Azomite International

A Natural Source of Minerals and Trace Elements
AZOMITE® Testimonials


-----Original Message-----

From: max & darlene miller
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 12:29 PM
To: lurisa@azomite.com

Subject: Testimonial

Dear Lurisa,

We have seven evergreens that are 15 to 20 feet tall and one that is 7 feet tall. Last year, the Bark Beetles were having a field day with the trees.

In March of 2004, three different tree companies told us that two of the trees would not make it through the summer and the others would not make it through the following summer. Someone mentioned Azomite but they didn't have details about the product. We went on your web site and downloaded the information. Azomite sounded too good to be true. We decided to take a chance. We disolved Azomite granules in water and applied the solution twice a month for three months and then once a month. We deep watered twice a week for the first three months and then once a week.

In November, a landscaper stopped by to give us an estimate for our front yard. He looked at the evergreens and said, "I don't know what you are doing to these trees but keep it up. They are the best looking evergreens that I have seen in this area." We will continue to use Azomite for our trees and shrubs.

You can't beat it.

Sincerely,
Max and Darlene Miller

Jared Milarch, a freshman at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, has introduced a little-known, naturally occurring substance called AZOMITE® to the nursery industry for use as a plant fertilizer. AZOMITE® is a mineral-rich, powdery pink clay found only in Utah. "[AZOMITE®] is thought to be an ancient sea-floor bed that was heaved to the surface," Milarch said. "Chemically, the substance is hydrated sodium calcium alummosilicate and it contains 67 major minerals and trace elements. This makeup led to its name, which is an acronym meaning A to Z of Minerals including Trace Elements," he said. Milarch became aware of AZOMITE® in 1993 while he was growing sugar maples at this father's nursery, E.L. Milarch & Son Nursery Inc. in Copemish, MI, to raise money for college. Milarch said he became impatient with the slow-growing trees and wanted to find something that might speed up the process. "Our farm is chemical-free," he said. "So I looked for an alternative method of fertilization." At the time, Milarch was reading a book called Secrets of the Soil by Christopher Bird and Peter Tompkins.

The book included a chapter on AZOMITE®, which had been used primarily as livestock feed, but was also considered a soil amendment and often used by organic farmers. Milarch noted that the substance contained elements that were known to be beneficial to ornamental plants, so he decided to try it as a fertilizer on his sugar maples. Because AZOMITE® was virtually unknown in the nursery industry, Milarch had a difficult time finding a supplier who carried it. "[AZOMITE®] was very hard to find," he said. After some searching, he found an organic farm supply store in Maine that would ship the product to him. He ordered three bags. "The shipping was twice as much as the product", he said. Milarch decided to conduct a random experiment on his sugar maples to try to determine the efficacy of AZOMITE® Instead of applying the powder to all 500 of his trees, he only applied it to about 100. "Since it's never really been used before [as a fertilizer), we just guessed at the application rates," he said. He sprinkled two soup cans full of the AZOMITE® around each tree and then added dried cow manure as compost. The following spring, Milarch realized he had found the product he was looking for. "Instead of the usual only 1 foot of growth, I achieved 3 feet [on the trees treated with AZOMITE®]," he said. "That's in one growing season. " The treated trees' calipers were also bigger than those of the non-treated trees. Milarch theorized that the AZOMITE® acted as a catalyst to help plants better absorb nutrients from the soil. The results of this initial experiment impressed Milarch's father, who decided to begin using AZOMITE® on all 60 varieties of his nursery's shade trees.

A few years later, when Milarch was still in high school, he enrolled in a summer botany course at Northwestern Michigan College. With the help of his instructor, Kirk Waterstripe, he conducted a more scientific, controlled experiment on AZOMITE® for a class project. "I tested it on tomato plants," Milarch said. "The [treated] plants reached fruition almost three weeks earlier than the other plants and were noticeably taller. If farmers can get their plants to reach fruition earlier, they can get paid sooner. The AZOMITE®-treated plants also appeared to exhibit greater disease resistance," he said. Once the results of the experiment were released, Milarch said the media picked up on his "discovery." Several Michigan newspapers ran lengthy articles on Milarch, and the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association featured his research in its publication, The Voice. In January of this year, the AZOMITE® story was featured on a television program that aired on the Public Broadcasting Service. In the meantime, Milarch continues to conduct experiments on AZOMITE®'s effects on various crops. Through his research, he has been able to determine an application rate - 1 pound of AZOMITE® per 10 square feet. In addition, Waterstripe is researching the effects of AZOMITE® by conducting his Ph.D. work on it at Oregon State University in Corvallis. Milarch's father has become a distributor of the product, and more nursery professionals are including it in their product lineup now that it is more readily available, Milarch said. "It's used on everything now," he said. "we get calls and letters regarding AZOMITE® almost daily."

Milarch said he thinks nursery professionals have never used AZOMITE® because they just weren't aware of it. "[AZOMITE®] is kind of a new idea," he said. "It's a new method." While he realizes that the product needs to undergo much more experimentation before it's recognized by the entire industry, he said there are several other advantages to it. "What's nice about it is there are no harmful side effects to the environment that we know about," he said. "Also, once the product is put in the ground, traces of it remain in the soil, making the following years application more effective. As you use it more often, the results are magnified," he explained. As for Milarch, he said he plans to major in horticulture and make it his career. "[Horticulture] is part of my heritage," he said. He said he's also proud of his accomplishments in the field so for and happy that he's been able to offer an alternative fertilizer to growers. "Anything that can help the farmers and the growers is great in my book," he said. "We take all the breaks we can get." For more information on AZOMITE®

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