The EarthWorks Podcast EarthWorks

Steve Dickinson was an innovator in the turf distribution business throughout his entire career. He was the founder of a very successful distribution company, Supreme Turf, in St. Louis Missouri that focused on the agronomic success of their clients. Steve earned the title of "Soils Doctor" from many of his client friends and helped many superintendents understand the value of balancing soil chemistry. Steve had the opportunity to work with a local County Extension Agent who had studied under the University of Missouri‘s Dr. William Albrecht. Dr. Albrecht  is considered the father of cation balancing in a soil. Steve talks about visiting golf course superintendents in the 1970’s and 80’s. Even then he talked about CEC and cation balancing, instead of just pH, and started building quite the following. Superintendents started to understand that fertilizers worked better on better soils and Steve helped them understand the importance of applying carbon to the soil. In the late 1970’s the only “organic” fertilizers readily available were bio-solids, but through the years he was able to see the growth of carbon based fertility. He became an early adopter of the philosophies of EarthWorks and continued to manage soils from a cation perspective. Even today, during retirement, Steve still gets calls to make “Doctor’s" visits to golf course superintendents.

Visit EarthWorks at:  https://www.earthworksturf.com
Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/
2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf-talks/

Tom knew the right setting for this conversation, a one hundred year old speakeasy lounge in the basement of the clubhouse at Jumping Brook. The golf course celebrates its centennial next year and Tom discusses the major transformation the golf course has seen in the last two years in preparation for next year and beyond. Enjoy this deep dive into Jumping Brook, a classic Tillinghast test of golf and the efforts made to preserve its character and interesting land features.

Visit EarthWorks at: https://www.earthworksturf.com
Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/
2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf-talks/

Thrilled to bring back our friend and chemist, Lawrence Mayhew. As always, we run through a gamut of topics including humic substances, biological activity in the soil, the humification process and the life of soil microbes.  Lawrence is always informative and entertaining and has become one of our most anticipated guests. In this conversation we talked about a new procedure for testing soil nitrogen known as the ACE (Autoclaved Citrate Extractable) Nitrogen process. Lawrence shared some information about a recently published paper from researchers at Michigan State University. Although this paper was only published in the fall of 2023 and has no known commercial testing facilities using the method, Lawrence is very excited about its potential. We ended the conversation talking about how the state of California tests products for humic acids, a flawed method, that does not take into account that when humates are added to a formula that contains cations, like calcium, the humic acids combine with the cations and is no longer extractable as a free molecule. But the good news is, this is exactly what we want to see because it tells us they are doing their job. As always, the conversation with Lawrence is intense, interesting and fun.

Visit EarthWorks at:  https://www.earthworksturf.com
Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/
2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf-talks/

On this week’s podcast, we catch up with Benton Hodges, owner of Mountain West Turf Technologies. Benton was formerly the assistant superintendent at 3 Creek Ranch GC, but recently broke out on his own after seeing the opportunity to represent the many technology advancements in the turf industry. We talked about everything from the current state of robotic mowing, GPS sprayers, and even Artificial Intelligence and how we can use it to make our jobs easier. We took a glimpse into the future of turf management and where Benton sees us in the year 2050. We appreciate Benton taking time to talk with us about the many things he’s involved with and it was a great conversation about the future.  

Visit EarthWorks at:  https://www.earthworksturf.com
Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/
2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf-talks/

Jack Higgins has been the Northeast Agronomist with EarthWorks since 2009. In 2020, when Covid first hit, we were concerned about staying in touch with clients and it was Jack who suggested the idea of starting the EarthWorks Podcast. Today, the podcast team of Jack, Kevin Hicks and Joel Simmons has recorded over 200 podcasts and reached thousands of turf managers and friends. In this podcast we hear Jack’s story and learn about his time at St. Andrews Golf Club, Penn State and Lehigh Country Club. Those who know Jack understand his passion for biological soil management, greens keeping and watching turf managers succeed. Be sure to check out some of his reels found at https://www.instagram.com/earthworks4home/reels/, the company’s eCommerce residential division, to enjoy more of Jack’s trademark style and sense of humor.  It’s not often that we have one of our own as a podcast guest, but this interview was long overdue.

Visit EarthWorks at:  https://www.earthworksturf.com
Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/
2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf-talks/

We are very excited to announce that the EarthWorks Podcast has reached its 200th Episode! This project was started in 2020, at the beginning of COVID, when we weren’t sure how we were going to be able to stay in touch with clients and friends. Jack Higgins, one of our hosts on the EW Podcast, came up with the idea and we never looked back. As we celebrate our 200th episode, we have close to 1000 listens every week, and our archives are constantly being searched and older episodes are being found and enjoyed multiple times. Our goal was simply to help our clients tell their stories, many of which have been very successful using Biological Soil Management, others are just good friends of the industry. Everyone has a story and if that story helps just one turf manager discover a better way to manage their property than all the work we put into it is well worth it.  

This week our three podcast hosts are being featured and have invited one of their favorite guests to join them for a short thank you. Joel invited Glenn Smickley, the General Manager of the California Golf Club, who he credits for much of the success of EarthWorks. Kevin met with one of our most popular guests, Dave Wilber, Turfgrass Consultant Extraordinaire and they talked about construction projects in the turf industry. And, last but never least, Jack brought back one of our favorite Lawn Care Operators, Jay Lo Monaco from Paul’s Best Lawn Service where Jay shared his story of how carbon based fertility changed his business model. We can’t thank everyone enough for listening to the EW Podcast and Turf Talk over these past few years. We look forward to continuing the string of weekly events!

Visit EarthWorks at:  https://www.earthworksturf.com
Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/
2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf-talks/