Former City of Prince Albert transportation manager Keri Sapsford saw a need in the Prince Albert market and has opened The Backyard and Compost Corner on Pine Street just outside of the city.
The business, which opened in mid-May, has a tagline of “Helping you make abundant and beautiful outdoor spaces.”
“It was a need that I thought needed to be fulfilled,” Sapsford explained.
The business provides bulk supply sales, the Backyard Shop and pickup and drop off composting services.
Bulk supplies include items such as wood chips, topsoil and mulch. In the shop there are various garden decor items, garden boxes and tools to help with the garden.
“The other half of my business is composting, so we help people to reduce their waste by composting their food scraps for them. We have a weekly subscription service. We also have a drop off service with our drop off bins so you can bring out your food scraps for us to compost for you. We are getting into more restaurants and grocery stores and stuff to reduce their waste,” Sapsford said.
The business also does workshops and events such as a recent one which helped people make a garden bed that essentially waters itself.
“We are trying to offer different types of gardening classes so people can get together and learn about gardening and we are going to try and do it online too in this time of doing everything online,”
She explained that the business sprung from her interest in composting and seeing a need to help people compost.
“I know a lot of people either don’t know how or are too busy but they want to help reduce their waste or make something beneficial for the environment and wanted all of the benefits that composting has but just didn’t have the time or the knowhow,” Sapsford said.
The compost side of the business gradually got busy enough that she had to expand. To do this she brought in the bulk landscaping side because nothing like that was in Prince Albert.
“My clients are asking me for topsoil or just some stuff that they can put in their planters and it really gives them a good place to go.”
They also deal in soil and soil amendment products which are big in the cannabis market.
“While we don’t carry the seeds or plants, we can help you to grow the best plant possible cause cannabis growers are the biggest soil nerds around,” she said.
She also saw a need to address supply chain issues that have been happening because of COVID-19 restrictions.
“I saw a growing need for people to grow their own food and keep their supply chain local. I wanted to help people do that, so that’s why we offer products to help you in your garden as well as locally sourced products that help our community,” she explained.
The business is located at 1 Pine Street near the location of the Prince Albert drive thru COVID-19 vaccination site and is open Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 6 p.m.
