Steve McGuire – McGuire Organics

Today’s member profile comes from someone I’ve enjoyed getting to know over the past 8 months or so (as I write this in Feb. 2012). Interestingly enough, while a lot of Steve’s recent focus has been on vermicomposting, he actually graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked (in some pretty impressive places) as a chef for some time.

As a raving “foodie” and chef “wannabe” (lol) this certainly caught my attention, and Steve and I have actually been looking at some potential ways to combine his cooking talents with my eco-gardening and EATING interests (lol) for a new website project!
8)

I definitely don’t want to steal Steve’s thunder, though, so I’ll turn it over to him so he can tell you a bit more about his business!


McGuire Organics is a small Vermicomposting Farm in Brockton, MA. We specialize in Vermicompost, Red Wigglers, European Night Crawler worms, Worm Tea, and Vermicomposting Education.

I originally got started in the worm business looking for a hobby when I was unemployed. I wanted to start my own garden and help my family reduce our food costs. The next hurdle I had to tackle was the fact that my 2-year-old son is highly allergic to many different things. I was afraid to use chemical fertilizers in fear that he would have a reaction. So, I started researching composting in books and online, and started my own compost pile in my back yard. I found that almost every book or article that I read praised vermicomposting – so naturally, I decided to learn more this topic as well. I ended up stumbling upon Bentley’s (Red Worm Composting) website, and from there my love of worms developed (so my wife says).

After I learned a lot about worm farming, I found and bought my first three containers of European night crawlers, and created my first worm bin. I was hooked!

I used my very first batch of VC to fertilize the herbs and tomatoes I was growing, and gave some to my mother in-law, who already had a raised bed garden. She loved it! She also enjoyed having me teach her how to compost and how to garden organically. Then it hit me just how many other gardeners out there are still using chemicals (and ingesting them) as opposed to using organic materials, which are healthier, AND more cost effective!

So I started McGuire Organics to help people learn that you can garden organically using every day kitchen, paper, and cardboard “wastes”. We teach self-sustainability in organic heirloom gardening. We don’t want our foods sprayed with any chemicals, or pay for over-priced produce. Foods should be safe for you, and the environment.

I’ve set up a few booths in farmers markets to sell my VC and Tea, and started my own website www.mcguireorganics.com to share what I’m doing and allow people to purchase my products any time. I have been doing really well supplying the south shore in MA with worms and compost, and have been working with people teaching them how to garden and grow vegetables organically. I’ve also teamed up with a catering company, supplying them with VC & Tea for the gardens they use to grow their food.

In the future, I’m planning to attend the 2013 Home and Garden show in Boston, and this coming spring, summer and fall I’ll be setting up booths in several farmers markets on the south shore. Wherever this business takes me, my aim will always be to continue working on helping people to turn their household wastes into organic fertilizer so they can grow their own healthy foods.



Hot composting horse manure



Layering finished horse manure compost in worm pit


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Comments

    • Martin Brooks
    • February 16, 2012

    Fantastic! Way to go, Steve!

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