Making Potting Soil.

   Making your own potting soil is simple and easy. It is also a much better quality product than what you can buy. Plus it is sustainable. You can make a wheel barrow of potting soil in less time than it takes to drive to the store and buy the mix. The ingredients in your jiffy mix are not really organic or sustainable. Peat moss does not make a good planting medium. It is mined from Nova Scotia where there is miles of land that has been destroyed for your product. The three ingredients consist of compost, shifted through a 1/4" mesh screen. Course sand. This can be found in streams or creeks. Sometimes it is sold as river sand. I have found this to be less course than I like. Do not use play box sand or masonry sand. It is too fine and cakes. The third ingredient is leaf mold. Make a pile of leaves. I find leaves in town from people I know who do not spray their yards. I take the bags home. It takes about a year for them to breakdown. If run through a lawn mower with a bagger, it breaks down more quickly. Caution, leaf mold will contain weeds. So it helps to know what your seedlings look like. Worm castings can be used in place of compost. I have done experiments with both and they are equal in the results.
  It takes time to put together these resources like finding sand, making compost and leaf piles, but this is part of making your garden or farm complete. When these aspects of your garden are in place, you will also will be more complete as a gardener with the work you are doing. making potting soil puts you more in control, more informed about your work and a better facilitator of the land you are working. Remember that the garden and gardener grow together. There is more detailed information in my book, Radical Regenerative Gardening and Farming.



  Place the ingredients onto a flat surface like a piece of plywood. It is

best to mix with a flat shovel. Get someone to spray a five mist of water while you are mixing. This allows air and water to go into the mix at the same time. You only want to moisten the mix, not saturate it, so it holds together well. If you can squeeze out a drop or two of water that is ideal. The mix I use is about 1 to 2 parts compost to one part sand and one part leaf mold. The standard recipe is equal parts compost, sand and leaf mold. This mix  is best for propagating. Once the mix is made keep it damp so it stays rich and alive. This mix holds water well yet drains well. This means it is a balance of both properties.                                                                 The photos below show the planters I use for small seedlings like spinach and broccoli. The box is made form old recycled crates. I place hardwood leaves in the bottom to provide air and so the roots don't stick to the wood. The picture on the right is the flat ready to plant. Tamp is down the whole box and scrape the soil level. Spay it lightly for small seeds.