Hello From Ohio

[ellensgarden]

Hello Fellow Gardeners, My wife and I have been gardening on a small scale for a couple of years now. I found a copy of Mel's Square Foot Gardening years ago and it helped rekindle long forgotten feelings I had as a boy when a garden was a way of life, a way of connecting with the wonders of nature, there is something about watching a seed change into a plant that is truly a wonder to behold, almost spiritual. Ok, enough reminiscing, It seems that the two hardest things to find in my small town in Ohio are a job and vermiculite. I want to follow Mel's advice as closely as I can but I am having no luck, even decent compost, I don't have enough of my own, is going to be hard to find, peat is the only item easily found. Are there any other mixtures that anyone would suggest? Many thanks in advance.

Walt

[plantoneonme]

Hi Walt, welcome to the group. If you read Mel's older book he says you can use straight compost which is what I did with a children's project. I found the vermiculite at a local greenhouse and they sold me a 4 cu ft bag for $19. I didn't have the money for Mel's recommended amount of 1/3 so my 4'x24' bed only got 1 bag and 1 bag of peat. I had no problems with drainage issues. Greenhouses use vermiculite a lot to start seedlings so you may call around to see if you can find one willing to sell you a bag or 2.

Ask around on freecycle or craigslist for compost. You may be able to find a horse farm or other farm in your area not only willing to give it away but practically begging to give it away.

Personally I don't care to use peat and prefer compost or compost & vermiculite...but that is a personal preferance...and I am skipping it for future beds.

How deep are you planning on making your beds? Mine are 10" deep and I fill the bottom with cardboard, old pulled up plants, shredded newspaper, vegetable scraps etc. These will compost in place. I then top with the soil mix...saves some money this way. My new beds for this year were layered on the bottom with the above and leaves gathered before the recycling truck made its rounds. I hear hay works good also. I am going to use hay between the beds and if it rots, will simply dig it up to put in new beds for the following year....I plan on expanding each year until the entire back yard is in food production (shhhh don't tell the hubby!!!)

Kim

[Sinfonian]

Welcome. I too had problems finding vermiculite in quantity for a reasonable price. I called my local nursery and asked who their supplier would be for vermiculite and the like. I called them and they had pallets of it cheap. Let your fingers do the walking and ask for suppliers. Most do a little retail business. Oh and I believe the closest mine is Virginia.

As for compost, I assume your area doesn't collect yard waste and you don't have a municipal source? Baging it is expensive, so maybe lasagna gardening would work. It takes time, but if you can't get any off Craigslist/Freecycle, then it's an idea.

Good luck!

[ellensgarden]

Hello again, Thanks for the advice. I have been planting in ground, going down 10 to 12 Inches, I have used the peat and what compost I had to amend the soil and have been very successful with the exception of onions and carrots, they are always smallish, I think that the soil becomes to compacted from the rain and causes the growth to be stunted. I bought some cedar boards last fall and plan to use them to create raised beds 10" inches tall and 4 x 6 feet, which has always been my plan, seems to me to be a much better way and much easier on old knees. We do collect leaves in our town I don't know why I didn't think of it, I am not sure where they put it but I know just who to ask so I will see him and find out. I have only had 2 beds but plan to add 4 more this year. I am sure I will need more advice down the road and it is a great comfort to have a community such as this one to go to. Thanks again.
Walt

[gardengirl72]

Hey Walt thanks for joining up. Check with your local town greenspeople, the folks that take care of parks and the like. They may have pile some where. The higher the garden bed the easier on all the joints! My beds are twenty inches high!

[MoniDew]

Hi, and welcome. I loved your prosaic reminiscing. I feel the same! I love nature, and how it all works, with a passion! I have a feeling that we are going to enjoy having you around here.