Potting soil/ seed starting mix

I try to avoid buying anything, unless I'm buying back my time at a good price. I want to find ways to use my dirt to start seeds and fill nursery pots with the minimum inputs.

Potting soil recipes are usually 3 things: sterile organic matter for water retention (peat/coir), an aerator (pearlite), and something to feed the plants (compost).  

I live on a creek with a small band of mature trees along it's banks. So sand and clay are easy to source. The sand is quite fine which is not an ideal aerator. I can't produce enough compost to match my ambitions in the near term. Biochar has been shown to be a good seed starter for some plants.

I'm thinking a blend of biochar, compost, clay and sand could work well in the short term, and in the long term I could build hugel beds and pull soil from them.

Does anyone have any experience or insight to offer in this department.

I have not utilized it yet, but I have a batch that I am working on for next year.

A potentially free source that can be used in place of peat/compost is Leaf Mold.

I have taken all of my fall leaves, put them in a big ole pile covered with some burlap and held with some wire fencing and I'm letting it break down for a year.

I have seen pictures after sifting of really nice potting material that I have read works great for seed starting.

I found this thread after posting. https://permies.com/t/13784/permaculture/Permaculture-Potting-Soil

I live in an area that's dominated by pine and floods every two or three years. The floods wash away what floats and deposit a fair amount of sand and clay. I'll look a little harder for caches of leaf mold though.