I grew up in the Palisades. I was devastated as I watched my hometown burn down on the local news. So many of my friends and family have lost their homes, childhood homes, schools, places of worship and businesses that shaped the community we lived in. It’s heartbreaking. We are sorry for all of you who have lost a home, a business, a pet, or family member. Our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers are with you.
Before the power went out in our home on the other side of the Santa Monica’s, Norma and I watched in horror at the destruction that was being ravaged on the communities in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. We knew that we were witnessing extraordinary loss never seen before in Southern California.
I have been through many fires growing up in LA. As a teenager, I stayed behind during the evacuation of the ’78 fire and put out fires in our neighbors’ homes with my brothers and friends. I can tell you that I have never seen damage like this in all my years of growing up in and living my adult life in the City of Angels. I kept asking myself that Tuesday night and the days that followed… How can I help? What can we do? How can we be of service to those suffering such tragic loss?
The answer came in prayer. God, in all of His wisdom and grace told me - Share the soil remediation work that you’ve been doing as soil, farm, garden, estate and landscape consultants for years to those affected by the LA fires. Teach your fellow Angelenos how to remediate their soil, and ultimately their gardens, landscapes and growing spaces around their schools, businesses and homes with the biological inoculations and REAL Organic protocols that you have created and successfully used in transiting gardens and landscapes to Organic for over 25 years.
We have helped heal and transition thousands of acres with these protocols and would love to help you establish healthy, biologically active soil that is loaded with aerobic microbes to repair your properties and build the foundation for a clean, healthy and safe ecosystem for your new gardens, landscapes, edible gardens, park spaces and even schools. These methods really work, but it’s critical to first breakdown, then flush and remove the toxins from your soil, before rebuilding the soil with healthy, living soil biology from the best composts, safe natural amendments and inoculants. You don’t want to just scrape your site and replant using low quality bulk soil yard products or bagged faux “Organic” soils and composts. It is critical to repair and remediate your site first with real organic, safe and healthy protocols. Most gardeners and landscapers do not know how to heal and repair your soil. Please share this information with them too.
One of the key components that we always recommend in soil remediation is our farm made, REAL Organic, Non-GMO, Bu’s Blend Biodynamic Compost. It is loaded with biology, bacteria and fungi which are the building blocks of healthy soil and all of the major & minor nutrients and trace minerals that will make your new planting thrive as you restore your landscape.
For information on how to repair your fire damaged gardens and landscapes, please reach out to us today at: growrealorganic.com. We are offering 2 FREE workshops on SOIL REMEDIATION FOR THE LA FIRES in online ZOOM classes on Thursday, February 6th at 7pm and Wednesday, February 19th at 7pm. Please share this information with anyone that you know who has been impacted by this terrible disaster.
God bless you, your family and your community.
© Randy Ritchie 2025