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About Us
I was drawn to Organic Gardening after my mother
gave me an autographed copy of Seeds of Change
by Kenny Ausubel. That book changed my life. I
knew right then, I had to get my hands in the soil
and grow things.
We grew up on an old abandoned dairy farm. My
grandpa rented out the fields to farmers. They grew
corn, soybeans, and alfalfa, fertilized with eggshells
from my grandpa's egg breaking business. But, we
were not encouraged to farm. Yet, I didn't take to
college, cities, or a commute. I had a calling that I
didn't understand, until that book.
After I graduated from the New Mexico School of
Natural Therapeutics, I moved up to Northern New
Mexico to become an organic farm apprentice. My
mentor was a shiatsu master and a garlic farmer.
Farming at 8300 feet in the Rocky Mountains will
teach you a lot about growing! It's not like it comes
easy, so if you can grow food up there, you can
grow it anywhere! We created the 151st Organic
Farm in New Mexico in 1999.
The village that I lived in was inhabited since the mid
1500's. They had lost a lot of their traditions and
seeds. So, when I was told that "tomatoes won't
grow here anymore", I just knew I had to bring them
back. I searched for seeds that would survive
naturally in this climate. My master would not allow
any plastic to be used on her farm, so it was all
done according to the seed and the season. After
we harvested bushels of red, ripe tomatoes in late
summer, the natives were reinvigorated about
gardening and seed saving again. And, I was
hooked on farming!
Finding a place of my own to garden was my next
task, and to that end we found a little outpost in
Alpine, Oregon. Nestled in the foothills of the
Willamette Valley, the Rodale Institute had studied
our climate to find it was almost the same as most
of the southern U.S. Now we're cookin',
(vegetables, that is)!
I call it Alpine Gardens, growing everything from
arugala to zucchini. My partner and I raise fruits,
nuts, vegetables, grains, chickens and Angora
rabbits for fiber. My vision is creating a botanical
research garden for food, fiber, "farmaceuticals",
fuel, and fun!
I have been producing and studying soil block
gardening for 5 years. I find it fascinating and
productive. My idea for PottingBlocks.com come
from my need to educate Americans on this
innovative technique. (Europeans have used
blockers for many decades.) I would call them
Potting Blocks to avoid confusion with the building
block material of the same name, and to appeal to
the American potting culture, so popular today. All
Organic Growers know the importance of healthy
soil, but not all gardeners do. PottingBlocks.com
makes an environmental impact as well. By using
this system you can move one step closer to what I
like to call a "petroleum-free farm", versus the
"gigantic pile of dilapidated plastic pots farm". And,
they're just so much fun! I am relentless on my
pursuit of education and dissemination of blockers.
So, "Pot On", and "get on board the Block".
Happy and Healthy Growing,
Jason Beam, The Potting Block Guru
gave me an autographed copy of Seeds of Change
by Kenny Ausubel. That book changed my life. I
knew right then, I had to get my hands in the soil
and grow things.
We grew up on an old abandoned dairy farm. My
grandpa rented out the fields to farmers. They grew
corn, soybeans, and alfalfa, fertilized with eggshells
from my grandpa's egg breaking business. But, we
were not encouraged to farm. Yet, I didn't take to
college, cities, or a commute. I had a calling that I
didn't understand, until that book.
After I graduated from the New Mexico School of
Natural Therapeutics, I moved up to Northern New
Mexico to become an organic farm apprentice. My
mentor was a shiatsu master and a garlic farmer.
Farming at 8300 feet in the Rocky Mountains will
teach you a lot about growing! It's not like it comes
easy, so if you can grow food up there, you can
grow it anywhere! We created the 151st Organic
Farm in New Mexico in 1999.
The village that I lived in was inhabited since the mid
1500's. They had lost a lot of their traditions and
seeds. So, when I was told that "tomatoes won't
grow here anymore", I just knew I had to bring them
back. I searched for seeds that would survive
naturally in this climate. My master would not allow
any plastic to be used on her farm, so it was all
done according to the seed and the season. After
we harvested bushels of red, ripe tomatoes in late
summer, the natives were reinvigorated about
gardening and seed saving again. And, I was
hooked on farming!
Finding a place of my own to garden was my next
task, and to that end we found a little outpost in
Alpine, Oregon. Nestled in the foothills of the
Willamette Valley, the Rodale Institute had studied
our climate to find it was almost the same as most
of the southern U.S. Now we're cookin',
(vegetables, that is)!
I call it Alpine Gardens, growing everything from
arugala to zucchini. My partner and I raise fruits,
nuts, vegetables, grains, chickens and Angora
rabbits for fiber. My vision is creating a botanical
research garden for food, fiber, "farmaceuticals",
fuel, and fun!
I have been producing and studying soil block
gardening for 5 years. I find it fascinating and
productive. My idea for PottingBlocks.com come
from my need to educate Americans on this
innovative technique. (Europeans have used
blockers for many decades.) I would call them
Potting Blocks to avoid confusion with the building
block material of the same name, and to appeal to
the American potting culture, so popular today. All
Organic Growers know the importance of healthy
soil, but not all gardeners do. PottingBlocks.com
makes an environmental impact as well. By using
this system you can move one step closer to what I
like to call a "petroleum-free farm", versus the
"gigantic pile of dilapidated plastic pots farm". And,
they're just so much fun! I am relentless on my
pursuit of education and dissemination of blockers.
So, "Pot On", and "get on board the Block".
Happy and Healthy Growing,
Jason Beam, The Potting Block Guru
The original "Old Farm Boy", Jacob Kramer,
was my great grandfather. He started Echo
Lake Farm Produce Co. with my Grandpa
and was a successful cattle farmer in
Wisconsin. The business lives on
today..........
Check them out at www.echoforeggs.com.
was my great grandfather. He started Echo
Lake Farm Produce Co. with my Grandpa
and was a successful cattle farmer in
Wisconsin. The business lives on
today..........
Check them out at www.echoforeggs.com.
Circa mid 1940's. My grandpa next to his first commercial truck. He sold eggs, chickens and
rabbits until he discovered the egg separation business. He sold egg whites and egg yolks,
separately to bakers and food giants like McDonalds, Kraft, Hellman's, and bakeries all across
the country. I strive to be as innovative as my grandpa, Paul. Thanks Grandpa for all your
hard work and clever traits, keeping us out in the country, and making food for millions!
rabbits until he discovered the egg separation business. He sold egg whites and egg yolks,
separately to bakers and food giants like McDonalds, Kraft, Hellman's, and bakeries all across
the country. I strive to be as innovative as my grandpa, Paul. Thanks Grandpa for all your
hard work and clever traits, keeping us out in the country, and making food for millions!
My Grandpa, Paul. After he was a farm
boy, he was a "fly boy". He loved to fly
and take pictures overlooking his home
and farm.
boy, he was a "fly boy". He loved to fly
and take pictures overlooking his home
and farm.
"The neXt generation farm boy, Jason
Beam. Always innovating, always
striving to learn from the past,
combining the old-fashioned Organic
ways with new ideas and technologies
of the future, to bring forth the most
efficient farm possible.
My goals are: 1.) to create a giant
growing information website for all to
learn and practice, 2.) establish an
awesome "New Leaf Organiculture"
library and school in Oregon, and 3.) to
reinvent the food bank. I call it
"Farmers Feeding Families", and it is a
501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Donations will be collected to pay
farmers a sustaining income to produce
food for local food banks. Therefore,
one donation will help two families, the
farmer and the needy family. By
nourishing the poor with super
nutritious food, they may just become
productive members of an new
agrarian society known as gratefulness.
Thanks for listening."
Jason Beam
Jason Beam is the authorized
representative of CABO, Certified
Authentic Beyond Organic. The
World's Only Free Certification for local
farmers and producers. He is also the
creator of the first potting soil to made
specifically for soil block gardening,
"Old Farm Boy", coming to retail outlets
in 2009. He is an avid tool inventor
and will be releasing his own line of
farm and garden tools in 2010. He
makes his living off of a 5 acre
homestead in Alpine, Oregon called
"Alpine Gardens", a CABO nursery,
farm, and garden center located
between Corvallis and Eugene on the
way to Walport.
Beam. Always innovating, always
striving to learn from the past,
combining the old-fashioned Organic
ways with new ideas and technologies
of the future, to bring forth the most
efficient farm possible.
My goals are: 1.) to create a giant
growing information website for all to
learn and practice, 2.) establish an
awesome "New Leaf Organiculture"
library and school in Oregon, and 3.) to
reinvent the food bank. I call it
"Farmers Feeding Families", and it is a
501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Donations will be collected to pay
farmers a sustaining income to produce
food for local food banks. Therefore,
one donation will help two families, the
farmer and the needy family. By
nourishing the poor with super
nutritious food, they may just become
productive members of an new
agrarian society known as gratefulness.
Thanks for listening."
Jason Beam
Jason Beam is the authorized
representative of CABO, Certified
Authentic Beyond Organic. The
World's Only Free Certification for local
farmers and producers. He is also the
creator of the first potting soil to made
specifically for soil block gardening,
"Old Farm Boy", coming to retail outlets
in 2009. He is an avid tool inventor
and will be releasing his own line of
farm and garden tools in 2010. He
makes his living off of a 5 acre
homestead in Alpine, Oregon called
"Alpine Gardens", a CABO nursery,
farm, and garden center located
between Corvallis and Eugene on the
way to Walport.
(c) 2008 by Jason Beam. All rights reserved. Any reproduction without written consent strictly prohibited. Thank you.
PottingBlocks.com, Season Cycles, CABO, and Old Farm Boy are trademarks of Jason Beam, Oregon.
PottingBlocks.com, Season Cycles, CABO, and Old Farm Boy are trademarks of Jason Beam, Oregon.
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Things may come to those who wait, but
only the things left by those who hustle.
-Abraham Lincoln
only the things left by those who hustle.
-Abraham Lincoln
If your ship doesn't come in, swim out
to meet it. -Jonathan Winters
to meet it. -Jonathan Winters
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Get the soil block
tip of the week:
Soil Blocker Blog
tip of the week:
Soil Blocker Blog
You can always write to
us @:
PottingBlocks.com
c/o P.O. Box 561
Monroe, Oregon
97456
us @:
PottingBlocks.com
c/o P.O. Box 561
Monroe, Oregon
97456
Or....email Jason at
jason@pottingblocks.com
Or... call 541-913-6689
jason@pottingblocks.com
Or... call 541-913-6689
Come check us out. We're the only Certified
Authentic Beyond Organic Nursery using only soil
blocks and recyclable containers; no plastic pots!
We have fruit, nut, herb, and vegetable starts
along with seasonal produce, flowers, and
garden supplies. We're located in the wonderful
Hawley Valley in Alpine, Oregon.
Authentic Beyond Organic Nursery using only soil
blocks and recyclable containers; no plastic pots!
We have fruit, nut, herb, and vegetable starts
along with seasonal produce, flowers, and
garden supplies. We're located in the wonderful
Hawley Valley in Alpine, Oregon.