Greetings from So Central Wisconsin

Hello, my name is Ben and I'm in South Central WI. I did a fair bit of gardening growing up and now that my wife and I have a house I want to get back into it to help save money and spend more time outdoors. I'm in the process of figuring out how much raised bed space I'm going to need and getting compost started. I'm hoping that I will be able to get everything done and ready for planting.

Ben, Welcome to the Forum from California.

Hopefully you have had the opportunity to read either the 2nd or 3rd Edition of ALL NEW Square Foot Gardening.  All of the basics are explained in the books:  raised beds fill with 6-7" of Mel's Mix and topped with a durable grid.

Since covid, plus the problems with supply movement, folks are for the first time having trouble finding all of the ingredients to make the Mel's Mix, which is 1/3 coarse or super coarse vermiculite, 1/3 fluffed plain peat moss and 1/3 blended real composts.  A lot of people are flocking to gardening.

As of midnight 3/9/22, there are 2 suppliers who still have super coarse vermiculite.   https://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&krypto=xzmYaRMIn5xSjGmGkANnHj%2FpFC8QLpBKbFHaSbsPWtmITUPiY35b1C9iRjoXAOyRXD7682qSwgew%0D%0AiBiSVnsLsLRHqxh%2FKiFUdk5Zo4hb9dV%2BVGLsFNpLeZ39q9qWLoCk&ddkey=https:ClickInfo

https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/supplies/soil-and-soil-amendments/vermiculite?returnurl=%2Fsupplies%2Fsoil-and-soil-amendments%2F&fbclid=IwAR2mHWBnWhNcfTZ0xa0Y9W0KVK8vJ4Xw1ZVo3SFnZZBKtFtecw-Ah6gXfwU

Compressed bailed peat moss is still fairly easy to find.  When fluffed, it expands 50-75% more by volume, so you can keep that in mind when purchasing.

Real composts are surprisingly harder to find this year.  Read or research the labels for ingredients.  You don't want to buy a fancy compost that has peat moss, perlite or any other fillers.  That will throw off the ratio of ingredients.  Normally, it is recommended to have 5 sources*, but if you can find 2-3 it will do to get started.

* manure-based compost, mushroom compost, produce -based compost, composted cotton burr, green waste-based, etc. This is a good read about sources of compost.  https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t7451-mel-s-mix-how-strong-is-your-backbone  

The fastest method for making your own compost, now that it is March, is the Berkeley hot 18-day method.  A 2-chamber compost bin set up is better than a single bin.  A 3-chamber set is the best, 2 bins to turn the hot compost back and forth and the 3rd chamber for finished compost and resting.  A 3'x3'x3' bin will have a finished volume of 3' x 3' x 1.5 = 13.5 cu ft.  That will be enough for a little less than 81 square feet of Mel's Mix at 6" deep.  Here is a thread on that method. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t18500-compost-berkeley-18-day-hot-method?highlight=berkeley

Please feel free to ask questions before you invest time and money getting started.

Welcome Ben from northwest Louisiana. Not new to gardening but this is my first year with square foot gardening. Just got two going a few months ago and will likely build 3 more.

Good info on this website and good people to help answer any questions you have.

Welcome,
Scottie