Tuesday, May 8, 2007

McShane's Nursery

About six months ago I stumbled into McShane's Nursery, at the sight of the old Deco Rock in Salinas, and ended up blowing $100.00 or so on various color plants and a 3-1 apple tree.

The 3-1 has three different apples grafted on to one dwarf root stock. Clayton and I spent an hour or so preparing the hole and planting this thing. For the $100.00 investment we got 3 great pictures complete with captions like "Clayton Appleseed and new tree". During the freeze this year I watched my bare branches wondering if it would ever grow again come spring. It has beautiful deep green leaves now.

Stumbling on McShane's was a fortunate happening and my initial impulse buy has already proved well worth the investment. I noticed, though, that Steve Mcshane had to wait until after I bought my soil and sod this weekend before he could actually afford to bring in his new Windmill.

McShane Windmill Goes Up
By ROBERT SALONGA
The Salinas Californian


Drivers entering south Salinas from Highway 68 will now be greeted by a 45-foot-tall windmill erected today at McShane's Nursery & Landscape Supply.

Nursery owner Steve McShane hopes the windmill will stand out against the spread of row crops south of the city as a new Salinas landmark.

“We’re trying to capture what the community of Salinas would want,” McShane said.

The windmill will pump water through the nursery, which is undergoing significant expansion, but McShane said the business may convert it into an electricity generator in the future.

He added that he hopes the windmill will spark discussion in the community about environmentally friendly energy sources.

About McShane's


Founded in the Fall of 2005, McShane’s Nursery & Landscape Supply has an incredible story to tell. It all goes back to a passion for plants & outdoor living environments by the organization’s Owner and General Manager, Steve McShane.

An avid outdoorsman, agriculturalist and gardener, many would say Steve has loved nursery & plants since he could crawl. This was probably helped by his father, Tom McShane, and grandmother, Leonie Stakle. In his teens he was well known for the yards and business properties he took care of to help make money. Steve also spent nearly four years working in the nursery department at Orchard Supply Hardware in Sunnyvale, California.

A Soil Science graduate from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo , Steve co-founded and chaired the Central Coast Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers in the Fall of 1993. In 1996, Steve graduated from the Master Gardeners Program in San Luis Obispo County.

Once finished with college, Steve worked with State Senator, now Secretary of State, Bruce McPherson and Senator Jeff Denham. After some time in politics, he returned to his passion of agriculture by entering the fresh vegetable business with work at Taylor Farms in Salinas as a product manager. This led him to NewStar Fresh Foods where he directed food safety, quality and new product development.

Everything changed during the Fall of 2005. Steve learned of an opportunity to acquire a nursery of more than 50 years on the south side of Salinas known as Graeber Gardens. Opportunities for production, direct marketing and even expansion fueled a business plan and a partnership with a local transportation company, Assured Aggregates. On December 19th, 2005 McShane’s Nursery & Landscape Supply became a reality.


Less than a month after startup, a neighboring soils, bark and rock operation by the name of Deco Rock, came up for sale. By early February, a deal was inked. McShane’s Nursery & Landscape Supply would acquire Deco Rock and now offer a full suite of soils, compost, bark and Landscape Supplies.

Steve McShane is quite clear about the vision behind the enterprise. That is the mission to build and succeed at operating a true "regional" Nursery and Landscape Supply.

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