Nursery honored for organic emphasis

OLYMPIA — Walk into Black Lake Organic and you're likely to receive a lesson in soil health from nursery owner-manager Gary Kline.

Sure, the rustic retail store and nursery on the shores of Black Lake, west of Tumwater, is a place to buy garden tools, vegetable-seed packets and organically grown vegetable-plant starts.

But over the years, Kline has developed a line of 10 organic fertilizers customized for trees, berry plants, vegetables, lawns and other landscapes.

For his efforts, the state Department of Ecology recently presented Kline and Black Lake Organic with an environmental-excellence award.

The plaque reads, "For 27 years building human and environmental health from the ground up."

To Kline and his customers — he said he has sold about 10 tons of fertilizer this year — the key to nutritious, disease-resistant vegetables, berries and fruits is healthy, mineral-augmented soil.

But now in failing health, Kline has placed the nursery, the adjacent home and 250 feet of lakefront on the sales block, hoping to attract a buyer interested in organic fertilizer blends.

"I'll spend as much time as I possibly can, teaching the blends to anyone who buys the nursery," he said.