Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
William Bronson wrote: Mart, do you make charcoal?
I've been hopping to replace the peat I use in my containers with charcoal.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
William Kellogg wrote:
I supplement my soil with this. Its not only cheaper but when you use it at a 50% or 75% reduction, its more affordable. It also has a high perlite content, so that's covered too...
https://www.amazon.com/Organics-Original-Potting-Organic-Mycorrhizae-75/dp/B010NQR5WQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=EXWNLQY5XMNC&keywords=roots+organics+soil&qid=1656956565&sprefix=roots+organics%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWUoyRlYzRDNVVFA3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDQ3MDc5MkRFQTdWUVVFWEpWNyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODM4NTU0M0VZQlRWMUM1NklUJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Anne Miller wrote:Mart, do you have any mushroom farms in your area?
They usually give away their mushroom compost for free as it is a byproduct of their operations.
Mushroom compost might be a really good addition to your mix.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
L. Johnson wrote:How is just straight leaf mould for seed starting?
I'm also trying to make my own potting soil... but I'm going about it in a more haphazard way.
I'm doing a leaf collection cage for leaf mould and a limited compost based on purely local garden waste without any seeds.
Where I haven't had enough material I just included some garden soil to fill it out and pre-germinated the weed seeds and pre-weeded them before sowing my vegetables. It has worked reasonably well.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Mart Hale wrote:[Not nearby... I have grown mushrooms myself that may be a better option grow mushrooms and get compost.
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
William Bronson wrote: Mart, do you make charcoal?
I've been hopping to replace the peat I use in my containers with charcoal.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Jen Swanson wrote:Mart - Clay and sand together can create cement. I have the opposite problem with my garden soil, as it's mostly clay. Adding organic material is recommended for improving drainage in clay, instead of sand, for that reason. For seedlings, I would use something sterile as an additive to the sand, like maybe coconut coir or a good sterile compost.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Susan Brill wrote:
William Bronson wrote: Mart, do you make charcoal?
I've been hopping to replace the peat I use in my containers with charcoal.
Please elaborate on this… How do you make charcoal? I save the ash from bonfires and campfires - is that what you mean?
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Alak Cabin wrote: We raise meat rabbits. So we have composed rabbit manure. I've been working on how to best use it. I let it compost for 2 years. Then grind it in a leaf mulcher. I add in mulched leaves too.
I start by using the hay that drops through the pens to absorb the urine. The manure is cleaned regularly and added to the compost. I let it compost 2 years to deal with any hay seed that may germinate. I also run leaves through the mulcher and let them compost a bit. I will mulch them together. It finishes out looking like fine topsoil with small bits of hay that I believe helps keep the soil aerated.
We do not feed our rabbits any steroid or hormones. And trying to produce a potting soil or dressing soil that is clean and creates the best environment for root growth. Maximize the tilth of the soil. Rabbit manure is recommended by many gardeners because of its make up 2-2-1.
The bottom line is we have big gardens and enjoy them. We also prefer to raise our our food and have rabbits, manure. My goal is to achieve the best soil I can with what I have. And I believe it is the best I can do for our plants that we enjoy and turn a waste product into a productive product. With that, I'd enjoy hearing any input. And hope I'm not jacking the thread
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
William Kellogg wrote:
Also cooking the soil kills the beneficial microbes, so I would try to avoid this. Composting temperature is much lower, say 140 deg F
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Mel's square foot mix (1/3 peat/coir, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost/organic)
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Anne Miller wrote:Have you tried Mel's Mix:
Mel's square foot mix (1/3 peat/coir, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost/organic)
https://permies.com/t/33590/Container-soil#269262
Or This thread:
https://permies.com/t/153926/DIY-Potting-Soil-Scratch
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
William Bronson said, "Add worm castings and/or compost tea to repopulate with with beneficial microbiology.
Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Anne Miller wrote:Have you tried Mel's Mix:
Mel's square foot mix (1/3 peat/coir, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 compost/organic)
https://permies.com/t/33590/Container-soil#269262
Or This thread:
https://permies.com/t/153926/DIY-Potting-Soil-Scratch
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Nothing ruins a neighborhood like paved roads and water lines.
William Bronson wrote:I'm tempted to try my own sifted compost mixed with alfalfa pellets.
I've been mulching some of my containers with alfalfa pellets to seemingly good effect.
The link Anne posted and Mart extolled describes 50% straw or hay to 50% compost as being airy and incompresible.
I'm tempted to try my own sifted compost mixed with alfalfa pellets.
It's not entirely sustainable but it is better than peat.
In addition, alfalfa isn't a grass, so it can't be sprayed with some of the toxic ick that might be used on hay or straw.
Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.
Henri Alain
Enjoy the full beauty of the english language. Embedded in this tiny ad:
GAMCOD 2025: 200 square feet; Zero degrees F or colder; calories cheap and easy
https://permies.com/wiki/270034/GAMCOD-square-feet-degrees-colder
|