Urban Farming Operation

🌱 The Builders Among Us Day 1 — What Makes A Builder?
When people hear the word "builder," they usually think of someone constructing a house.
But I think the word means something much bigger.
A builder is anyone who creates something that didn't exist before.
A gardener growing food.
An artist creating something beautiful.
A welder mastering a trade.
A reseller turning unwanted items into opportunity.
A small business owner serving their community.
A parent teaching skills to the next generation.
A neighbor helping others solve problems.
Builders don't just make products.
They build knowledge.
They build relationships.
They build communities.
They build resilience.
They build futures.
One of the biggest lessons I've learned through this journey is that change rarely starts with governments, corporations, or institutions.
It starts with ordinary people deciding to contribute something valuable.
One skill.
One idea.
One product.
One service.
One act of support.
That's how communities become stronger.
That's how opportunities are created.
That's how people become less dependent on systems that may not always have their best interests in mind.
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be highlighting builders.
People creating value.
People solving problems.
People taking risks.
People building something bigger than themselves.
Some will be local.
Some will be national.
Some will be just getting started.
Others will have already found success.
But all of them have something we can learn from.
Because I believe the future belongs to people who create.
To people who learn.
To people who build.
🌱 The Builders Among Us Day 1 — What Makes A Builder?
👇 Who is someone you've met that inspires you because of what they're building?
👍 Like, share, and follow if you believe strong communities are built by people willing to contribute something meaningful.
🔔 Follow along as we begin highlighting builders from all walks of life.
🔥 Hashtags

🌟 Community Spotlight #1: Flipwise
When I started this series, I said I wanted to do more than just talk about building stronger communities.
I wanted to actively support the people building them.
So today I'm highlighting the first business in what I hope becomes a long series of community spotlights.
A few years ago, Justin Glow started like many resellers do.
Buying and selling items online.
Learning the business.
Tracking inventory.
Managing sales.
Trying to understand the numbers behind what was working and what wasn't.
Like many resellers, he relied on spreadsheets to keep everything organized.
Over time, those spreadsheets became more complicated, more time consuming, and harder to manage.
So instead of accepting that frustration, he built a solution. Together with co-founder Michael Lovitt, he created Flipwise—a platform designed to automate inventory tracking, sales data, expenses, analytics, and record keeping for eBay sellers.
Why does that matter?
Because one of the biggest barriers preventing people from starting a side hustle or small business isn't finding something to sell.
It's organization.
It's bookkeeping.
It's taxes.
It's knowing where your money is actually going.
It's the behind-the-scenes work that nobody talks about.
I've personally used Flipwise in my own reselling business, Macrocosms of Mr. G.
The software helps me track inventory, expenses, profits, and the information I need to understand what's actually happening inside my business.
For me, that's valuable because I'd rather spend my time sourcing products, developing new ideas, creating garden products, and building my businesses than maintaining complicated spreadsheets.
What I admire most isn't the software.
It's the story.
Justin saw a problem that people like him were facing.
Then he built something to solve it.
And now that tool is helping thousands of resellers manage their businesses more effectively.
That's exactly what I've been talking about throughout The Living Network.
Learn a skill.
Solve a problem.
Create value.
Help other people.
Build something.
I don't believe everyone needs to quit their job.
I don't believe everyone needs to become an entrepreneur.
But I do believe people are stronger when they have options.
A side hustle.
A skill.
A backup plan.
A way to create value for themselves and their communities.
The more people who build those things, the stronger our communities become.
If you're interested in reselling on eBay or building a side business, I highly recommend checking out Justin Resells and Flipwise.
And if you're a small business owner, creator, maker, grower, artist, or entrepreneur whose mission aligns with building stronger communities and helping others succeed, reach out.
I'd love to feature more businesses like this in future Community Spotlights at no cost to you. Reach out to me and we can start

For clarification this post as well was not sponsored, I personally pay monthly for this service and recieve no discount. I did reach out to recieve permission to do this post however because i truly think reselling is a good way to start toward your dreams. I will explain how in upcoming content.

👇 What's a business, creator, or tool that's helped you build something better?
👍 Like, share, and follow if you believe in helping good people grow.

🌱 The Next Step for Cosmic Biology Booster 🌱
This photo is a pile of spent brewer's grains from Cohesion Brewing Company making its way through my dehydrators.
Before I say anything else, I want to give a huge thank you to the team at Cohesion. Not only do they make fantastic beer, but they were also the first brewery willing to help me with this project. Great beer, great people, and a great example of the kind of community collaboration I'm trying to build.
What you're looking at is the result of an entire weekend of dehydrating spent grains. My house has been filled with the unmistakable aroma of brewing grain for days now—much to my family's dismay—but I finally have enough processed material to begin producing a few test batches of the next version of Cosmic Biology Booster.
Over the last several months, I've been digging deeper into soil science, researching how bacteria, fungi, organic matter, and minerals work together in healthy soil ecosystems. Through those conversations and a lot of reading, I realized there were opportunities to improve the formula.
One of the biggest changes is shifting away from the idea of trying to preserve living biology in a shelf-stable product. The reality is that the dehydration process that makes a product stable on a shelf also greatly reduces the survival of most microbes. Instead, I'm focusing on something I can confidently stand behind: creating a balanced amendment that supports and feeds the beneficial biology already present in your soil.
That's where ingredients like spent grains come in. They provide organic matter and nutrients that help fuel the bacteria and fungi responsible for nutrient cycling, decomposition, and long-term soil health.
Now comes the fun part: testing.
Over the coming weeks I'll be running side-by-side trials, documenting results, and comparing different formulations to see what actually performs best. If you're interested in helping, I'd love your participation.
📬 I'm looking for gardeners willing to test sample batches and provide honest feedback.
I'll provide the sample. All I ask in return is that you tell me what you see—good, bad, or somewhere in between. Plant growth, soil condition, water retention, root development—every observation helps.
This product has always been about more than selling a bag of soil amendment. It's about learning, improving, sharing knowledge, and building healthier growing systems together.
If you'd like to help test the next version of Cosmic Biology Booster, send me a message.

🌱The Living Network: Build With Me
Day 7 — Start With What You Have
I didn't start with a business.
I started with a pile of stuff.
Video games.
Collectibles.
Action figures.
Years of things I'd accumulated while working at a local game store and enjoying a hobby I loved.
When I decided I wanted to change my life, I looked around and asked myself a simple question:
"What do I already have?"

The answer wasn't money.
It wasn't investors.
It wasn't a perfect plan.
It was knowledge.
Experience.
Skills.
And a collection of things I could sell.
So I started there.

Selling those items taught me things I never expected to learn.
Not because I was new to business—I had spent years managing a store, working with customers, and understanding the numbers behind a business.
What I learned was different.
I learned how to manage my own cash flow.
How much capital to keep available for inventory.
How much to reserve for taxes.
How to account for shipping costs and build them into pricing.
How supply and demand can change overnight.
How some products sell immediately while others sit for months.
How to recognize when something is working—and when it's time to move on.
How to deal with scammers.
How to get comfortable making decisions that felt uncomfortable at first.

That led me to garage sales.
Thrift stores.
Reselling.
Then I used what I learned to buy a 3D printer.
Then I learned new skills.
Then I started selling seedlings.
Then family artwork.
Then garden products.
And now I'm developing Cosmic Biology Booster.

One lesson keeps showing up over and over again:
You don't need to start where someone else started.
You start where YOU are.
With what YOU have.

Too many people look at a successful business and think:
"I could never do that."
But you're looking at the middle or end of someone else's journey and comparing it to the beginning of your own.
Most things worth building don't begin with a grand plan.
They begin with one sale.
One skill.
One idea.
One step.

As I've built my businesses, one tool that's genuinely helped me stay organized is Flipwise, flipwise.app, created by Justin from the Justin Resells community on youtube.
If you've ever considered reselling, one of the biggest challenges isn't finding things to sell—it's tracking inventory, expenses, profits, taxes, and all the details that come with running a business.
Tools like that make it easier for regular people to take the first step.
And that's what this entire series has really been about.

I'm not telling anyone to quit a job they love.
I'm not saying everyone needs to become a full-time entrepreneur.
What I am saying is this:
The stronger our communities become, the more options people have.
The more skills we learn.
The more things we can create.
The more ways we can support ourselves, our families, and our neighbors.
The more resilient we become.

I believe people should feel confident enough to try something new.
To build something of their own.
To create value in their community.
To have options when life throws challenges their way.
Because strong communities aren't built by a handful of people doing everything.
They're built by lots of people contributing something.

That's the future I'm trying to help build.
One plant.
One product.
One skill.
One person at a time.

👇 What's a skill, hobby, collection, or idea you already have that could become something bigger?
👍 Like, share, and follow if you're building something of your own.
And if you run a side hustle or small business, drop it in the comments. Let's help people discover each other.

🔥 Hashtags

🌱 Seedling Season Is Here! 🌱

After months of planning, planting, watering, repotting, and caring for them, this year's seedlings are finally ready for new homes.

Every plant has been grown locally by me right here in Colorado and raised with the same care and attention I'd give plants going into my own garden.

Whether you're looking to grow more of your own food, add something new to the garden, or you're just getting started for the first time, I'd be happy to help you find something that's a good fit.

One of my favorite parts of doing this every year isn't just selling plants—it's helping more people discover how rewarding gardening can be.

🌿 Beginner friendly advice available
🌿 Locally grown seedlings
🌿 Multiple varieties available
🌿 Questions welcome

If you've purchased plants from me before, I'd love to hear how they performed for you in the comments!

📩 Send me a message if you'd like availability, pricing, or to reserve plants.

Every purchase helps support:
🌱 Future seedling production
🌱 New gardening products
🌱 Cosmic Biology Booster development
🌱 My mission of helping more people grow their own food and build stronger local communities

👇 Comment below and let me know what you're growing this season!

👍 Like, share, and follow for gardening tips, product updates, and local plant availability.

Most people see waste.
I see potential.
🥚☕🌱
Every batch of Cosmic Biology Booster starts with materials that would’ve otherwise ended up in a landfill.
Coffee grounds from local coffee shops.
Eggshells from local bakeries.
Upcycled. Processed. Repurposed into something that gives back to the soil instead of filling dumpsters.
But what most people don’t see…
Is the amount of work that goes into making sure it’s done RIGHT.
Coffee grounds can’t just sit around.
If they stay wet too long, mold and harmful pathogens begin moving in fast.
So every batch has to be: • dried
• processed
• dehydrated
• stabilized for long-term storage
The eggshells?
That process is even more intense.
Every shell is: • washed
• boiled
• re-washed
• baked
• crushed
• pulverized into a fine powder
Not just for calcium…
But also because the grit helps support worm digestion in worm bins.
Every step matters.
Every process is intentional.
Right now I’m hard at work refining Cosmic Biology Booster V2, which is part of why posting has slowed down lately.
I want this product to genuinely become something valuable for growers—not just another bag of ingredients.
And I’ve hit one final wall.
🍺 Spent brewery grains.
I’ve reached out to multiple breweries around the Denver area and haven’t had much luck hearing back yet.
So now I’m asking the community directly:
👇 If you: • own a brewery
• work at one
• know someone connected to one
• or know where I might source spent grains locally
Please reach out or tag them below.
Right now I only need smaller test amounts, but long-term I’d love to turn this into a regular local pickup partnership that keeps usable organic material OUT of landfills and back into local growing systems.
This is exactly what this whole movement is about.
Local businesses helping local businesses.
Building systems that support each other instead of wasting resources.
📍Denver / 80236 area preferred
👉 Tag a brewery or share this post
👍 Follow for behind-the-scenes updates on Cosmic Biology Booster development
🔥 Local-Focused Hashtags

People underestimate how powerful small local networks can become.

A single gardener shares extra plants with a neighbor.

Someone starts selling something they made from home.

A local creator gets their first customer because someone shared their page.

That’s how it starts.

Not with giant corporations.

Not with billion-dollar investments.

With people deciding to support each other instead of waiting for someone else to fix things.

I think a lot about how disconnected everything has become.

Most of what we buy comes from somewhere far away.
Most people barely know the people around them anymore.

And during COVID, we all saw how fragile that system really was.

That changed the way I looked at things.

That’s a big part of why I started this.

Not just to grow plants.

But to help grow stronger local systems.

More skills.
More makers.
More growers.
More people building things that matter.

Because every small thing someone creates locally…

Makes their community a little more resilient.

A little more connected.

A little stronger.

You don’t need to “change the world” overnight.

You just need to contribute something meaningful where you are.

That’s how real change spreads.

🌱 The Living Network: Build With Me
Day 6 — Build Where You Are

👇 What’s something your local community needs more of?
👍 Like, share, and follow if you believe stronger communities start locally

🔥 Hashtags

One of the biggest lies people believe is that they have to build everything alone.

You don’t.

In fact, nothing strong is built that way.

Healthy systems grow through connection.

Different people.
Different skills.
Different roles.

Supporting each other.

That’s true in nature… and it’s true in communities too.

I can’t do everything myself.

Right now I sell seedlings.
I’m developing soil products.
I’m creating garden tools and ideas.

But there are still tons of things gardeners need that I don’t offer yet.

That’s why I point people toward affiliate links, recommend other creators, and want to start connecting more small businesses together.

Because if one person can’t meet a need…

Maybe someone else in the network can.

Imagine if more people started doing that.

Not competing over every dollar.

Actually helping each other grow.

That’s the kind of network I want to build.

One where:
• local growers connect
• creators support creators
• small businesses help each other succeed
• people stop feeling like they have to figure it all out alone

The world pushes isolation.

But strong systems survive through connection.

🌱 The Living Network: Build With Me
Day 5 — We Grow Together

👇 Tag a small business, creator, or local grower people should check out
👍 Like, share, and follow if you believe in building stronger communities
Check out my products and affiliates in the links in my Bio if you want to support what i'm growing.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible moms, grandmothers, stepmoms, plant moms, and caretakers who help things grow every single day. 🌱💚
Whether you’re raising children, nurturing a garden, supporting your family, or building a community with love and patience — today is for you.
At the heart of every thriving garden is care, consistency, and dedication… and honestly, motherhood carries those same qualities. Thank you for everything you do, often behind the scenes, to help others flourish.
Wishing you a day filled with appreciation, peace, good food, and plenty of time in the sunshine. ☀️🌿
Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at Urban Farming Operation.