Rising Moon's Organic Living No Till, 20 gallon soil mix:
( I made this mix as 'off the shelf' as I could to make things simple, but a number of amendments can be added, or substituted, and this is by no means an end all mix, just one of many I am experimenting with, and having great results..)
The base mix is: 1/3 Coco (or Peat) 1/3 Perlite 1/3 Compost
First off, I like to use "
PieceCoir Coco", its a chunky stringy shredded coco, similar to small woodchips/stringy coco fibers, it is GREAT food for worms/microbes and will slowly break down into humus, without becoming acidic.
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Next up is Chunky Perlite, its got big pieces that hold water and space for microbes to live inside.
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And finally Compost, or in this case, Worm Castings and Alaska Humus mixed together bag for bag. (normally I make all my own compost, but fall garden applications and winter slow down have forced me to buy in humus for now.. I cant wait for summer, not only veggie season, but COMPOST season as well)
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Next up are the dry amendments, as follows:
2 1/2 cups Crab Meal
2 1/2 cups Kelp Meal
2 Cups Diatomaceous Earth (Calcium Bentonite) (can be substituted with any other glacial rock dust, or greensand)
2 cups Fossilized Guano (0-8-1) Soluble
2 cups dried eggshells (can be substituted with limestone)
1 1/2 cups mixed dried herbs (dandelion, yarrow, horsetail, chamomile, alfalfa, nettle)
1 cup "
Earth ReCharge" Biodynamic preperations
1/4 cup
French Green Clay
1/2 packet of Roots Oregonism Xl (Fungi/Bacteria)
1 Gallon of wood Charcoal
At this point I like to mix all the dry stuff with the compost blend. But first want to point out 2 things that will make this job much more pleasant...
#1 a kiddie pool, for mixing soil, #2 a dust mask, those rock dusts and crab/kelp meals are dangerous to breathe, dont be fooled because they are natural..
Once this is THOROUGHLY mixed, Ill add the Coco and Perlite:
And, once again thoroughly mix this all up until..
Now, I like to fill the bottom of my pots with about an inch of perlite/charcoal so they have some breathing room/drainage on the floor
Now the pots are ready to be filled... (you will want to leave some room for top dressing later on..)
And top dressed with some more rough Coco..
Now, I will let these sit for a few weeks, give them a few compost teas to boost things up, and will then add worms from my bin to fully activate the food web, before planting a quick cover crop of oats/clover. Once this grows to about 6 inches tall, Ill chop it all down, near the roots and leave it as a mulch.
The pots are then ready to plant, and should yield magnificent herb for years to come, only needing the annual top dress of amended compost, a green manure crop/undersow and the occasional compost/herbal tea.
Just like real deal farming outside on the earth, but inside, with created earth and small pots.
