Posted in Homestead Garden and Farm

Just popping in briefly to wish everyone a belated Happy Spring and a Happy Easter!  Yes, I'm a bit late for both , BUT Spring is still in full bloom, and as a Christian, I believe we should celebrate the resurrection daily . 

I'm seeing more and more gardening posts, and I am so glad to see so many of you digging in and getting things growing.  I have 2 trays of seedlings just getting started and lots of seeds to plant as soon as I have a garden dug at our new home.  Hopefully that will be next week!

This weekend we purchased a grape vine and a few strawberries to plant in keeping with our family Easter tradition.  We plant something new each Easter in celebration of the Life of Jesus and our own new life in Him.   Both the grapes and strawberries will be container grown at least this season, which brings me to a little "gripe"......

Have you noticed that virtually all of the bagged planting mixes have fertilizer already in them???  Why do people have to mess with everything these days?  Maybe I'm just being silly, but I really don't need someone to add my fertilizer for me.  

I did finally manage to find a bag that contains "organic" fertilizer, which is better than the other option.  But still, I really prefer to add my own organic fertilizer when I feel the need, and be able to control the amount used , AND know exactly what kind of "organic" nutrients I am using.   I'm not sure that my idea of organic is the same as some of these big companies'. 

OK, I'm done complaining, and I know there are folks who enjoy this convenience.   I'll just go back to mixing my own planting mix as soon as I have a place to keep it.

Here is the basic formula I use:

1/3 blended compost

1/3 peat moss

1/3 coarse vermiculite

This is the soil mix Mel Bartholomew suggests in Square Foot Gardening.  I've had good results using this mix, though I sometimes add a bit more  compost so it won't dry out quite so quick in the Texas heat.  

I buy the large square bale of peat, several bags of compost (if I don't have a compost pile going), and a large bag of vermiculite (or several small ones, because the big ones are tricky to find).  I put my soil mix in a large plastic garbage can.  It is easy to store and you can drag your "can of soil" over to the garden or planting area easily when you need to add planting mix. 

If anyone has a favorite soil mix formula, please share it with us, too .

Happy Gardening,

Catherine