Newbie in Ga needs help

Good Morning All. I am directing the question to the SFGardener's in Ga but will gladly except help from any one.

I had hoped to have my Fall/Winter bed running late last week but i ran into the brickwall MEL'S MIX compound.
I visited the big two Home Depot an Lowes only to find cow manure and mushroom compost, and Vermiculite appears to be a nasty work. Perilite can be found in small bags only. Peat Moss was everywhere.

The local ACE and True Value stores only had small bags of fertilizer. Pikes was a major wash out.

So i am sending out a cry for help. Where does a First Year SFGardener in the Atlanta / Marietta / Kennesaw area find the ingredients for his potions assignment.

:scratch: Thanks

mramsey wrote:Good Morning All. I am directing the question to the SFGardener's in Ga but will gladly except help from any one.

I had hoped to have my Fall/Winter bed running late last week but i ran into the brickwall MEL'S MIX compound.
I visited the big two Home Depot an Lowes only to find cow manure and mushroom compost, and Vermiculite appears to be a nasty work. Perilite can be found in small bags only. Peat Moss was everywhere.

The local ACE and True Value stores only had small bags of fertilizer. Pikes was a major wash out.

So i am sending out a cry for help. Where does a First Year SFGardener in the Atlanta / Marietta / Kennesaw area find the ingredients for his potions assignment.

:scratch: Thanks

Did you try the insulation dept. of Lowes or HD? That is where you will find the big bags of vermiculite. The vermiculite data base here on the forum may have more help for you as well.

You can also try Craig's List for local sources of compost or manure.
GG

Welcome aboard! The best luck I had for different types of compost and vermiculite where from local garden centers and nurseries. You may want to give that a try.

Goosegirl / nKedrOoStEr

Thanks a lot. Will check the form vermiculite data base and local nurseries. Will also go back to HD for vermiculite.

Don't forget, some places (like ACE) may special order things for you. I have ordered things from ACE multiple times before.

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:Don't forget, some places (like ACE) may special order things for you. I have ordered things from ACE multiple times before.

You know, over the last 5-6 years Ace has really pulled their program together in my opnion. Most of the time in Homedepot or Lowes, I avoid their help at all costs (usually). But Ace, they really do have some knowledgable staff (least around here) and go out of their way to help. I have gotten to where I prefer Ace over the other two and will pay the extra dollar or two for the service I recieve there.

I found all the vermiculite I needed at a local hydroponics store.

Well i have a lot of work to do.. Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond offering up help and suggestions.

Back in 2009 I lived in Lawrenceville, Georgia and started a Square Foot Garden behind the house I was renting there. Someone at church told me to check out Brownlee's General Store. Sure enough they had huge bags of vermiculite and peat moss. I think the bags must have weighed 50 pounds or so. LOL!!

They had never heard of Square Foot Gardening so I described it to the staff there. I hope some of them tried it.

Just this week I've been moving into a house in Dunwoody, Georgia that sits on an acre of undeveloped land. I don't think anyone has done much except mow it since the cows were walking around here who knows how many years ago.

Of course, I'm going to get in touch with Brownlee's for my supplies once again. Give them a try, it's not that far from Marietta.

Terry Thomas
Dunwoody, Georgia

Brownlee's General Store
219 Hurricane Shoals Road Northeast
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30046-4401
(770) 963-9784

Pikes nursery in Atlanta and surrounding area carries Vermiculite. If a specific store is out of it, they will usually reoder it for you. They also carry many types of compost.

I'm new to the SFG method....a long time single row devotee.....just started shopping for the ingredients I needed and got worried when NO ONE seemed to have them....
Burson's Feed and Seed in Carrollton, GA sells the peat and vermiculite in 4 cu. ft. bags as well as a cow and mushroom compost...

JillWilliams

Nice to "meet you". It is great that you were able to find your vermiculite, peat and first two composts. Hope you are as succeful with the remaining three. If you will, read the following thread MEL'S MIX which gives lot of info on types of compost and how to make sure you get the best Mel's Mix ever.

Remember, if your peat moss is in a compacted bale, you will need to "fluff" it. That is our technical term for loosening the peat by mixing it or even rubbing between your gloved hands. The reason for fluffing is that it changes your volume to almost twice the original amount and you want to make sure that peat gets well mixed into your vermiculite and compost so you don't have clumps of peat. Those clumps are very very hard to rehydrate.



Congratulations on starting your first SFG and please keep us updated on your progress.

My best source for vermiculite is our local growers cooperative which is nice enough to sell to non-members. I would do a search for horticultural or grower supply houses in your area. A good place to start might be this link:

http://www.agnga.com/home2.html

The big box stores aren't interested in large bags of vermiculite and the independents have a tough time meeting the minimum order quantity from the manufacturer and need to order from a middleman distributor.

Furbalsmom wrote: JillWilliams

Nice to "meet you". It is great that you were able to find your vermiculite, peat and first two composts. Hope you are as succeful with the remaining three. If you will, read the following thread MEL'S MIX which gives lot of info on types of compost and how to make sure you get the best Mel's Mix ever.

Remember, if your peat moss is in a compacted bale, you will need to "fluff" it. That is our technical term for loosening the peat by mixing it or even rubbing between your gloved hands. The reason for fluffing is that it changes your volume to almost twice the original amount and you want to make sure that peat gets well mixed into your vermiculite and compost so you don't have clumps of peat. Those clumps are very very hard to rehydrate.



Congratulations on starting your first SFG and please keep us updated on your progress.

Thanks for the welcome! and the info....I do have my own compost pile that's been "steeping" for the past year or so....it's mostly chicken litter and wheat straw from clean out our coop.....still learning about composting as well....I'm hopeful that I can create a blended compost from scratch by composting the variety of ingredients I need all at once....not sure if it's possible..
Definitely looking forward to getting seeds started and our boxes in place in the next few weeks!

Hi Jill,

I'm guessing you are in our region and so welcome to the forum and to the SFG method . When you get all your materials ready and ready to build, do ask any and every question. We are here to help you make the initial set-up as painless as possible. The hardest part if SFG'ning is getting going, locating the materials and building the beds (which is not that hard actually). You will love the results. Check out our region, planting dates and other topics in our sub-forum.

https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/f9-middle-south

Again, good luck and keep on posting

AtlantaTerry wrote:Just this week I've been moving into a house in Dunwoody, Georgia that sits on an acre of undeveloped land. I don't think anyone has done much except mow it since the cows were walking around here who knows how many years ago.

Of course, I'm going to get in touch with Brownlee's for my supplies once again. Give them a try, it's not that far from Marietta.

Terry Thomas
Dunwoody, Georgia

Brownlee's General Store
219 Hurricane Shoals Road Northeast
Lawrenceville, Georgia 30046-4401
(770) 963-9784

It's a little late, but Atlanta Terry! It has been 2 months - how did the move go? Do you have boxes ready for spring yet? We would love to hear more!

GG

I'm in Roswell and have found my favorite place to go for compost and what not is Autumn Hill Nursery, if you google them they have a website (which I'm not allowed to post since I'm a new member!) I don't know if Dave is still there, but he's one of the most helpful employees I've ever met and I know they have several types of compost material. Another option to check into are the Pike's Nurseries, I know we have one in Roswell and I believe there are several around the Atlanta area. Good luck!

I use Pike Nursery in Peachtree City, Ga. They have agricultural grade coarse vermiculite. The only place I have been able to find it on the southside of Atlanta. But it is expensive $29.99. They also have a good number of different types of compost.