New SFG gardener in Auckland

Hi,
After 15 years abroad, my wife and I have finally returned to our home in Albany, on Auckland's North Shore.  Our property is on a steeply sloping section which runs down to a stream, with lush forest-type vegetation on the far bank.  The only spot on the property which receives full sun all day is (unfortunately) at the bottom of the section close to the stream - which isn't ideal since it is quite far from the kitchen.  But it is what it is.

My plan is to by a single IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container), chop it in half, and have two 1200 x 1000 x 600 wicking beds.  I plan to go the SFG route, so I've been pricing the ingredients for Mel's Mix - and whoo boy - it isn't cheap.  Altogether, including the IBC's, scoria, pipe and Mel's Mix itself, it is just a little north of $1000 for both beds.  That's a lot of small change.  If there any any Kiwi gardeners here who could offer suggestions, sources, etc, I'd be very grateful.

Regards,
Duncan

Duncan, Welcome to the Forum. Kiwi is a member and was successful sourcing the ingredients. She has the traditional 4'x4' bed on the ground and is adding another bed this year. It will be a wicking table top bed. I hope she will see your post. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t23772p200-kiwi-s-sfg-adventure#310540

No matter how deep a bed is, only 6-7" of the Mel's Mix is needed. The SFG Foundation recommends a lower fill of washed sand or well-draining top soil. The inert fill provides a foundation for the MM that will not break down and shrink. Everything the plants need is right there in those few inches.
Each time you plant a new crop, you only need to mix in enough blended compost to bring the 6-7" MM back up the original height.

I've been finding local sources for my MM, and have found a few very local suppliers at better rates, so that's good.  I have two issues at the moment:  first, we need to travel back to South Africa to spent what might prove to be the last visit with my 95 year old mum who is now exceedingly frail.  We have booked a 3-month stay, just in case.  This means, of course, that garden activity is on hold (but not the planning, of course).  The second issue is that having just relocated from Australia to NZ, we have not yet managed to buy a car - so no transporting of ingredients can take place till we do buy a car next year when we return.

All so frustrating...

But I'll be continuing to plan, and to follow posts of the forum, which is SUCH a great resource.

 From Ohio, Duncan! Time for planning is good.  Agree with sanderson, I do hope Kiwi sees you are on here!

Thanks for the welcome.  I received my mini chainsaw from Amazon yesterday, and tackled some of the trees at the bottom of the garden.  It cuts through four-inch trunks like the proverbial hot knife through butter.  Simply amazing.  I need to clear four or five sizable trees, because they cast large shadows on the only 100% sun area of the section.  Removing them will more than double the effective full sun area.

So lots to do before I leave for South Aftica in 5 week's time.

Oh, and I also bought a Ryobi garden shredder.  It eats freshly cut trees for breakfast...  LOTS of stuff the the four rotating compost bins I'm planning to build.

---

Question:
Are these shredded bits OK for the compost bin?  Or do I need to seive out the larger chunks first?