It was on a beautiful piece of Illinois farmland that Mark pushed his first shovel into garden soil.

After he “grew up,” Mark focused his M.S. degree studies in the Longwood Graduate Program

on compost and potting soil. After the Longwood Graduate Program, Mark started The Organic

Mechanic Soil Company, LLC in 2006, and serves as CEO of Organic Mechanics. Mark has

served as a consultant for the EPA and Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Mark is the author of

Practical Organic Gardening: The No-Nonsense Guide to Growing Naturally.