Okay. Im a bit confused. It could be lack of sleep... I've been reading about sq ft gardening the past 2 days and im a bit lost. Its saying to use equal parts vermiculite, peat moss and compost. Well Im using coconut coir instead of moss, and I have vermiculite, But im not finding 3 different types of compost, and in Mels video, theres a bag of sheep manure... is that compost? Im sorry if im coming off as a little dense, I've seen the big bags of compost at the nurseries, but they're always labeled as just "so-and-so compost" and then you see the big bags of steer manure.. so is the steer manure compost? Is it okay to mix the verm. manure and coir together and plant? Will the manure burn the plants? Is the manure ready to use or is this something that needs to be "aged" first? Anyone at all who can help... im in desperate need! Im sure it mite explain all this in the book (maybe?) but I wont have the money for the book until monday, which is when I was hoping to get everything I needed and put my beds together n let it settle n plan where plants and trellis' will go...
The bagged manure you get at the store is composted and ready to use. It will not 'burn' your plants.
The peat moss won't add any nutrients, and probably is just for "tilth" (lightness, friability) in the soil, so coir will do just fine. Bagged manures are composted. When I can't find enough from our neighboring cows, I buy composted steer manure. Sheep manure is purportedly more nutricious, but believe me, composted steer manure works fine added directly to the garden (I even side dress some plants with it). Vermiculite helps drainage, and again lightens the soil. With this mix, I think you may have to fertilize a bit more often than if 1/3 of the mix were dirt.
I may be missing a key ingredient in the square foot gardening concept....but isn't it just a raised bed with the plants 12" apart? You can create the grid with nails and string. You fill a raised bed with garden soil, compost, vermiculite for drainage and dirt. Mix it together and plant. The Mels Mix is the growing mix that one person chose to use but that doesn't mean that's what you have to use. You can plant in a bed filled only with compost and plants will grow just fine. Possibly the confusion you feel is from reading too much. Each gardener who has used that concept has their own version of the growing medium, why not make your own too? I wouldn't spend money on the book either...spend it on seeds or seedlings to get your garden started.
I believe the purpose of "3 different types of compost" is in regards to creating a diverse compost. Home compost is generally very diverse and can be used by itself. The first year, I only had about half the compost, so I got some municipal compost and supplemented with some store bought to attempt to cover all the nutrients. It has worked very well. Now, I have enough compost in production for replacement. Enjoy your SF garden. It has been a great enhancement to our food production!
Before 'big box' stores, or the re-invention of 'french intensive' raised beds people found that variety of composted material aided tilth (texture and airation) of raised beds. There is nothing right-er or wrong-er with buying or making your own soil for this kind of compact gardening style. Me being a tightwad yankee, will of course suggest you build your own way into raised bed gardening. All peat moss is are bog plants that drowned a long time ago, which reduced their decay. Local yard waste (leaves grass clippings etc), local manures, and local sand or stone dust (llke from a gravel mill) will all serve the same ends at about the same speed with a lot fewer dollars spent. Its not as tricky as baking a cake. Um if a baker does it by the measuring cup; gardeners do it by the wheelbarrow. IMO look around you. Odds is if there is a big box store with 10 miles of your garden, there is a stable just as close-they may even deliver for a modest fee. Of more import (to me) is how effectively you reduce weeding chores. I like and use newspaper and more yard waste to create mulches on top of raised beds to that end. Stealing autumnal leaves will become a favorite hobby of any raised bed gardener who does not have a large yard to collect them from.
