Square Foot Gardening Forum
[table bgcolor=#000000 height=275][tr][td]
Hi from Fresno, California Toplef10Hi from Fresno, California 1zd3ho10

Hello Guest!
Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum.
There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.

Hi from Fresno, California I22gcj10Hi from Fresno, California 14dhcg10

[/td][/tr][/table]

Join the forum, it's quick and easy

Square Foot Gardening Forum
[table bgcolor=#000000 height=275][tr][td]
Hi from Fresno, California Toplef10Hi from Fresno, California 1zd3ho10

Hello Guest!
Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum.
There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.

Hi from Fresno, California I22gcj10Hi from Fresno, California 14dhcg10

[/td][/tr][/table]
Square Foot Gardening Forum
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Search
 
 

Display results as :
 

 


Rechercher Advanced Search

Latest topics
» N&C Midwest: June 2023
by OhioGardener Yesterday at 7:23 pm

» Tea Time -- Compost Tea, that is
by OhioGardener Yesterday at 7:07 pm

» Hello from Central Missouri, Zone 6a
by Scorpio Rising Yesterday at 3:48 pm

» N&C Midwest: May 2023
by OhioGardener 6/1/2023, 8:55 pm

» Kiwi's SFG Adventure
by KiwiSFGnewbie 5/31/2023, 4:32 pm

» Walking stick kale
by sanderson 5/31/2023, 1:38 pm

» Why Letting Weeds Run Wild Can Actually Help Your Garden
by sanderson 5/30/2023, 2:35 pm

» What are you eating from your garden today?
by OhioGardener 5/30/2023, 12:11 pm

» Teaming with Microbes Kindle Sale (Mem. Day weekend 2023)
by sanderson 5/29/2023, 3:14 pm

» Mid-Atlantic New Host Intro & Info
by JAM23 5/29/2023, 8:38 am

» Paul's First SFGs
by pkadare 5/28/2023, 11:06 am

» Poppy seeds - Hungarian Blue Breadseed
by AtlantaMarie 5/28/2023, 6:12 am

» Sluggo Plus
by sanderson 5/27/2023, 3:23 pm

» What Have You Picked From Your Garden Today
by OhioGardener 5/25/2023, 6:25 pm

» Centpedes
by OhioGardener 5/25/2023, 6:19 pm

» beneficial nematodes
by OhioGardener 5/24/2023, 9:18 pm

» Senseless Banter...
by markqz 5/24/2023, 5:39 pm

» Pre-Filling a 30" Raised Bed
by toledobend 5/24/2023, 1:10 pm

» Happy Birthday!!
by AtlantaMarie 5/24/2023, 7:03 am

» Aphids & Their Predators
by MrBooker 5/24/2023, 6:01 am

» Hello from Bobcaygeon, Ontario
by Scorpio Rising 5/20/2023, 1:52 pm

» Spring Flowers
by OhioGardener 5/18/2023, 6:23 pm

» My Solar Dehydrator at Work
by sanderson 5/18/2023, 3:10 pm

» French Tarragon
by sanderson 5/18/2023, 12:41 pm

» Famous Gardening Quotes
by sanderson 5/15/2023, 8:50 pm

» Birds of the Garden
by sanderson 5/15/2023, 8:49 pm

» New Compost PIle, 2nd attempt
by Chuck d'Argy 5/13/2023, 11:43 am

» Ohio Gardener's Greenhouse
by OhioGardener 5/11/2023, 6:44 pm

» Asparagus
by sanderson 5/11/2023, 4:11 pm

» Plan needed for 4’x4’ irrigation grid
by OhioGardener 5/11/2023, 12:47 pm

Google

Search SFG Forum

Hi from Fresno, California

5 posters

Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Hi from Fresno, California

Post  TwoPutter 2/10/2023, 9:48 pm

Hi all,
Been fully retired for only a year, and with all the news of possible food shortages, that gardening is a very healthy thing to do, and finally having the time to do square foot gardening, I'm jumping in with both feet. Also, I hope to follow after my mom - she was an unbelievable gardener - and she did it without all the helps available to me! 

So, I'm just stuck on my fifth type of compost and that is worm castings. I am thoroughly confused as to what is out there and the cost seems prohibitive. As an example, on the Home Depot website, WC is said to be a soil, a soil blend, a soil additive. One is labeled a soil remedy and this seemed to be least expensive: 1 cu ft for $32. Some is labeled concentrated and need to be mixed with another medium thereby a 10 lb bag will give you 40 lb of WC. Some commenters say it is just a manufacturer's gimmick. 
There's also a product consisting of coconut coir and 1 lb of WC giving 2.5 cu ft of useable product. 
I'm a detailed person, but I'm tired of being detailed - I'd like to just get going on this. Thanks for any help!
Donna
TwoPutter
TwoPutter

Posts : 3
Join date : 2023-02-10
Location : Fresno, CA

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  sanderson 2/10/2023, 11:44 pm

Hi Putter, welcome to the Forum from Fresno!

The Fresno area is such a compost desert. Willow Gardens has been carrying Gardner & Bloome (G&B) Purely Compost for a few years. A hydroponic store carried Malibu Bu's Blend last year. I can't do a better search right now as I broke my arm last night.

Don't get hung up on a 5th compost. Three or 4 good ones will work.

Can you list what you have found, their ingredients on the labels and photos if you can? That will be very helpful.

Manures and worm castings should be limited to 20% to prevent phosphorus buildup.

Composts with peat moss can throw off the 3 part balance. Plus it amounts to really expensive peat moss.

Any thing with peat moss, coir, perlite, sand, etc. are really dirt amendments.

Be prepared to screen every compost, no matter the price. A piece of 1/4" hardware cloth secured to a wood frame will work. Or, a gold miner's 1/4" screening pan is also good. They fit on a 5-gallon bucket. Very Happy



____________________________

Find more about Weather in Fresno, CA
Click for weather forecast
sanderson
sanderson

Forum Administrator

Female Posts : 21066
Join date : 2013-04-21
Age : 74
Location : Fresno CA Zone 8-9

https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/#!!&app=io.ox/mail&

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  Soose 2/11/2023, 5:56 am

Welcome. I started last year this time, similar motivation, produce food. Struggling same way with sources for Mel's Mix...

Know that a lot of worm castings produced are reportedly just waved by some worms for a couple weeks, not real good. ( Local stores were out even then. I bought castings and compost from a local hobbyist, and do not feel good about the quality, think it might have been leached out? My Mel's Mix was wrong despite great effort expense care. )

Start now, produce some on your own if you can. We have 4 months in my area...

Can you start one or more worm farms NOW.
On a small scale there's a plan in a current tthread here. I am starting bigger, invested in 8lbs 8k worms from a local worm farmer. Double worms every 60 to 70 days if I can keep them happy, and in that time the worm farmer and online sources tell me I have a hope of them creating over 1/2cu ft castings per 1000 worms (1lb worms= 1k worms).

2nd cycle, I'll start with twice the worms. You do the arithmetic. By planting time, I hope to have my own worm castings.

And a compost operation like the production of compost every 30 days or so:
--follow OhioGardener on that here, he has it down pat,
-- and sign up for the free webinar being broadcst again by "The Joyful Gardener" Stacy Murphy real soon. Her compost video is in lesson 3 or 4, and similar to OG's production rate but in an open bin, not rotating tumblers.

Collect all the juice pulp, veg castoffs, and other scraps you can, coffee grounds from shops. OG uses pine pellets for brown, we go by tractor supply and score big open minimally damaged bags here for $1.

You'll be a lot better off investing time now getting these operations going. Wishing I had last year.
Soose
Soose

Posts : 405
Join date : 2022-02-23
Location : North Alabama

Scorpio Rising likes this post

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  Soose 2/11/2023, 6:01 am

P.s. populate with up to 1k red wiggler worms per 1 sq ft surface area.

I started early January, aerated/ tossed my worm bedding a bit yesterday, as we'd had a lot of rain... saw my first egg casing. Sure there are more. I bought my worms from greengreg dot com local area here, no shipping. I've looked at other videos harvesting and like his product, but see if you can find someone nearby to buy from.
Soose
Soose

Posts : 405
Join date : 2022-02-23
Location : North Alabama

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  OhioGardener 2/11/2023, 7:36 am

Welcome to the forums from Ohio, Donna!  Sounds like you are on a roll!  You've already received some excellent advice about the types of compost, so I'll only add a small piece of wisdom: Start out small enough that you can manage it rather than be managed by it, then grow as you learn from the experience.

____________________________

"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"
OhioGardener
OhioGardener

Forum Moderator

Male Posts : 3987
Join date : 2018-08-06
Location : SW Ohio

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkKWnsWrs0RIcyIQD1_Z26g

sanderson and Soose like this post

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  Soose 2/11/2023, 4:58 pm

sanderson wrote:... Snip...
Be prepared to screen every compost, no matter the price.  

And I've decided on a policy of testing any bagged product with manures in the ingredients by trying to grow a bean seed in a bit of it, before adding it to anything else. Don't want to risk grazon contaminated stuff.
Soose
Soose

Posts : 405
Join date : 2022-02-23
Location : North Alabama

Scorpio Rising likes this post

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  TwoPutter 2/13/2023, 6:07 pm

Thank you all for your warm welcome!

Here is what I have:

Composted chicken manure and composted steer manure:
   I purchased both before I understood they were counted as one type from Lowe's --

Also:

Hi from Fresno, California 740e02d3-71e0-4eb7-94db-6ed41121ec2d


Hi from Fresno, California 659f84e2-1db8-4481-adb9-b90b50dee9e9

Also, the one from Willow Gardens:
Hi from Fresno, California 9e86075a-031d-4aaa-b5a1-5c455d6df1e0

Also, what is the reason(s) for screening the compost? I don't remember reading that in the SFG book and some of the bags say they have been screened.

Hope I uploaded the pics okay.
TwoPutter
TwoPutter

Posts : 3
Join date : 2023-02-10
Location : Fresno, CA

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  Scorpio Rising 2/13/2023, 10:20 pm

Hi!  

Glad you found us…hopefully we will see pictures soon?  We love pics!  We all come to SFG for various reasons.  For me, I hate weeding, and like the intensive harvests.

I would love to hear from you TwoPutter, what your experience has been, and what this year has in store?

Can’t wait!
Scorpio Rising
Scorpio Rising

Female Posts : 8448
Join date : 2015-06-12
Age : 61
Location : Ada, Ohio

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  TwoPutter 2/14/2023, 8:14 pm

2nd attempt at posting pics of types of compost.  If I don't succeed, I'll just type them in.

Here is what I have:

Composted chicken manure and composted steer manure:
   I purchased both before I understood they were counted as one type from Lowe's -

Also,

Hi from Fresno, California Img_0311
Hi from Fresno, California Img_0310


Also, the one from Willow Gardens:
Hi from Fresno, California Img_0312



*******************
Also, what is the reason(s) for screening the compost? I don't remember reading that in the SFG book and some of the bags say they have been screened.
TwoPutter
TwoPutter

Posts : 3
Join date : 2023-02-10
Location : Fresno, CA

sanderson likes this post

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  Soose 2/14/2023, 9:53 pm

I don't know about over your way, but here, yhe quality of the compost products can be iffy with occasional foreign debris and the stuff isnt always totally composted.
Soose
Soose

Posts : 405
Join date : 2022-02-23
Location : North Alabama

sanderson likes this post

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  sanderson 2/16/2023, 12:01 am

What Soose said.  Some of the composts have wood pieces and trash.  The quality of even well-known and respected composts suffered in 2021 and 2022.  Just be prepared to screen.  This photo shows the screenings from Dr. Earth's All Purpose Compost.  I was basically a soil amendment.  The Malibu Bu's Blend, on the other hand, was expensive but needed zero screening, so it was a good buy.

I use G&B Purely Compost but screen it.  It is locally available in this Compost "desert" that I live in.  

Hi from Fresno, California Compos74

____________________________

Find more about Weather in Fresno, CA
Click for weather forecast
sanderson
sanderson

Forum Administrator

Female Posts : 21066
Join date : 2013-04-21
Age : 74
Location : Fresno CA Zone 8-9

https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/#!!&app=io.ox/mail&

Back to top Go down

Hi from Fresno, California Empty Re: Hi from Fresno, California

Post  Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum