Bay Organics

“The average residential lawn & garden receives 10 times the rate of fertilizer and chemicals per acre than farmland”

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Bay Organics is Back!

After Bay Organics successfully completed the clean-up of the former New Earth Services site, the Concerned Citizens of Northern Dorchester (CCND), with the assistance of Sveinn Storm, an environmental activist, (whose Maryland House of Delegates business card says he is a Legislative Assistant to the 36th Legislative District with offices in Annapolis and Easton. The email address listed on Mr. Storm's card is that of Delegate Michael Smigiel.), mounted a smear campaign against Bay Organics efforts to build a new state of the art, in-vessel composting facility at the Dorchester County landfill.

The CCND and Mr. Storm plastered the Governors office, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the local media with false claims and fabrications about Bay Organics clean up operations for Dorchester County. Their only ammunition was to bring up the past problems created by New Earth Services.

Bay Organics had an open invitation to the CCND and the citizens of Dorchester County to visit the clean up site and learn of Bay Organics plan for the future. Not once did the CCND take advantage of our invitation.

Mr. Storm & the CCND’s fear mongering caused MDE to enforce a consent order against Dorchester County that MDE had held in abeyance for almost three years due to the success of the clean up. MDE’s action left Dorchester County no choice but to break off negotiations with Bay Organics. By July 13, 2008, Bay Organics operations in Dorchester County ended.

The citizens of Dorchester County should be proud their County Council saw the wisdom in then County Director of Public Works Robert Tenanty’s plan to work with Bay Organics to clean up the mess New Earth Services left behind. Working together, Dorchester County and Bay Organics saved the County approximately $2.5 million in clean up costs when compared to the original estimates.

Now for the Good News!!! - Bay Organics products will now be produced and distributed by a joint-venture between Blue Hen Organics, LLC of Dagsboro, DE and Banks of Eden Farms of Fruitland, MD. Bay Organics has agreed to license Bay Organics logo, product names, and product formulations to the new venture and provide on-going consulting support to the venture.

Starting in March 2009, BAY ORGANICS GREEN will be available in bulk. BULK BAY ORGANICS PREMIUM TOP SOIL will also soon be available.

Thanks to the CCND and Sveinn Storm, BAY ORGANICS BLUE, the amazing soil improver that brought joy to gardeners throughout the Mid-Atlantic region is no longer available. Crab packing houses were willing to work with local agricultural operations to develop an approved composting operation for crab chum. The CCND’s zealous effort to eliminate the composting process as a recycling strategy in Dorchester County has created additional problems for the struggling crab industry that has been part of the County for hundreds of years.

Blue Hen Organics and Banks of Eden Farms are considering a crab chum composting program, if the permitting and transportation challenges can be addressed.

Due to current operational parameters, BAY ORGANICS DE-HY and BAY ORGANICS “HI-CAL" are not available at this time. Bay Organics will be introducing new products and services over the coming months.

With your continued support, Bay Organics products will again be available in bags throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Please check back here often to learn the latest news and developments!

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Protecting the Chesapeake Bay on Both Sides of the Bay Bridge.

The Delmarva Peninsula is an agricultural powerhouse. The waters of the Chesapeake Bay yield over 500 million pounds of seafood annually. The area is the 5th largest poultry producing region in the United States and thousands of acres are in vegetable production.
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Healthy Soil Grows Healthy Plants and a Healthy Way of LIfe

At Bay Organics, we realize that you have many soil amendments to choose from when you visit your local garden center. We are proud of the quality of our products and know that you will see the difference in the way your plants respond when you build healthy soil with Bay Organics products.

Bay Organics products help improve the soil so you can enjoy the results of successful gardening. We believe that by helping you to be a successful, Bay Friendly gardener, we are allowing you more enjoyment of your gardening efforts; in short, we are helping you improve the quality of your life.

1. Cut your lawn at 3 inches or higher.

Research at the University of Maryland has shown that maintaining a cutting height of 3 inches or higher on a thick, healthy lawn is as effective as pre-emergent chemical treatments for the control of crab grass. Just imagine how many tons of crabgrass control is applied to the lawns of the Chesapeake Bay water shed each year. We could eliminate the need for that chemical treatment just by building healthy soil and allowing our lawns to grow to 3 inches or higher.

2. Keep your lawn mower blade razor sharp.

Remember, you are cutting your grass, not beating it to death. Get an extra blade for your lawn mower and keep it sharp. Switch the blades as the become dull. Your lawn will look better and your lawnmower will operate more efficiently. This is especially important if you are using a mulching mower.

3. Give your lawn frequent trims.

It would be ideal to never take off more than 1/2 inch at a time. This keeps your grass at the ideal height for shading out weeds and stimulates your grass plants to send out new shoots that grow from ground level. By cutting your grass frequently and taking off no more than a ½ inch of grass at a time, you are keeping your lawn well trimmed as you decapitate any weeds in your lawn. Most weeds grow from their tips and frequent decapitation tends to slow them down.

Cutting your grass frequently lets your lawnmower operate more efficiently, reducing emissions if you use a gasoline powered unit. If you use an electric, battery or human powered lawn mower, your unit will give you a much better cut if it is only taking off a small amount of grass each time. This is critical for users of mulching mowers. In order for mulching mowers to be effective, your soil has to have a viable microbial population to break down the grass clippings. You can make sure your soil is biologically alive by core aerating and top dressing with Chesapeake Green. When you cut your lawn frequently with a razor sharp blade, your mulching mower will reduce the particle size of the grass clippings so more surface area is exposed. This allows the microbes to digest the grass clippings and actually help feed your lawn. Your mulching mower cannot do its job if you lopping off several inches of grass at a time.

4. Vary your cutting pattern.

his is really important if you use a mulching mower. If you cut in the same pattern every time, your mulching mower is depositing clippings in the same location. Your soil can only consume so many clippings. By alternating your cutting pattern, you are making sure that clippings are distributed equally throughout your lawn.