Thanksgiving Issue November 2017
Thanksgiving Thoughts and Wishes
from: Malibu Compost
This is our eighth Thanksgiving together at Malibu Compost. It has been an amazing time for us. One of the greatest things about being a part of Malibu Compost is getting to be a part of the lives of our amazing and wonderful community. Our family and friends helped us start Malibu Compost, and we’ve been able to grow it with the help of you; our loyal customers, fantastic retailers, incredible distributors, beautiful Bu Family and the greatest friends in the world!
The years seem to fly by, but the love and support that all of us in our family have felt from all of you, and that we have been privileged to share with you along the road, stays with all of us each and every day. We wish the warmest, happiest, safest and joyous Thanksgiving to each and everyone of you. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your kindness and support in helping Malibu Compost become the company that we are today. Thank you.
Buying Stock in Malibu Compost
by: Randy Ritchie
Malibu Compost is eight and a half years old. There was a lot of living and learning that made up our experience before we started the BU, but this past eight and a half year has been like riding a meteor! Colum grew up in a biodynamic community, was Waldorf educated, and was a city councilman before getting his MBA. Renie ran a publishing company, has years of finance and investing experience and came to us with a theater and dance background from college. I was a landscape designer and builder for years both during and after my run as a screenwriter and producer after my tour at Pepperdine catching a lot of waves and studying advertising and marketing. All of our life experience put together has helped us create, build, grow, manage and envision a big wide world out there for our biodynamic compost and soil company.
To help bridge the growth from the demand that we have created through making great compost, marketing great compost, delivering great compost and selling great compost we began a crowdfunding raise back on October 16th. The stock offering is a 60 DAY raise that ends on December 14th. When I was first told about crowdfunding I thought that it was something that bad bands did on Kickstarter to raise money, but I quickly learned that the new SEC regulated crowdfunding offerings are nothing to laugh at. Many very popular and cutting-edge companies are now seeking funding through this very innovative approach that became available to investors last year.
One of the nice features about this type of SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission) vetted raise is that it allows both accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in companies. Anyone can invest up to $2,200 without any type of income verification or investor qualification. Accredited investors can invest up to $100,000 if they qualify. When we decided to go with the crowdfunding raise it was so that we would be able to offer anyone in our customer base the ability to purchase our stock, the people that sell us at nurseries to now become brand ambassadors in something they could own a stake in, investors looking for a true sustainable company to buy into or for people who just wanted to feel good about owning stock in a company that is truly organic and believes in helping out organic farmers and rescuing cows.
To become an owner in Malibu Compost, Inc. all you have to do is go to: www.wefunder.com/malibu.compost and fill out your name, email address and your password that you create. You’ll be asked how much you’d like to invest, just fill that in and the site will tell you how much of our Preferred A Stock you are purchasing, as well as several options for payment. All-in-all it takes about 2-3 minutes to complete the process! We hope that many of you who are receiving this newsletter will click on the link and take a look at the offering which carries a 5% dividend, some really fantastic BU perks that we have come up with and your very own stock certificates in Malibu Compost. Invest in Bu… Invest in you.
From the Tea House
The Making of Tea at Malibu Compost
by: Brad Calkins
Seven years ago, we began our compost tea line with Bu’s Brew Biodynamic Compost Tea. Though it wasn’t a new idea as tea brewing methods date back to early Roman, Greek and Egyptian times. What we were creating was an easy way to make up the compost tea brew in your own backyard. When I first started working on the tea production I wanted to see the results with my own eyes. I made up a batch of Bu’s Brew and sprayed everything I could see; flowers, trees, shrubs, lawn and vegetable plants. What I noticed the next day was a sparkling of the garden. All the trees, flowers, veggies, lawn and shrubs seemed to be smiling in response to the nourishment they received. When I continued to see results weeks after, I was convinced!
We processed and packed the compost tea in a garage for many months. We were confined to a small space, but we found ways to keep organized and create an efficient system. The handmade product is a simple straight-forward process but as any new project goes there are obstacles and challenges that arise. As a team we worked together to make this product the best and to educate our customers on the benefit of using compost tea. What I have come to realize is one of the characteristic of Malibu Compost’s work ethic is persistence and a determination to create the very best for our customers and for ourselves.
We first shipped sleeves of tea, then cases and now pallets of our tea line and are shipping across the United States. We did move out of the garage and now are in Berkeley CA in a warehouse. We call it The Tea House. At the Tea House we make up pallets after pallets of tea and sell it to our distributors, nurseries, landscapers and individual gardeners! At some of our events we hand out samples with instructions on how to make the brew so someone can try it and see the results for themselves. I often think about the day after the first time I sprayed the tea and the clear communication back from the plants. I’m grateful I have this job. A job that is benefiting so many gardens with true organics and making the world a better place in which to live!
From the Farm
Seasons of Change
by: Colum Riley
As the seasons change and winter fast approaches, compost production at Bu Farms is adjusting in preparation for another wet and cold winter. Thousands of yards of finished compost, simmered to perfection over the summer months, are being moved under shelter and staged for winter and Spring orders. This is an important part of the compost cycle, also called the 'curing' phase, and like a fine wine, allows the compost to stabilize and mature.
Outside on the compost pad, our newest piles are built bigger than before and covered with a straw manure mix in order to protect the inner pile from excess rain and moisture and allow the composting process to optimize the heat/air/moisture relationships. While the overall composting cycle tends to be longer during the winter months, the overall microbiology and diversity is often greater than that amongst the summer compost batches.
One of the greatest challenges of the season is finishing off our compost windrows already in progress. In preparation for wet weather, piles that shrunk in the warm weather were combined with other windrows to allow for enough mass to maintain proper heat, and then these piles were covered with a special breathable fabric designed especially for compost. Rainwater runs off the covers and down the compost pad, where it is captured via stormwater berms and percolates through filtration into organic grasses and pasture. All the while, the compost windrow continues to breathe in through the bottom of the pile, and exhale through the breathable covers on top, converting gases to plant available nitrogen and guiding the breakdown of organic matter, influenced and aided by the Biodynamic preparations added to each section of every pile throughout the process.
For the home composter, we highly recommend incorporating these methods on your own small scale in preparation for wet weather. Make sure your pile can 'breathe' in air from the bottom and is not too compacted, keep adding organic matter to ensure opportunities for heat to be generated (at least 1 cubic yard of material: 3'x3'x3'). And utilize a cover during heavy rains if needed. While breathable fabric covers are optimal for small and mid-sized composting, feel free to use cardboard sheets or a bio-filter like straw.
May the Bu be with You this Holiday Season!
Pictured above: Colum walling off the pole barn for winter
From the Road
Interview by San Diego Hydroponics &
Organics with Randy Ritchie
“What’s Up With Malibu Compost”
Q: When did Malibu Compost start?
A: Back in 2009 when Colum and I first met.
Q: What made you guys start your company?
A: Well… I had been a sustainable landscape designer in LA and Colum had grown up making compost in a biodynamic farming community. We were like long-lost brothers when we met. There was a need to heal the earth. Heal the soil. We felt it needed to start with people’s own yards and gardens. There was no alternative to chemicals or synthetics besides “faux organic” waste management and conventional AG composts and soils on the market. We started Malibu Compost to give people a choice to get true organic and biodynamic compost.
Q: How did Bu your Spokescow become part of Malibu Compost?
A: When we wrote our mission statement we altered the traditional triple bottom line for business from people, planet and profit to people, planet and animals. We rescued Bu because we wanted to show people that you can make a profit and do the right thing. We’ve helped rescue many cows since Bu, but she changed our whole company, she changed all of us… the truth is she rescued us.
Q: What is your biodynamic compost?
A: Bu’s Blend Biodynamic Compost is thermophilic compost that we make on our organic farms. The temps get to 140 degrees, then we turn the windrows so that the temps never get to 160 degrees which kill the beneficial microbes. It takes six months to make Bu’s Blend and another month to cure.
We inoculate the compost with the biodynamic preparations (chamomile, dandelion, oak bark, stinging nettle, yarrow) at just the right moment, and spray it with the BD Preparation #507 valerian. Bu’s Blend is diverse with bacteria and fungi. Organic dairy cow manure is bacterially rich. As the compost cools down from the composting process, microscopic fungi go up into the windrows and start eating the bacteria. The nitrogen and nutrient cycling begins then and it’s time to bag it for you guys. There is nothing else like Bu’s Blend in the marketplace.
Q: What’s Next for Malibu Compost?
A: We’re adding new farms in Oregon and Pennsylvania, and have an offering out for people to buy stock in our company. To buy stock in BU or check out the stock offering go to: www.wefunder.com/malibu.compost
Q: How do you feel about the journey so far?
A: Humbled. Grateful. Blessed.
To sign up for San Diego Hydroponics & Organics newsletter go to: http://eepurl.com/c_b1-j
Investor Profile:
Bob Byrne
I first heard about Malibu Compost from a trusted friend of many years in 2010. He wanted me to stop by a local nursery that was carrying a new kind of compost, a “biodynamic” compost, and that I should try it. He knew I was an avid gardener, and I agreed to buy a couple of bags. I opened one and was impressed that what I took out felt like soil, not compost. At one point I had been a Soil Science major at U.C. Berkeley, and this product piqued my interest! Before long I started plant trials using Malibu Compost against 5 or 6 competitors. The results truly surprised me! The plants growing in Malibu Compost had grown both faster and larger, but more importantly they seemed to visibly relax into what I can only call “their more natural state”.
Shortly thereafter my spouse Renie and I decided to invest in Malibu Compost. We saw the good Malibu Compost could do for the environment, the good we could do for organic dairy farms and the respectful treatment of their animals, and just possibly we could make money in the process.
But more important than money is a goal we all share at Malibu Compost, and that is to help create good outcomes for everyone Malibu Compost touches- our customers, the environment, the farmers and the care of their animals, our employees and management, and our investors.
It is a privilege to be associated with this company.
Bob Byrne
B.A. Animal Science, UC Davis, 1972
B.S. International Agriculture, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
M.A. International Relations, SAIS, Johns Hopkins, 1975
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Malibu Compost, Inc. · 1331 8th St. · Suite E · Berkeley, CA 94710 · USA
