Dear Friends:
When we began our nursery in 1987, we were selling plants in our local market – we knew each and every customer and they knew us. They trusted us to provide them with the highest quality plants at a fair price.
They also trusted us to grow their plants ‘right’. We have followed that philosophy for the past 25 years and it includes everything we do, both on the farm, in the green house, as well as shipping plants to our customers.
When we went onto the world wide web in 2008, we made a whole new group of friends – our customer base is now over 20,000 – we can’t know every customer but we can sure make it our business to make sure that you know exactly WHO we are and WHAT we stand for and HOW we grow…..
After 30 years of growing and selling plants we have often been asked if we are organic. Technically the answer is no, we are not certified “organic.” However, we follow many practices that are considered organic. The only thing we lack is official certification from the government. Instead, we like to refer to our growing practices as “natural.” Growing naturally, like growing organically, requires more labor than conventional growing. All of our plants are safe to eat as soon as your receive them because they have never known harmful chemicals.
It is important to us that our customers receive happy, healthy plants and we want to provide satisfaction without harming our environment. We also believe our customers have a right to know how their plants are grown and our philosophy is that plants should be “Grown Right.” This is not just some catchy tag line that a PR firm came up with, but a simple philosophy we have followed since the beginning. When we went on the web, we wondered how we could show our new friends that our products were being grown right. The Growers Exchange had always provided high quality plants that were grown right, and we had no intention of changing our values because we moved to the Internet. We want to share our philosophy with you.
What “Grown Right” means to us:
- Many people ask if we used genetically modified seeds, and the answer is no. We plant only the best seeds available from select seed houses.
- The Growers Exchange uses only biodegradable chemicals derived from natural resources, so our plants have never been touched by harmful chemicals. Instead of harsh chemicals, we opt for alternatives such as hot pepper wax and zeretol. The proof of our natural growing practices is evident by the critters we see running around our greenhouses. Baby bunnies, tree frogs, toads and black snakes all use the warm greenhouses as homes. They are able to do this because they will not be harmed by any harsh chemicals or pesticides flowing through the air.
- Herbs tend to have a wild growth habit and are hard to grow as a potted plant. To keep our plants shaped for symmetrical growth, we have to hand prune. Hand pruning makes sure each plant is touched by human hands several times during the growing process. Our close contact with our plants allows us to nip any sort of insect problem in the bud before it becomes a real problem. If a plant is in danger of becoming infested, we use a quick spray of an insecticidal soap, rather than spraying the whole crop with harsh pesticides.
- The plants are kept healthy with compost from our own pile rather than receiving nutrients from chemical fertilizers.
Our views on natural growing processes are also evident in the way we package and ship our plants. Every one of our plants is grown in either recycled or recyclable plastic pots. When you receive your plants, they are packed in biodegradable materials and the boxes are recyclable. The Growers Exchange strives to use biodegradable packing materials like cornstarch peanuts.
As said before, growing right takes more time and effort than conventional growing. To us, the extra labor is worth it because we believe in raising strong, healthy plants while still protecting the environment.
