History of LBN
Laughing Buddha Nursery was started by current owner/operator Grant Estrade in 2004 in New Orleans, Louisiana while working at Adventure Sports, an outdoor outfitter. In fact, the creation of LBN was assisted greatly by the owner and staff of Adventure Sports by allowing Grant to set up a "mini store" inside the shop. This created a launching pad that allowed LBN to move to its current location in February of 2005.
The overall mission of LBN was to allow customers access to sustainable gardening and nature oriented products. To quote Grant Estrade:
"I wanted to create a company that gave consumers the option to use natural/organic gardening products around their home and garden. I believe in the power of voting with your dollar, and making sustainable minded decisions about the consumer products that one purchases is one of the main ways that an individual can begin making changes for the better in a capitalistic society. The more "green companies" and "green consumers" we have the more we will evolve towards a circular economy (in which things are recycled), and away from a linear economy (in which things are sent to a dead end land fill)."
Like any new business things were very rough at first. The only thing that kept the business afloat financially was the fact that Grant took on a full time bartending position at night before setting up the current location to pay the bills. But thanks to LBN's initial customer base the business began to take hold, and after eight months of working full time during the day at the shop and full time at night bartending Grant was able to focus on just the shop.
Unfortunelty not soon after picking up a solid pace the Gulf Coast was hit by Hurricane Katrina destroying lives and the New Orleans Economy. To quote Grant Estrade:
"All that I could think about while we were in Baton Rouge, LA as Katrina pounded New Orleans was how all of the blood, sweat, and tears we had put into LBN was in vain. We then left Baton Rouge for Austin, TX to stay with family. After a short time I realized New Orleans was done and I had to move on. I canceled utility accounts, etc for LBN and deciced to switch my focus to Austin employment oppurtunities. And then with having no real plan at all, I decided that I needed to give New Orleans and LBN another try. My time exploring Austin helped fuel my desire to return home because of the vain of sustainabilty that seemed to run through Austin; it got me pumped up again. And so while in Austin I began to remodal LBN for a new start. I decided that we were going to be more than just a shop reselling products. I wanted to create a truly green business that helped to solve environmental problems through a green capitialistic approach, and multi-bottomline mindset of doing more than just making money. I realized after Katrina how disconnected we are from nature, and if there was any way that I could help with the reconnect, it would be through exposing people to the simple idea of growing some of their own foodstuffs."
After Katrina LBN re-opened that October not really knowing what was going to happen. LBN adapted to the new climate and went to work with the above mentioned mindset. And again through the help of LBN's customer base the shop was able to recover, and emerge from the hurricane devestation as a more defined company.
Today LBN is a well established retail store servicing the various needs of its customer base. LBN is working harder than ever to create a business that will help the needs of its customers, and expose folks to the human connection with their food supply through vegetable gardens and urban agriculture. So not only is LBN geared towards selling "green" products such as compost and natural pest controls, and being a functional retail garden center, we are about exposing folks to their connection with the planet through the edible garden.
We are also proud to be currently working on a new project/company dubbed Local Cooling Farms.
About LBN
Laughing Buddha Nursery is located at 4516 Clearview Pkwy in Metairie, Louisiana (a suburb of New Orleans).
LBN is a retail garden center that specializes in organic, natural, and/or sustainable gardening products, and custom soil / compost mixes. LBN also has a full inventory of edible nursery stock for sale. In fact LBN specializes in the growing of culinary herbs, vegetables, and fruiting trees/shrubs. If you're looking for a resource that will help you grow your own foodstuffs at home or help you grow your landscape without the use of toxic chemicals then you've come to the right place. Our customers include urban homesteaders, farmer's market growers, homeowners with traditional landscapes, "techi" hydroponic gardeners / hobbyists, and the like.
LBN is more than just a retail store selling "green" products. To quote Owner, Grant Estrade:
" I speak often to gardeniing groups, and I started using the same line before I began to speak about gardening; I say something along the lines of " If at the end of this talk you like what I have said, and If you agree with LBN's mission, then stop by the shop and spend some money on something". I was a little concerned about the boldness of begining a talk in this manner, but it was the best thing I could have started doing. My reason for dropping this line is because I believe in what we are doing as a company. As an Eagle Scout, and Naturalist I take my role very serious in expanding LBN's positive affects of solving problems such as recycling organic matter, and teaching folks how to grow their own food with the help of nature instead of fighting against it.
LBN is on a mission, and as being a For Profit entity our fuel is the profit in which we make when we sell an item. So I will take this oppurtunity to tell the folks that visit our website and shop that if they like what they see, and want to support LBN's cause then buy something from us to help continue to do the things that we do so well."
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