Search
Latest topics
» Happy Birthday!!by sanderson Yesterday at 1:15 pm
» What Have You Picked From Your Garden Today
by cyclonegardener Yesterday at 8:56 am
» Zucchini Cobbler
by sanderson 7/25/2024, 11:38 pm
» Vertical Zucchini
by sanderson 7/25/2024, 11:34 pm
» What are you eating from your garden today?
by OhioGardener 7/23/2024, 8:25 am
» N&C Midwest—July 2024
by Scorpio Rising 7/22/2024, 1:33 pm
» Starbucks for coffee grounds!
by OhioGardener 7/20/2024, 11:02 am
» Cover Crops to Kill Nematodes
by dstack 7/18/2024, 5:43 pm
» Hi from Lapeer Michigan
by Scorpio Rising 7/18/2024, 10:49 am
» Mel's Mix
by OhioGardener 7/16/2024, 1:40 pm
» Baker Creek Heirloom Whole Seed Catalog Pre-Order
by OhioGardener 7/11/2024, 4:00 pm
» Senseless Banter...
by OhioGardener 7/11/2024, 1:01 pm
» Mark's first SFG
by sanderson 7/9/2024, 2:23 pm
» Wasabi Radish
by markqz 7/8/2024, 10:14 pm
» Check out your local (seed) library !
by OhioGardener 7/8/2024, 11:45 am
» YIKES! I'm hosting uninvited guests in my squash...
by tappingmom 7/3/2024, 9:43 am
» Baked Eggplant
by OhioGardener 7/2/2024, 7:45 am
» N&C Midwest—June 2024
by nrstooge 7/1/2024, 7:48 am
» Epic Gardening "Master Class on Square Food Gardening"
by sanderson 6/26/2024, 10:03 pm
» Growing Tomatoes in 6" of soil?
by sanderson 6/25/2024, 4:21 pm
» Frequency/amount to water
by OhioGardener 6/22/2024, 5:34 pm
» Rhubarb Tom Collins
by DonP 6/19/2024, 2:10 pm
» Change email address
by sanderson 6/19/2024, 2:00 am
» Howdy from San Diego, CA
by sanderson 6/19/2024, 12:49 am
» Getting Started
by Turan 6/18/2024, 12:58 pm
» Turan's Garden Western Mountains and Plains
by Scorpio Rising 6/18/2024, 11:49 am
» Question about replenishing squares after harvest
by SMEDLEY BUTLER 6/17/2024, 12:14 am
» My NWA garden
by Guinevere 6/13/2024, 11:13 am
» creating grids
by plantoid 6/13/2024, 6:42 am
» SFG jOURNEY-What's Hiding in your organic fertilizer
by has55 6/13/2024, 12:40 am
Google
New User from Chicago area - question about compost
3 posters
Page 1 of 1
New User from Chicago area - question about compost
Hi there everyone, so excited to be here.
After the last three years of my garden being horrible, I found SFG. Bought the book and here I go.
Please help a 71 year old newbie with advice. 5 years ago, I built two 4 x 8, 12" deep raised garden beds. By raised, I mean there are 4 legs (each about 3' tall) on each of the 8' side to support the weight of the dirt so that I can garden and weed standing and not get on my knees.
The book says I need 32 CF each to fill those babies. That's a lot of dollars. I have good dirt in the beds from a landscape company. Can I just remove 6" of dirt and add 6" of Mel's Mix to the top to bring up to my 12" depth of the beds? Bottom 6" dirt, top 6" MM. Would that work? It would save me a lot of money.
Also, compost. I have read that I need a variety. I know that Black cow is good, but what other kind should I look for? Or not buy?
I already have 12 CF of coarse vermiculite and 9 CF of 'compressed' peat. I am told that the peat will 'fluff' out to the 12 CF I need.
I am in Zone 5 and it is in the 30's for the next few months so I cannot do anything now but get my things ready
Thank you so much in advance.
Dani from near Chicago
After the last three years of my garden being horrible, I found SFG. Bought the book and here I go.
Please help a 71 year old newbie with advice. 5 years ago, I built two 4 x 8, 12" deep raised garden beds. By raised, I mean there are 4 legs (each about 3' tall) on each of the 8' side to support the weight of the dirt so that I can garden and weed standing and not get on my knees.
The book says I need 32 CF each to fill those babies. That's a lot of dollars. I have good dirt in the beds from a landscape company. Can I just remove 6" of dirt and add 6" of Mel's Mix to the top to bring up to my 12" depth of the beds? Bottom 6" dirt, top 6" MM. Would that work? It would save me a lot of money.
Also, compost. I have read that I need a variety. I know that Black cow is good, but what other kind should I look for? Or not buy?
I already have 12 CF of coarse vermiculite and 9 CF of 'compressed' peat. I am told that the peat will 'fluff' out to the 12 CF I need.
I am in Zone 5 and it is in the 30's for the next few months so I cannot do anything now but get my things ready
Thank you so much in advance.
Dani from near Chicago
danieggert-
Posts : 54
Join date : 2023-01-19
Age : 72
Location : burr ridge illinois zone 5
sanderson likes this post
Re: New User from Chicago area - question about compost
danieggert wrote:The book says I need 32 CF each to fill those babies. That's a lot of dollars. I have good dirt in the beds from a landscape company. Can I just remove 6" of dirt and add 6" of Mel's Mix to the top to bring up to my 12" depth of the beds? Bottom 6" dirt, top 6" MM. Would that work? It would save me a lot of money.
Yes, you can remove the top 6" of soil and replace it with 6" of MM. All of my beds are 18" high, and I have the first 12" filled with various things, including top soil, and topped with 6" of MM. They are all thriving.
danieggert wrote:Also, compost. I have read that I need a variety. I know that Black cow is good, but what other kind should I look for? Or not buy?
I already have 12 CF of coarse vermiculite and 9 CF of 'compressed' peat. I am told that the peat will 'fluff' out to the 12 CF I need.
The one thing you must watch in bagged compost is how much of the content is peat or wood chips. You want as little of those things as possible, but if the compost has a lot of peat in it that amount must be subtracted from the other peat that you add. Some composts, such as mushroom compost, is largely made up of straw, sawdust, etc.
Composted manure is good, but limit the amount of it that is used, and if you use worm castings limit those to 10% of the total. Get as many different types of compost as you can reasonably afford from local sources.
"In short, the soil food web feeds everything you eat and helps keep your favorite planet from getting too hot. Be nice to it." ~ Diane Miessler, "Grow Your Soil"
sanderson likes this post
Re: New User from Chicago area - question about compost
danieggert wrote:The book says I need 32 CF each to fill those babies. That's a lot of dollars. I have good dirt in the beds from a landscape company. Can I just remove 6" of dirt and add 6" of Mel's Mix to the top to bring up to my 12" depth of the beds? Bottom 6" dirt, top 6" MM. Would that work? It would save me a lot of money.
Yes, you can remove some of the dirt and put the Mel's Mix on top. I would take the dirt down to 4" if possible. That would allow 6-7" of Mel's Mix plus head room for mulch.
If each bed is 4'x8', that is 32 sq ft. But you are only going to use a half cubic foot in each square, so that is 16 cu. ft. That is 5.3 cu ft each of vermiculite, fluffed peat moss and blended composts.
Welcome to the Forum from California!
![glad you\'re here](/users/2912/12/27/03/smiles/396615.gif)
Windsor.Parker likes this post
![-](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
» Free compost near Chicago area?
» Compost & Vermiculite for Chicago area
» compost sources for central illinois
» New guy in Tampa area with newbie tomato question
» compost in binghamton area
» Compost & Vermiculite for Chicago area
» compost sources for central illinois
» New guy in Tampa area with newbie tomato question
» compost in binghamton area
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
|
|