Potting

Learned how to make potting soil, which apparently most nurseries don't do. Of course, big corporate chain nurseries buy pre-made potting soil and even pre-potted plants. But Alison says you'd be surprised to find out that most small places don't take the time to make their own either. But whyyyy not when you get to hand-churn all the soil and manure and get your hands dirty? Needless to say, this was an exciting chore for me. Here's the beautiful finished product: Healthiest potting soil around.

The benefit of making your own (or buying plants from someone who makes their own) is that it's....well, alive. We used compost from the horses, which is about as fresh as it gets in terms of good poop. All those living organisms and good bacteria that breaks down nutrients into usable forms for the plants and aerates the soil.

Here's the recipe we use (for nonedibles)

2.5 gallons compost

2.5 gallons soil

1 (40lb) bag organic humus

1 (40lb) bag old potting mix

5 gallons peat moss

2.5 gallons vermiculite

2.5 gallons perlite

*Sift all ingredients individually over wheelbarrow, then use brute strength to hand-churn and mix all the layers. voila!

the sifter:

As for potting, Alison has a highly organized chart/list/book/anthology of everything she's planted by seed in soil blocks, the dates she planted them, the dates she potted them in past years, etc etc etc etc like a good farmer should.

Here are the little perennial seedlings in a flat with organized labels indicating their latin name, how many she planted, and how many germinated.

Then we pot them, make labels, and water them with the water in the rainwater cistern.

Then there are hundreds of them.