History

The history of Marvin’s Organic Gardens began when Marvin Duren first purchased the 64-acre property in Lebanon. The property’s originally owner was John Shillito, who was famous for opening Cincinnati’s first department store in 1832.

Right from the start in 1999, Marvin and his staff started making improvements to the property, transforming it into the eco-friendly operation it is today. This included developing specific composting areas where they could manufacture their own “home-grown” compost. Also, that same year, Marvin’s obtained a private label for their fertilizers and began selling them.

The first structure built on the property was a Dutch-design tempered glass greenhouse, where they began growing Ohio native perennials, shrubs and trees, as well as woodland and prairie plants. Customers started coming from all over to get these native plants that thrive in the Ohio region, but are rarely found at other area nurseries.

After a couple years in business, another improvement to the property was made with the installation of a contained watering system. A manmade pond is used to collect rainwater, which is then irrigated throughout the property. This has been a tremendous help in keeping everything healthy during the hot summer months.

Marvin’s Organic Gardens earned its official USDA organic certification in 2003. This certification guarantees the entire property follows strict, organic growing methods, and never uses synthetics or chemicals.

Through the years Marvin’s Organic Gardens has kept growing, adding new employees and specialties including an all-organic lawn fertilization service, landscape design, and hardscape construction services.

The most recent addition was a new retail center, which carries a wide selection of USDA Certified Organic gardening products including natural fertilizers, insect control products, weed control products, repellents, and soil amendments. Starting in the summer of 2008, Marvin’s took his business national and began to sell many of these popular products on their website.