Coast Of Maine – Growing Good Program

Sandie:

Yeah. Well, thanks, Sherri. I am on with Cameron Bonsey from Coast of Maine, our favorite soil folks. I’m telling you, Cameron, I have so much fun with your soil because we talk about it on the air and it feels so good. And that’s what we talk about. Just you put good stuff in and we’re going to grow. Good stuff with it. So thank you, Coast of Maine. So Cameron and I are wanting to talk about a new program that you’ve got coming up. But Cameron, first give us an idea of Coast of Maine. Talk to us a little bit just about Coast of Maine in general.

Cameron Bonsey:

I love talking about Coast of Maine just like I love talking about our soil, and thank you for having me on. You said earlier it feels good. Coast of Maine. Yeah, Coast of Maine started in 1996, a fellow by the name of Carlos Quijano started our company and he took some ocean byproducts, a lot of lobster shells, learned how to compost for the Maine Compost School. Got it organically approved by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. And then put it in a bag and started selling it to independent retailers. That’s almost 30 years. We’ve been organic since the beginning and we believe in buying local and creating the best products that we can possibly make, by composting and doing them organically.

Sandie:

Yes. Well, and you can tell, and I encourage people, just grab a bag, whichever bag you want and try it, and you will be hooked. It’s a great addition. Sherri talks a lot about variety as the spice, and it’s a great addition to the gardening that you can do in your lawn and landscape. So thank you, Coast of Maine.

Cameron Bonsey:

That microbiology and bringing different microbiology to your backyard and that biodiversity, that really makes the plants happy. It’s just setting that culture, just like we do with kids.

Sandie:

Right, exactly. Put in the good stuff and you’ll get out the good stuff.

Cameron Bonsey:

Exactly.

Sandie:

So we’re here with Coast of Maine and we want to touch on your new program that’s coming up. We’re excited about it. We gave a little tease last week about it on the show. So you have got a new Growing Good program.

Cameron Bonsey:

Well-

Sandie:

Tell us who’s eligible for this.

Cameron Bonsey:

So we started … We’ve always been doing this. We put a name to it in 2018 and it’s new to Houston and Texas, because we just haven’t gotten the word out there. So we have a Growing Good program and our heart and soul is with the local retailers that carry our stuff and those communities. So how do we create and help enhance a deeper sense of community through a product? One way that we do it is we reach out to local nonprofits, school gardens, things like the Cooperative Extension, Food Corps and urban farming associations, Farm to School. We say, “Come to our website, fill out a brief form. We will donate 10 bags of soil to your garden and we’re going to connect you with a local retailer.” They go to that retailer, they pick up the soil. And then that retailer gets paid back by Coast of Maine, whether it’s a credit or a check.

But it’s much deeper than that because it’s also educating kids. It’s also many times those local schools are saying, “I shop at a big box store.” Well, that’s not where you’re going to find Costa of Maine, but you are going to find a passionate person that knows our products, that can really help you not only with your soil, but help you with your education of the kids and inspiring future gardeners to come back to your store. We have a tremendous amount of evidence how that program has worked so well to fundamentally change the schools where they go to shop to. And all those parents get educated, but at the end of the day, it’s doing the right thing.

Sandie:

Right. Well, we love the idea of local because we are sending listeners all the time, “Go to your local nurseries.” They’re the ones … And they know everything. And many of our local nurseries are multi-generational. So they’ve been around. They’ve lived in the business and they’ll help sell you the right stuff. But you’re exactly right. When they come to pick up their bags of dirt, then they can gain that relationship with a local group.

Cameron Bonsey:

Well, the other piece, as you know intimately, the local retailers are asked all the time to donate to different things in the community. They want to, they’re a part of the community and that’s where their consumers are and they want to be there and give. If we can offset that expense and also highlight them … Because the other thing that happens with us, a lot of our imagery on our website and in our social media comes from those gardens. So those schools and those nonprofits will be out there taking images, posting those on social media and thanking the local retailer. That reinforces their brand locally by doing the right thing. By not just donating some money, but actually putting your heart and soul into it and creating this full circle and that deeper sense of community.

Sandie:

Well, I love the program and I can think of right now a couple of nonprofits, and we have a middle school not far from our studio who they have just started a garden. They had one a while ago, but they’ve really vamped it up. So I’m excited to be able to share this with them. So nonprofits, school gardens, community gardens, they can all participate. It’s 10 bags of Coast of Maine soil and I promise the people listening, and when you go and use those bags of Coast of Maine, you’re going to feel the difference, and it’s going to be a fun experience. So we know what they’re going to get. Now, how do we-

Cameron Bonsey:

How do you sign up?

Sandie:

How do we sign up?

Cameron Bonsey:

You sign up by going to Coastofmaine.com, click on About Us and Growing Good.

Sandie:

About Us. Okay, great. Growing Good.

Cameron Bonsey:

Yeah, there’ll be a simple form there. Where we’re really giving donations right now, we’re setting things up for spring of 2025.

Sandie:

Okay, I was going to ask you that.

Cameron Bonsey:

That’s what we’re doing. We’ve given to 600 school gardens this year, incorporating 237 local retailers. So it’s a nice program and we want to expand that. We’re in Houston, we’re in Texas. We want to be part of the community. But what it’s going to do is to be able to set up those relationships and make sure that in the spring, we’ll set a date. We’ll connect you with the manager. We’ll do a lot of communication to help you out. If they have questions about gardening or the best soil, we try to say, “Listen, our Castine Raised Bed Mix is what we would recommend. But the store retailer may not have that product. We have a lot of products that can do those things. As you know, the tomato and veg would be perfect for that too.”

Sandie:

One of Sherri’s favorites.

Cameron Bonsey:

Yes. So we have a system, but we’re also in the moment. We know that everybody’s different in what they need. Sometimes, they need a potting soil. Sometimes, they need a seed starter. Communicate with us because that’s what we want to do. And if you need something earlier, we’re probably going to do it.

Sandie:

Yeah. Now remember, Maine versus Houston spring. Our spring starts more like March. So I want to encourage people to get those forms in. And I looked at the form, it is easy. It’s a simple form. Your organization and where you are, and then you will hook up the school with where to pick up the soil or the nonprofit.

Cameron Bonsey:

And the other thing that we can do … So this is the key to the local retailers. Again, where we put so much drive, is that we try to go to the store that they recommend. We don’t want to take somebody away from a local retailer. If that local retailer doesn’t carry our products, we’ll usually call them, talk to them about, “Hey, can we ship some to you? And then maybe you’ll want to bring us in later on. We don’t want to take away from your community. We want to enhance it.” So it’s that give and take to be able to say, “All right, well we hope you fall in love with us and you want to do business with us. But to start, we want to take care of your community.”

Sandie:

Right. It’s a great product. So there’s so many options in the soils, and if you’ve got gardens that you’re doing or landscaping, either way, Coast of Maine is going to be the bags you want.

Cameron Bonsey:

It is.

Sandie:

So I’m excited about this, Growing Good.

Cameron Bonsey:

Growing Good.

Sandie:

Growing Good. But it’s through Coast of Maine and we just love Coast of Maine products. And like you said, they’re organic, they’re safe, and it’s a beautiful product.

Cameron Bonsey:

Yeah, and you can also find us on Instagram and Facebook at Coast of Maine Org. And go to our website. You’re probably going to get a response from me. So it’ll be a very personal response and we just want to help.

Sandie:

Great. Well, thank you very much, Cameron. And we will return right after this.

Cameron Bonsey:

Thank you.