Square Foot Garden Continues: Mixing Soil

Here are some pics of me mixing up "Mels Mix." The recipe is from Mel Bartholomew's book, Square Foot Gardening. One third mixed compost, one third peat moss, one third vermiculite. You want to use 5 or more different composts so the plants have all the nutrients they may need and you achieve this by mixing different brands together. Peat moss is that nice, smelly, good for your soil stuff that comes from swamps. You can find at many home and garden centers. Vermiculite is volcanic rock that is heated up until it explodes into little styrofoam like pieces. This stuff really absorbs and holds water really good. Make sure you save some vermiculite so you can sprout seeds with it later. Vermiculite is a little tricky to find but after some searching I found it at my favorite nursery.

Mix the different composts together on a tarp or big sheet of plastic so nothing goes to waste. Once those are well mixed, add the peat moss and vermiculite. Keep turning with a shovel or by folding over the tarp, this should get it to a good mixture. Once all is mixed, fill up your box!