Wildwood Gardening Entrepreneur Grabbing Customers in Chesterfield, St. Louis Area

One might call this a true "Made in America" story.

Andy Young, owner of Wildwood-based MLC Young Corporation, just announced his new partnership with Charloma, Inc., in Cherryvale, KS, to manufacture his innovative container gardening planter called "My Little Garden Barrel."

The new barrel is a vertical planter with an original "patent-pending" design that contains a central watering system. 

One creative and useful application of this planter was executed at Friendship Villageretirement center in Chesterfield. The food staffers there loaded it with a variety of herb plants they use in their bistro cooking activities for their residents. Young shares that "chef Bobby" at the center said:  "There is nothing like fresh herbs for great Italian cooking."

The "My Little Garden Barrel" planter is a uniquely designed container gardening product that allows the user to grow a virtual "mini-garden" of fruits, vegetables, herbs or flowers, from the convenience of a single planter and from the accessibility of one's deck, patio or balcony. The "patent pending" design incorporates 16 molded-in side cup openings for optimal plant growing efficiency, along with a perforated center watering tube that helps get water and nutrients to the middle of the container soil.

The planter is available in three colors:  brown sandstone, white marble and chocolate.

Jessica Hoagland, owner and operator of Green Spiral Tours in St. Louis, stated in a news release about the manufacturing agreement:  "As a nature teacher, I am absolutely delighted with this vertical planter. I picked the sandstone color, which is true to photo. We have broccoli going as a fall crop, and are already harvesting greens from the side pockets. I love it!"

The barrels also caught the attention of Missouri Botanical Garden employees, who incorporated them to their Horticultural Therapy Department.

Carl Hansen, Charloma's business development manager, said his team members are enthused about producing such a useful product that has applications in several markets.

Young said now he will focus on designing and developing accessories and related products for the Garden Barrel planters.

Find out more about the planter by clicking here.