Starting my boxes

So the weather finally allowed for me to go look at the local garden places for dirt components.

I found 1 place that has the vermeculite (will take name and price for the spreadsheet next time there), peat moss, and 3 of the 5 types of compost (leaf, mushroom, cow). Is that enough to at least get my boxes going or do I absolutely have to have all 5 types. Seems like worm casings / poultry is a pain to find here (weird since we are in Perdue/Tyson central).

Let me know because I would love to get my gardens working this weekend.

The best case scenario is to have all five. Each of them brings something different to the chemical makeup of the mix. I've read several times where people have skimped on this, and have not been as successful as they should be.

Check the feed stores and farm supply stores to see if they have anything, or can order it for you. Chicken manure compost is one, plant based organic is another (without peat).

Well put Jan you've saved me typing a book .



Kesugo.. the five way compost initial mix for the sfg is known as the back bone of the ANSFG

There is a running thread " How strong is your back bone " .

I feel you will save yourself a lot of heartache & long term cost if you read it right through , you'll see why it is so important to get it right first time .

+1 as above

Cliff Notes:

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t7023-mel-s-mix-pyramid

I've been mixing MM for a couple of weeks for a dozen new squares in my garden. Every so often, I have to go out and scrounge for different varieties of compost. Every time I do this, it's a real mental struggle to follow the directions in ANSFG. I'm really used to doing things my own way, and marching to the sound of my own drum, not anyone else's. It would be so much easier just to do one, or three, or whatever different kinds of compost, but five, it's just too much. But then I get the five different bags on the ground, and open them up, and each time I'm reminded that not all compost is equal. One bag I bought today had a composition label on it that differed according to the part of the country where it was packaged.

So I'm not sure which is really more difficult: My own mental status in not willing to follow directions, or being resourceful enough to find five or more different kinds.

What I have found out these past few weeks is that not a single nursery, landscape supply, grower supply or box store in my area has any idea what square foot gardening is all about. Too bad for them.

Tom

So after much searching around we were finally able to find most of our dirt.

[img:9cca]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img]



Should be able to get the worm castings middle of this week.

kesugeo wrote:Should be able to get the worm castings middle of this week.

It's a shame that worm castings are so expensive. I would love to get some to add to my gardens.

Sounds like the perfect excuse to start a worm bin. At least that's what I told myself.

Kay

My local place got them in this afternoon with a quoted price of $5.99/4.5 lbs .. $23.99/15 lbs.

Anyone have an idea how to convert lbs to cuft?

Now that I think about it isn't usually the case the smaller more convienent the product the more expensive. By the above price I could get close 18 lbs buying the small bags for the same price as the big bag. Odd

Ok, my dirt buying is finally complete I think. All my boxes filled and in process of being planted. So far we have radishes, carrots, peas, lettuce, and strawberries in the ground.

For the 1 sq ft divisions we tried buying a $13 venetian blind from Walmart ... big mistake. The vinyl was so cheap it practically broke just looking at it the wrong way. Now will be slowly buying the little bit of wood lathe we finally found a Lowes. About $2/4ft stick. Looks and should last much longer.

Heres a couple pics.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/

walshevak wrote:Sounds like the perfect excuse to start a worm bin. At least that's what I told myself.

Kay

I would like to but there's no where in the house I can keep it during the winter

kesugeo....If you have a Salvation Army store or other used clothing and furniture store, they usually have old blinds for a buck a piece.

kesugeo wrote:For the 1 sq ft divisions we tried buying a $13 venetian blind from Walmart ... big mistake. The vinyl was so cheap it practically broke just looking at it the wrong way. Now will be slowly buying the little bit of wood lathe we finally found a Lowes. About $2/4ft stick. Looks and should last much longer.

Head to the dollar store. You can often find bundles of 5-6 bamboo sticks for $1-2 that are about 5' long. That's what I plan on using anyway... last year I used them as stakes for my eggplants: they held up really well considering I cut them to size with a steak knife.

I use hook hangers and cotton string to lay out my grid super cheap and compostable