Welcome to Door County's Quick and Happy read. In addition to this week's front page articles found below, we invite you to enjoy over 700 stories from all past issues of the magazine, contained in our archives. Use the search fields below to find what you're interested in.
Follett's Watch Us Grow® Plant Food A Door County Family's Pride and Joy Since 1952
By Steve Allen - Sponsored by Lakeshore Motorsports LLC
Sep 28, 2011 - 9:00:00 AM
Phil Faustini with a Whitefish Bay Road customer's hostas.
Marci Faustini holds one of the very first bottles of the product, from the 1950's.
It took many years of experimenting with plants and fertilizer ingredients on a quiet farm near the Village of Egg Harbor before Stephen Follett smiled at his green and abundant garden and whispered, "I've got it". This was well before 1952, when he finally began production and local sales of his new formula, Watch Us Grow®, as much a secret as the famed Coca-Cola recipe.
The liquid plant food is made completely from naturally-occurring compounds, trace elements, and organic and inorganic materials. But it's still a trade secret as to the exact recipe for this amazing stuff, which stays in solution indefinitely and is known for its dramatic difference in producing big and healthy vegetation.
Of course the company founder's grandson knows how to make it. He has to - Phil Faustini has been running the family business since botanist and horticulturalist Follett passed on back in 1992. When he was a young lad of 10 years, Phil loved to visit his grandpa’s
farm, helping produce and bottle the mixture and getting to go along on sales
calls to growers and truck farmers. Phil learned all about foliar feeding, whereby plants absorb nutrients not only through their roots but also through their leaves, branches, stems, buds, fruits, and flowers.
The company's headquarters on Carlsville Road.
Stephen Follett, company founder.
"The first plants Stephen Follett started his new product on were geraniums", explains Phil. "With a dramatic reduction in shock and spoilage, the results spoke for themselves. He had enormous and great-looking geraniums."The macronutrient NPK analysis of 8-8-8 (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash) is supplemented with five micronutrients (boron, copper, iron, manganese, and zinc) plus the proprietary compound Fol-Ade®, which adds another eight natural ingredients that enhance the liquid in order to provide a healthy, balanced diet for any type of living plant, vegetable, tree, bush, etc.
"Think of it the same as you would a well-balanced diet for people", continues Phil. "It's clean, has no smell, and is non-poisonous ... humans can safely drink it, although that's not what it's for!" Unlike harsh fertilizers, the product is gentle, which is key to its success. It can be applied periodically, right up until just before harvest time, for optimal results. Phil's wife Marci explains that "people think the higher the number the better the fertilizing effect, but that might cause burning ... this product is based on the 8-8-8 analysis, and it's always gentle."
Product packaging changed over the years - but not what's inside.
After all these years, the recipe for Follett's product has not changed. Great results over a long period of time aren't something the company is inclined to tamper with. Instead, Phil and Marci simply concentrate on expanding the markets for the products, especially locally and regionally. It carries the seal "Something Special from Wisconsin", a loosely-knit organization of local producers, and is made in Door County in a small building near Carlsville.
Just like grandpa, Phil calls on small independent outlets such as grocery stores, greenhouses, hardware stores, etc. for retail sales. Some folks call him directly to order or do so online. He consults closely with growers and farmers, helping them to save money on their
overall fertilizing program. The cost per acre of his product turns out to be less than with solid fertilizers. "We're talking quarts per acre rather than tons per acre of product applied, and farmers appreciate that", Phil points out. Likewise, at the home consumer level, since the mixture is concentrated and gets diluted by the user before application, a bottle goes a long way. A wide variety of quantities are available.
Young people may be following in Phil's footsteps as well. They use Watch Us Grow® in the Schoolyard Garden at Southern Door School. Just recently first graders have been very impressed with the crop and ate all of the cauliflower soup, zucchini chips, and green peppers.
Wendy Rivkin, a leader at this garden, gives the product accolades. After all, she writes, it's great when kids want to eat their vegetables, right? Also using the product in her own small garden is the Faustini's young daughter - who is certainly following her Dad's footsteps in a very practical way!
Lakeshore Motorsports LLC
Just South of Kewaunee on
Hwy 42
920 388
4344
Serving Door & Kewaunee counties, we bring you the
best Sales and Service around with Pick Up & Delivery available
for your convenience. We service all makes of Lawn & Snow
Equipment, Scooters, Dirt Bikes, & ATV's ...
even if you made the
mistake of buying online.
With gas prices on the rise, Scooters
have become a popular way of commuting with up to 80+ miles per gallon.
We stock Keeway, E-ton, and Flyscooters with styles and sizes to fit
everyone's needs.
DoorCountyTravelersJournal.com Online Store We
donate our tiny commission from this program
to the
Door County Humane Society.
This way some of your online shopping dollars
benefit Door County.
DoorCountyTravelersJournal.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon, the Amazon logo, Endless, and the Endless logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
Updated daily ... What's going on in Door County
Welcome to DoorCountyTravelersJournal.com!
If you are looking for interesting places to visit and things to do, you're in the right place. This online magazine features articles that help you get the most out of your vacation in Wisconsin's magical Door Peninsula. Get useful visitor information and be sure to check out our Kids Edition to find places that children like to go. The opinions and recommendations herein are solely those of our contributing writers. Event information subject to change without notice.
We also publish articles of interest to local residents. Submissions and story ideas are welcome.
Email article to a friend
