By Linda Wiggen Kraft
A must stop place for any city or country person with a garden, lawn, chickens, horses, pets or small farm animals is Greene’s Country Store & Feed in Lake St. Louis. Greene’s is appropriately named for a store dedicated to “green” lawns, gardens and healthy animals. An extensive selection of numerous brands of organic and healthy products and animal food is in stock. In fact Greene’s is the only place locally that sells organic chicken feed and 29 cents-per-pound birdseed.
The Greene in Greene’s Country Store is named after owner Randy Greene. Randy’s dedication to, and knowledge about, organic and sustainable products runs deep and wide. For years he was the general manager of Wild Oats in Ladue. For Purina Mills, he traveled the country educating retailers about products and their ingredients. He can tell you about each product’s ingredients and what they do for your garden, lawn or animal. Greene’s carries only products that work and save you money. It is the only local store that carries large quantities of single nutrients for the garden like 50 pound bags of kelp meal, alfalfa meal, fish meal, cotton seed meal, green sand, diatomaceous earth and more. Liquid nutrients are also available. Often large quantities are needed to nourish the soil. If the store doesn’t have a specific nutrient for the landscape, Randy can most likely get it.
Because Randy knows soil needs so well, he recommends every garden and lawn get a soil test, through his store or elsewhere. Bring in the test and he will educate you on what is needed and why, and then get it for you. He will show how the switch from traditional chemical garden and lawn care to clean and organics saves money over time. Education about sustainable and organic topics is a big part of Randy’s vision for a greener world. Free classes this spring with local experts will include info about Seed Starting, Composting, Wind & Solar Energy, Organic Lawn Care, Organic & Clean Weed & Insect Control, Feeding Your Pet and Raising Chickens in the Back Yard. Check the website for dates: www.greenescountrystore.com
Other items make Greene’s a fun place to discover things for year round garden and animal needs. Bird feeders, seeds, suet and dried corn are for winter gardens. Onion sets, potato sets and garden seeds are already in. Cover crop seeds, large quantity grass and garden seed packages are available. Organic vegetables along with herbs, annuals, perennials, ground cover plants, edible fruit plants like raspberries, blackberries and currents are coming soon. Local produce is sold in the summer, in the fall mums and pumpkins, and year round fireplace wood.
As I drove away recently from Greene’s Country Store with my car full of heavy bags of garden amendments, dog food, seeds and gallons of liquid garden nutrients, I realized even a city gardener like myself can find plenty of things for my garden and lawn in this country store. I will be back for more.
Greene’s Country Store and Feed, 8621 Hwy N, Lake St. Louis, MO 63367, 636 561-6637.