, Harris Golf chose earthlife™ Super-Peat (USGA approved Compost and Peat blend) for its greens and tees. With eighteen separate, self-contained fairways, golfers will be lead through the Maine woods and over dramatic elevations. The course will epitomize the best in mountain golf. Other Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Courses
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earthlife™ Compost Quality Assurance Program
In order to achieve this goal, we have combined our experience manufacturing and selling over 1,000,000 cubic yards of compost into a compost quality assurance plan. Each product is produced with the end use in mind. Our Hawk Ridge Compost Facility's compost quality assurance plan includes the following:
Quality Assurance Testing Some of the 30 quality parameters used to match products with their best use include:
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Growing Your Business with the Value of Compost
Compost offers:
For example, earthlife™ compost has billions of soil building aerobic microbes per gram of compost! Imagine how many microbes are hard at work in a cubic yard of compost and you begin to appreciate how it can transform a soil. Here are some of the industries that are growing their bottom line with the unique benefits of compost.
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Topdressing: Easy as 1-2-3.
Shortly after the North Yarmouth Academy teams finished up their spring season, Tom went to work. The first step was to gather a soil test of the existing athletic fields. The fields had been depleted of organic matter over time and Tom knew the soil needed more water holding capacity. Next the field was core aerated and prepped for topdressing. Calibrating the topdressing unit to apply 1/4" application, the field received about 60 cubic yards of earthlife™ compost. The turf was then brushed and seeded. The results were immediate and dramatic. Lush new growth came in immediately and the existing turf thrived from the added nutrients and stimulation from the compost microbes. For small projects, Tom purchased a Bannerman Turf Topper and the results have been equally impressive on residential lawns.
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New Products
Three new products are now available:
Nutri-Joe Unique to the landscaping industry, Nutri-Joe is made from 100% coffee grounds. Ideal for acid loving plants, it performs well as a soil amendment or mulch. Nutri-Joe is approved by Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association for Certified Organic Growing. Now you can wake up to the smell of coffee in your garden! Premium Compost <1/4" Ideal for use in topdressing, garden and shrub beds, and for bulk sale at garden centers. Premium Compost is a well aged, very fine textured compost. High Carbon Wood Ash Also new to our
product line is this high carbon Wood Ash. Excellent for use as a
liming agent, soil additive or compost bulking. High Carbon Wood Ash is
easy to use, provides valuable nutrients and improves soil ability to
hold moisture. |
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Athletic Fields Choose Compost
Engineered soils, irrigation, laser grading, and even lights are a few of the decisions to consider to get the most out of today's sportsfields. More than 75 New England schools have used earthlife™ compost to enhance their sportsfields. Here are a few of the fields that have incorporated earthlife™ compost.
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Southbridge, MA Landfill: Compost Helps Late Season Green Up
When it came time for Doug Casella, owner of Casella Construction, to create a vegetative cap for the expansive Southbridge landfill project, he knew he wanted to use compost. Critical to maintaining the integrity of a landfill cap and to minimizing erosion is the immediate establishment of turf. There are a number of defensive measures that can be taken to ensure the vegetative layer does not erode prior to germination, but one of the best methods is the addition of compost. Deliveries to the project started in late October and finished in November of 2003. A total of 7,000 cubic yards of earthlife™ compost was used to create a high organic manufactured topsoil that resulted in excellent germination in this late season seeding. Experience has proven that a high organic soil holds much more water and resists erosion due to the friction created by the organic particles. |
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What Product Do I Use?
Technical Assistance Our staff is available to provide
on-site assistance with mix ratios, storage, handling, nutrient
calculations as well as seed and fertilizer recommendations. |
Our goal is simple—to produce the best Compost, Mulch and Soil products possible. In order to achieve this goal, we have implemented a compost quality assurance plan through the combination of strict controls required of our 2009 Environmental Management System (EMS) certification with our experience manufacturing more than 1,000,000 cys of compost.
Congratulations to Elroy Morgan of Bradford, Maine! Elroy used compost to grow Maine’s largest pumpkin, weighing in at 1210 lbs!
Are you looking for a soil amendment for Organic applications? Superhumus is a fine blend of forest organic matter. This natural product consists of decomposed bark and leaf matter from the Maine woods and is approved for Organic use by the Maine Organic Farmers’ and Gardeners’ Association. Superhumus is unique in the nursery & landscape industry, it offers primary and secondary nutrients, a balanced pH and is rich in organic matter.
Tyngsborough, MA Elementary School is the site for new baseball, soccer and football fields built by Green Acres Landscape and Construction, Lakeville, MA. Specializing in both natural and artificial turf fields, Green Acres has built athletic fields since 1991. For this project, the final soil specifications were met with the use of Hawk Ridge earthlife Compost.
The concept of nutrient rich, organic soil amendments is simple - feed the soil and the soil will feed the plant. Our growing line of custom compost products - Nutri-Mulch, Super-Peat & Gro-Max are proving their exceptional value to landscapers, gardeners, growers, turf managers, & garden centers. These blends are all optimized for horticultural quality and performance.
We live in a closed-loop environment. Everything is connected. An innovative approach to managing today’s waste includes the realization that renewing the life-cycle of the products we consume is a critical step in reducing waste. The concept of managing solid waste means giving trash new purpose and a new life. It’s about turning waste into a resource.
Spreading mulch is tiring and not very glamorous, but it is hands down the most important part of our organic program here at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. You have undoubtedly heard that mulch suppresses weeds, moderates the temperature of the soil in summer and winter, lessens evaporation of water, and, as it decomposes, improves soil structure and increases soil fertility. However, all mulch is not created equal and, unfortunately, much of what is now proffered through massmerchandisers does more harm than good. The colored mulches that have become standard in the last few years are simply ground wood from construction wastes and forestry that are dyed to simulate various barks such as cedar, pine, and cypress. In this short space I do not have room to explain why, but suffice it to say that it is best to avoid these mulches in favor of a truly composted bark-based product.
The United States Composting Council awarded New England Organics
and the Hawk Ridge Composting Facility, Unity, ME with the 2004
Composter of the Year award at the January conference in Las Vegas. On
hand to receive this award was Facility Manager, George Belmont and
Product Marketing Manager, John Kelly.
Construction began on the new 18-hole Sunday River Golf Course in
late April of 2003. With a summer of 2004 opening date, the
construction schedule for this championship course demanded a quick
grow in.
From a soil health and plant benefit perspective, compost is
unmatched in value. Adding a quality compost to your landscape is the
single best thing to improve root growth, plant color, and overall
health.
To address the challenge of improving lawns and sportsturf
without full reconstruction, Tom Sukley, Keystone Horticulturist
developed a compost topdressing program.
Athletic programs from grade schools to top colleges have grown
enormously over the last ten years — and so have the standards by
which fields are constructed.| © 2009 New England Organics, 135 Presumpscot Street, Unit 1, Portland, ME 04103 | 800-933-6474 207-781-5011 Fax: 207-781-5794 |