There was a common theme or thread among the early developers and settlers of Orange County. Most had a dream, ambition, and determination - and were not afraid of the hard work required to support a family and nourish the dream.
The Aguinaga family fit into this category.
In the mid forties, shortly after being discharged from the Navy, Raymond Aguinaga Sr. began hauling fertilizer from the dairies in L.A. to the local orange groves in Orange County and to the Irvine companies lima bean fields. Raymond initiated and developed a relationship with the growing community of Japanese growers farming the area which was the Agricultural Division of The Irvine Company. At this time the Irvine Company was also diversifying their farming practices, and both had recognized that chicken fertilizer prompted more vigorous growth than that from the dairies. Aguinaga had become a household name in the area, and began his own business in 1947, now playing a major part in the supply of fertilizer to local agriculture.
Let men with a vision do a difficult job and they will come up with an alternative. Aguinaga took a lesson from the mining industry and began developing and building conveyors, loading mechanisms, and spreaders. This first of many industrious drives to automation, replaced seven men and wheelbarrows with one loading mechanism and helped keep The Aguinaga Fertilizer Company at the cutting edge of their trade
As time went on four brothers joined the dad, and the Aguinaga Fertilizer Company became a well know factor in the agricultural community, moving fertilizer throughout Irvine, and growing with the urban sprawl. As the farmers were pushed out, there was an increased need for organic material and landscape projects – and landscape trimming material that needed to be dealt with as reclaiming “clean green” was added to the company activities.
Son Roger, off to school studying agriculture, continued the intuitive bent of father Raymond, and working in the fields with the Japanese, noticed that the plants sometimes “burned” and that the cause appeared to be related to fertilizer particle size. Roger began working with various sized screens and applying vibrating mechanisms to control this attribute, and then began studying composting of the material which totally eliminated any contingent odors.
Roger always was – and still remains, very skeptical regarding bio-solids (which have been utilized in compost since the 20’s/30’s). “They are fine as far as nutrients are concerned”, says Roger, but the inherent presence of heavy metals from bio-solid waste is an issue; “once they are in there – they are in there”, exclaims Aguinaga “There was never a risk assessment, for the carcinogens (cancer causing agents) in bio-solids and that is why bio-solids remain a concern and real potential problem!”
Excess nitrogen and salts are yet another component of this waste stream to be dealt with.
A next natural progression for the family industry was to add soils to the mix. Once again Roger analyzed product needs and refined the process, with emphases on the impact of soil character to plant growth, and appropriate remediation where required.
“It is a requisite, to understand the sensitivity to fertilizer, E.C. (salts), and pH in order to assure the use of proper amendments when we set out to establish the soil-basis for appropriate nourishment and growth”, states Aguinaga.
Today, Aguinaga Green, Inc. continues to supply a multitude of agriculture and landscape projects and materials, as one of the largest suppliers in Southern California.
