Gardens Alive

Ristvin Marketing

Ristvin Marketing was established to provide the funding needed to keep the Rist Canyon Vineyards in operation and continue needed research on growing grapes in marginal areas.

The Gardens Alive!� Story

Gardens Alive! is one of the country's leading mail order companies dedicated to biological control of garden pests. Sales are nationwide and the company traces its roots back to the early 1980's and the kitchen and garage of founder and President, Niles Kinerk.

In 1984, after many years of gardening as a hobby, and ten years experience in the direct mail industry, Niles started by testing a natural gardening catalog. After successfully testing, Gardens Alive! began in earnest in the fall of 1985 by renting space in Sunman, Indiana. Six years later, in the fall of 1991, Gardens Alive! expanded into new space in a vacated Schenley Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. This facility has enabled Gardens Alive! to consolidate its growing operations of rearing beneficial insects, organic plant foods, and fostering research activities with leading universities and specialists in the field of biological control.

Gardens Alive! sells its products to home gardeners who are purchasing increasing amounts of organic products. To satisfy the increased interest in organic products, Gardens Alive! uses test plots and other research efforts to test products before selecting new items for the catalog. The Gardens Alive! retail store was opened in 1992, mainly to provide a place for customers, who had received our catalog, to see our products in nicer surroundings than we have in our warehouse.

Gardens Alive! found that, though information about products to control pests and build your soil "naturally" was becoming more and more easy to come by, the products were not. They learned through trial and error in their own gardens, some environmentally responsible products worked, and some didn't. They began to wish that someone would take on the job of sorting the eco-wheat from the eco-chaff, and making tested, organic products available to gardeners like me. It was a fairly short jump from wishing someone else would do the job to tackling it themselves. Working on "What Works" Gardens Alive! started in 1984, and set about finding products that they could sell and that they believed in.

Gardens Alive! first catalogs focused on such now commonplace but then hard to find products as Bacillus thuringiensis (a bacteria that targets specific pests but is harmless to birds, worms, wildlife, and people), rotenone (a natural pesticide derived from the roots of a tropical plant) and, as the concept of using insects to fight insects began to gain popularity, the first beneficial insect species that Gardens Alive! still sells today. They've continued to search out environmentally sound products that their customers couldn't find elsewhere. Products that work.

Gardens Alive! makes sure their environmentally responsible products work. And it's on that ground that I urge you to try some of their products on your lawn or garden. Not because they can help slow the turning of our groundwater into a toxic chemical soup (though you can consider that a bonus); and not because they're healthier for you, your family, your pets, and the birds and animals that share your little corner of the ecosystem (though most people would consider that a pretty potent added value); and not even because many of them will help you build a living, vital soil that helps your garden vegetables, flowers and lawn shrug off insect pests and diseases. No, you should try them to prove to yourself that they work, that quality, tested, environmentally sound products can match the chemical alternatives penny for penny and result for result. If you do, and prove to yourself that you can "do well by doing good," we all (including humans, plants, beneficial insects, pets and wildlife) come out on top.

And There's More in the line of Gardens Alive! "environmentally responsible products that work." Whether you want to control fleas in your home, pests in your garden or moths on your fine woolens; whether you want to keep deer from destroying your landscape plants or want to raise spectacular roses without chemicals; or whether you're growing bulbs or vegetables or fruit trees or grass seed, Gardens Alive! has a product that will help you succeed without turning your garden, yard or home into a minefield of chemical worries, a product that can save your peace of mind and soothe your budget. "Environmentally responsible products that work?" You bet, and it's about time!

Gardens Alive

Ristvin Marketing

The Gardens Alive!� Story

Gardens Alive! is one of the country's leading mail order companies dedicated to biological control of garden pests. Sales are nationwide and the company traces its roots back to the early 1980's and the kitchen and garage of founder and President, Niles Kinerk.

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