I've been pricing out how much it will cost to fill my garden boxes with Mel's mix: 1/3 Compost, 1/3 Peat Moss & 1/3 Vermiculite. That stuff ain't cheap! The peat moss is running 12.97 for 3.8 cubic feet. I can't even find vermiculite. The closest I can get is Perlite for 3.97 for 8 quart bags. It's going to cost a fortune to get 40 cubic feet worth of the goods. However, once it is in there, all I have to do is add home made compost from then on.
The other option is filling the box lasagna style. What I would need to do is put down a layer of wet newspaper on the bottom, then a layer of hay, a layer of manure, another layer of hay, another layer of manure, and then top off the top with compost. Oh, and then some sort of mulch on top. Sure is a lot cheaper that way, but I'm not sure if it will work as well. I think I'm going to try it out. It is just for a fall garden so I don't have a whole lot to lose.
It's nice being able to contribute in some way while staying at home with the kids. Poor Charles works his tail off while I'm out on playdates. I feel bad about it. Now I can feel like I'm giving something back.
I'm definitely going with a square foot garden. Here are some links I found to direct me on my path towards this decision:
www.squarefootgardening.com - by Mel Bartholomew, the father of square foot gardening. Lots of helpful hints here.
www.timssquarefootgarden.com - good helpful hints.
www.mysquarefootgarden.net - on lady's blog about her square foot garden. She has a TON of info in there.
www.smithfamilygarden.wordpress.com - they have some great videos on the science of composting. Good stuff.
www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com - shows how to do the "lasagna" style garden. Also has good info about companion gardening.
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