Woah! We sure have evolved since "Carrots Love Tomatoes" written in 1971 (I think!). Here is a sweet chart I found via the inter-web. There are SO many more resources to this, many of which I'll start bookmarking here!
http://www.diginmanitoba.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Companion-Planting-Table-Food-Matters-Manitoba.jpg
P.S. I have TONS of raised beds updates coming soooooooooon.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Raised Bed Soil Planning
This has been the interesting part. After deciding to use tree logs to create raised beds for the garden, finding the right combination of soil to put in the beds has been a bit of a brain-scratcher. I've read a lot about using compost, peat moss, vermiculite, topsoil, and lots of others. After purchasing Square Foot Gardener, I wanted to stay true to "Mel's Mix" for at least one of the raised beds. For this, he explains to use a 1:1:1 mix of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Honestly, after filling that first bed, all I could think about was how prevalent the vermiculite seemed to be in the bed. True, when completed, the soil was very loose, weed-free, and very drainable, but I couldn't wrap my head around how expensive the vermiculite was and how much I needed to use. Filling this particular bed cost approximately $18 for compost, $32 for vermiculite, and $15 for peat moss. Totaling $55 just for one bed, I want to find a close alternative to this mixture.
After doing some research, here's what I think I'm going to try. First I found a person who modified "Mel's Mix" to 3:1:1 with compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. Additionally, our city's landfill will allow residents to pick up compost for free. This will help out quite a bit, especially considering I'm going to use three parts of this to one part vermiculite and one part peat moss. With the remaining beds, I've calculated 24 cubic feet of compost (free), 8 cubic feet of vermiculite ($64), and 8 cubic feet of peat moss ($20). For these five beds, if my calculations are right, will total $84, or about $17 per raised bed. This is much more reasonable than $55...now I just hope my math is right!
After doing some research, here's what I think I'm going to try. First I found a person who modified "Mel's Mix" to 3:1:1 with compost, vermiculite, and peat moss. Additionally, our city's landfill will allow residents to pick up compost for free. This will help out quite a bit, especially considering I'm going to use three parts of this to one part vermiculite and one part peat moss. With the remaining beds, I've calculated 24 cubic feet of compost (free), 8 cubic feet of vermiculite ($64), and 8 cubic feet of peat moss ($20). For these five beds, if my calculations are right, will total $84, or about $17 per raised bed. This is much more reasonable than $55...now I just hope my math is right!
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