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About Us
Established 2007 PottingBlocks.com
Established 2007 PottingBlocks.com
I was drawn to Organic Gardening after my mother gave
me an autographed copy of Seeds of Change by Kenny
Ausebel. After that I knew I just had to get my hands in
the soil and grow things and preserve heirloom seeds.
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)!
We like to call it A Bun Dance Farm, 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 9 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 (soil blocks), 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. Our
farm is also a Potting Blocks Research Farm,
experimenting with countless ways to efficiently use soil
blocks. So, "Pot On", and "get on board the Block".
Happy and Healthy Growing,
Jason Beam, The Potting Block Guru
me an autographed copy of Seeds of Change by Kenny
Ausebel. After that I knew I just had to get my hands in
the soil and grow things and preserve heirloom seeds.
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)!
We like to call it A Bun Dance Farm, 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 9 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 (soil blocks), 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. Our
farm is also a Potting Blocks Research Farm,
experimenting with countless ways to efficiently use soil
blocks. 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. The business
lives on today..........
Check them out at
www.echoforeggs.com.
Kramer, was my great grandfather.
He started Echo Lake Farm Produce
Co. with my Grandpa. 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!
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!
Here is my Grandpa, Paul. After he
was a farm boy, he was a "fly boy".
He loved to fly and take pictures
overlooking our family's home and
farm in South Eastern Wisconsin.
was a farm boy, he was a "fly boy".
He loved to fly and take pictures
overlooking our family's home and
farm in South Eastern Wisconsin.
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 a 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 made specifically for
soil block gardening, "Old Farm Boy".
He is an avid tool inventor and will be
releasing his own line of farm and
garden tools in 2012. He makes his
living off of a 5 acre homestead in
Alpine, Oregon called "A Bun Dance
Farm, a CABO nursery, and farm 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 a 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 made specifically for
soil block gardening, "Old Farm Boy".
He is an avid tool inventor and will be
releasing his own line of farm and
garden tools in 2012. He makes his
living off of a 5 acre homestead in
Alpine, Oregon called "A Bun Dance
Farm, a CABO nursery, and farm located
between Corvallis and Eugene on the
way to Walport.
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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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| (c) 2008 by Jason Beam. All rights reserved. Any reproduction without written consent strictly prohibited. Thank you. PottingBlocks.com and Old Farm Boy are trademarks of Jason Beam, Oregon. |