reusable soil mix for vegetables

[porthos]

if i use a growing soil mix 1/3 each; peatmoss,vermiculite and compost; is it reusable next year??

[farmbif]

absolutely

[BamaNapper]

My ratios are different, but the same ingredients. It's reusable, but we have raised beds and the nutrients seem to get used up or leach out of the mix. I can keep it going by topping it off with plenty of compost and manure to richen it up again after the plants are pulled. Also, roots from weeds, last year's plants, and probably the grass around the raised beds can turn the entire bed into an intertwined mass if it sits too long, so it all needs to be turned and chopped up when the new compost and manure gets worked in.

Just my experience here in Alabama.

[DougGuy]

Put some red wigglers in there too!! If you don't see any when you turn the beds and work them, there wasn't enough organic content to keep the fed and they will leave. Always good to turn some of your soil and see worms.

[porthos]

is mushroom compost OK?? if not, what can i use instead? (i don.t have a compost pile)

[DougGuy]

is mushroom compost OK?? if not, what can i use instead? (i don.t have a compost pile)

Mushroom compost works good, also Lowe's sells Black Kow which is composted cow manure, I use this to work into a bed that has been in service for a while. You may be able to find horse farms near you, they often keep a pile of composting manure, good source of compost but it needs to set for a yr or so so it won't burn roots of plants. Chicken manure is good but also, high in urea and that needs to sit a while too.

If your city collects leaves, they will often dump you a whole truckload of leaves and this makes awesome filler for the bottom of the beds before the soil mix is dumped on, you can let the pile sit out in the weather and it will compost itself, dig down and get the good stuff.. Composted leaves is 100% organic material, worms love it, plants love it, it is often acidic and a lot of plants like that especially berries.

[farmbif]

for outdoor beds that mixture put over buried rotten logs, hugelculture, will provide nutrients for long long time

[NyFirefighter357]

A good compost is a ratio of 3 parts to 4 parts browns to 1 part greens works well, but you do not need to be exact about it.

Greens
Grass clippings
Coffee grounds/tea bags
Vegetable and fruit scraps
Trimmings from perennial and annual plants
Annual weeds that haven't set seed
Eggshells
Animal manures (cow, horse, sheep, chicken, rabbit, but not dog or cat manure)
Seaweed

Browns
Fall leaves
Pine needles
Twigs, chipped tree branches/bark
Straw or hay
Sawdust
Corn stalks
Paper (newspaper, writing/printing paper, paper plates, napkins, and coffee filters)
Dryer lint
Cotton fabric
Corrugated cardboard (without waxy/slick coatings)

[GregLaROCHE]

A good compost is a ratio of 3 parts to 4 parts browns to 1 part greens works well, but you do not need to be exact about it.

Greens
Grass clippings
Coffee grounds/tea bags
Vegetable and fruit scraps
Trimmings from perennial and annual plants
Annual weeds that haven't set seed
Eggshells
Animal manures (cow, horse, sheep, chicken, rabbit, but not dog or cat manure)
Seaweed

Browns
Fall leaves
Pine needles
Twigs, chipped tree branches/bark
Straw or hay
Sawdust
Corn stalks
Paper (newspaper, writing/printing paper, paper plates, napkins, and coffee filters)
Dryer lint
Cotton fabric
Corrugated cardboard (without waxy/slick coatings)

I’m on the same page as you. I once even added pieces of untreated sheet rock. Gypsum was once imported to the US as a fertilizer, before modern chemical fertilizers were developed.

[Wayne Smith]

Mushroom compost works good, also Lowe's sells Black Kow which is composted cow manure, I use this to work into a bed that has been in service for a while. You may be able to find horse farms near you, they often keep a pile of composting manure, good source of compost but it needs to set for a yr or so so it won't burn roots of plants. Chicken manure is good but also, high in urea and that needs to sit a while too.

If your city collects leaves, they will often dump you a whole truckload of leaves and this makes awesome filler for the bottom of the beds before the soil mix is dumped on, you can let the pile sit out in the weather and it will compost itself, dig down and get the good stuff.. Composted leaves is 100% organic material, worms love it, plants love it, it is often acidic and a lot of plants like that especially berries.

Minor correction, Doug. Horse manure is actually quite gentle, but their digestion is not thorough and the manure needs to be composted to kill the weed seeds that make it through.