So far...

I have secured,

Vermiculite
Peat moss
Cow Manure
Worm Castings
a 80/20 mix of humus/manure

This is the best I felt like doing...running out of time here, and I have a newborn at home, so time is of the essence hehe..

I am thinking of adding a leaf/grass compost mixture from a local composter to put the final touches on the compost mix, what do you think?

What you put in will be what you get out. With the leaf compost source you still need two more to be Mel's Mix and thus a real SFG. It's worth the pain to get the Mix right...you have less of a chance that you will be trying to figure out what you are deficient in later if you use the 5 sources.

1 compost=potatoes

2 composts=potatoes and veggies

3 composts=potatoes, veggies, and fruit

4 composts=potatoes, veggies, fruit, and dairy

5 composts=potatoes, veggies, fruit, dairy, and meat

6 composts=potatoes, veggies, fruit, dairy, meat, and dessert!

Just like a human body, plant health depends on a balanced diet.

GOOD LUCK!!!

middlemamma wrote:What you put in will be what you get out. With the leaf compost source you still need two more to be Mel's Mix and thus a real SFG. It's worth the pain to get the Mix right...you have less of a chance that you will be trying to figure out what you are deficient in later if you use the 5 sources.

1 compost=potatoes

2 composts=potatoes and veggies

3 composts=potatoes, veggies, and fruit

4 composts=potatoes, veggies, fruit, and dairy

5 composts=potatoes, veggies, fruit, dairy, and meat

6 composts=potatoes, veggies, fruit, dairy, meat, and dessert!

Just like a human body, plant health depends on a balanced diet.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Does it help the humus has several kinds of forest compost and chicken manure? That to me is like 3 different kinds right there...

There are 2 schools of thought on this....some thing SOURCE...5 sources. And some think TYPE.

It's your choice.

I go with source and my reasoning is this....if you have a source that is a dud but you still have 4 other sources then you are covered. If you go with TYPE and one of your sources is a dud then you have 3/5ths of your compost a dud...and that isn't going to cut it. You will be amending later.

Honestly, I think you'll be fine. There have been people on here with multiple sources of compost having nutritional challenges and others rolling the dice with just a couple of bagged sources who have been fine.

Personally, I mainly use our municipal (yard waste/grocery store produce waste) compost (about 50% of my total compost), a couple different kinds of composted cow manure, and chicken manure. I battle heat, bugs, and disease like crazy, but stuff definitely GROWS.

I think I will pick up a bag of happy frog tomorrow, and I'm calling it good..

jamesindetroit wrote:This is the best I felt like doing...snip...what do you think?

I think you can do anything you want. Folks come up with all kinds of reasons, all the time, for not following the book. It's not our place to give permission to change the MM recipe or to predict the outcome of every possible variation.

Truth is, what you've got to start with will grow veggies. How well? Can't say. What about next year? Can't say. How are you going to handle it next spring when you need to boost your soil nutrients? Add some amendments? That will work...hard to tell how much though. When you start doing your gardening that way, you have begun gardening like any other gardener in the last 100 years. Try a little of this, a little of that, and on and on ad nauseum. Don't me wrong, I don't have problems with that because a lot of people feed their families that way. Fact is, there's a bazillion other websites and forums to help you do your gardening that way.

On this forum, we concentrate on the gardening method presented in the All New SFG book. It's pretty specific about how and why to set up a garden the first time. It's tried and proven. The time and expense to get set up properly in the beginning was not easy for a lot of us. But it has paid tremendous dividends in the years since, as the costs have become next to nothing, the time required is minimal, and the knowledge required is already known. SFG is about gardening for a lifetime, not a summer.

Happy Gardening

^

worm casting are pretty powerful. If you really can't get the 5the type, then that and the cow manure are the ones I would go heavy with.



Kay

walshevak wrote:worm casting are pretty powerful. If you really can't get the 5the type, then that and the cow manure are the ones I would go heavy with.



Kay

Thanks Kay. And thanks to everyone else for your input. I did some more digging and came up with this for compost...

Happy Frog soil (for the bat guano, didn't want to get straight guano)
Worm Castings (I have tons of this stuff now)
80/20 Humus/Manure
Cow Manure
Garden Compost (for the mushroom compost)

How's that?

Are you worm composting? I totally want to do that!

Glendale-gardener wrote:Are you worm composting? I totally want to do that!

Lol, I wish I could worm compost. But, the Condo Association might have a thing or two to say about such tom foolery occurring on my patio...

I'm already pushing the limits trying to hide 3 4x4's out there..

Think the Corn will give me away?

Worm bins don't stink you could have it in your bathroom, that's where mine is in the winter, or will be this winter.

jamesindetroit wrote:Thanks Kay. And thanks to everyone else for your input. I did some more digging and came up with this for compost...

Happy Frog soil (for the bat guano, didn't want to get straight guano)
Worm Castings (I have tons of this stuff now)
80/20 Humus/Manure
Cow Manure
Garden Compost (for the mushroom compost)

How's that?

Looking much better!

Happy Frog = worm castings, bat guano, and composted forest humus (that's pricey stuff!)

So, combining like ingredients, you have:
worm castings
bat guano
humus
manure
mushroom compost

If you mix your five items in equal amounts, then worm castings and cow manure will each account for more than 1/5 each (assuming that it's cow manure in the humus/manure mix). Humus, between the Happy Frog and the humus/manure, will likely account for close to or more than 1/5. Mushroom compost will be 1/5, and bat guano will probably be 1/10 or less (since I can't imagine the Happy Frog would be more than 50% bat guano, but I could be wrong).

If you're going to be heavy on a type or two, worm castings and cow manure are good ones to be heavy on.
Mushroom compost is excellent. Bat guano, though you'd be light in it, is supposed to be very rich. Humus, from what I've seen, can be a bit of a question mark, but should be fine in conjunction with your other composts.

Ideally, you try for 1/5 of each, but it can be difficult to attain. I think the most recent two additions to the list should round your MM out nicely. My $.02

Miss M wrote:

jamesindetroit wrote:Thanks Kay. And thanks to everyone else for your input. I did some more digging and came up with this for compost...

Happy Frog soil (for the bat guano, didn't want to get straight guano)
Worm Castings (I have tons of this stuff now)
80/20 Humus/Manure
Cow Manure
Garden Compost (for the mushroom compost)

How's that?

Looking much better!

Happy Frog = worm castings, bat guano, and composted forest humus (that's pricey stuff!)

So, combining like ingredients, you have:
worm castings
bat guano
humus
manure
mushroom compost

If you mix your five items in equal amounts, then worm castings and cow manure will each account for more than 1/5 each (assuming that it's cow manure in the humus/manure mix). Humus, between the Happy Frog and the humus/manure, will likely account for close to or more than 1/5. Mushroom compost will be 1/5, and bat guano will probably be 1/10 or less (since I can't imagine the Happy Frog would be more than 50% bat guano, but I could be wrong).

If you're going to be heavy on a type or two, worm castings and cow manure are good ones to be heavy on.
Mushroom compost is excellent. Bat guano, though you'd be light in it, is supposed to be very rich. Humus, from what I've seen, can be a bit of a question mark, but should be fine in conjunction with your other composts.

Ideally, you try for 1/5 of each, but it can be difficult to attain. I think the most recent two additions to the list should round your MM out nicely. My $.02

Well see, now I am a bit worried..the mushroom compost is only part of a mix in the garden compost bag, so some of that is a mixture also. What if I add a little Horse/Sheep composted manure?