New and addicted already...not even a sprout in sight yet!

HI! Name is Jennie...live in Post Falls Idaho. New to Idaho...new to gardening.

I haven't even gotton anything in the ground yet and I am hooked...ready to go out and buy a GINORMOUS brimmed floppy hat, retire and pitch a tent in between my boxes...LMAO.

We have box materials, compost, stuff for the grids, peat moss and searching for vermiculite. The first screw isnt even in the board yet and I am already bouncing up and down like a 2 year old. I made the mistake of looking at all the pictures on here today and I am already ready to make changes to the boxes we havent even built yet! Hubby will be SO excited...(scarcasm).

I grew up in a city and never grew so much as a bean sprout as a child. Then moved to podunk Arizona where all you can grow without a degree, a backhoe and dynamite to blow out the rock, is weeds and more rocks (didn't know about SFG then). I have wanted to GROW something for so long.....and now I finally get to. (insert excited 2 year old dance here)

So I look forward to all the new friends I will make here. I have a feeling you will be seeing a lot of me. Like I said...addicted already.

Happy gardening everyone!

Jennie

Hey there neighbor! Welcome again to Idaho. I lived in Post Falls for several years before doing the big move over here to CDA.

As far as the vermiculite goes D&B farm & store carries it and has the best price out of the two places I could find it. $29.99/3.5 cubic feet. If you find a cheaper source please let me know.

Have fun with the garden!

Scott

Hi Scott!!!

I actually found the vermiculite at Big R!! If you can believe that, 4 cu ft bag for 29.99. They just ordered 24 more bags and when it comes in they are holding 3 bags for me. It should be in before the end of the week. (insert more jumping up and down like a kid....lol.

Any tips on actually mixing all this stuff....for 4 boxes (33 cu ft) I am thinking I may need to mix in my hubby's truck bed! A little anxious about the mixing thing.

Jennie

I share your enthusiasm for SFG and just growing a veggie garden in general. I'm hooked as well and I'm new to this too!

We found that mixing the Mel's Mix on a tarp was the best way to do it, just like Mel suggests in the book. But if you have that much to mix all at once, the bed of your husband's truck may just do the trick. Great idea!

Good deal with the vermiculite. Big R? I'm not familiar with them. Where are they at?

As far as mixing I just did what Mel did in the book. Dump some on a tarp and walk the corners back and forth till it's all mixed. Worked well, just had to do a few small batches rather then all at once.


Have fun!

Scott

Hi middlemamma,
Welcome to the most enjoyable addiction you'll ever have. As for mixing the Mel's Mix, the tarp method (as described in the book) really does work well. However, I like the idea of doing it in a truck bed. The sides would prevent it from spilling out. Depending on how nice the truck in question is, you could mix it with a hoe or a plastic rake. Be sure to cover your nose and mouth though. The peat moss and vermiculite are very light and dust like, but if you wet them too much they become very hard to stir. It's a fine line between "light misting" with a hose and "wet."
Best of luck.
Please post some pics when you get your boxes built.

Hi Jenny,

I'm new too. Isn't this place wonderful?

I just mixed in my vermiculite not too long ago. Not sure whether it was coarse or not (the bag just said "horticultural"), but I can tell you one thing: Look out if it's windy! There was a light breeze going the day I did mine. Light enough that I didn't think anything of it til I got the bag open. It tore more than I thought it would...and then it was too late to run for the hose. I just laid it down as fast as I could and hit it with the peat. Then lots and lots of shoveling, etc., to mix everything in place in the bed... ugh! Poor planning on my part.

Cheers,
Megan

OK! The tarp it is then....I have trouble seeing things in my mind and I just could not picture how that would work, but I will take all your words for it and that's what we'll do.

Scott, Big R is this huge "everything" kinda store...not quite hardware, not quite department, not quite sporting goods....it's just a crazy kinda hodge podge place. There is one on Trent after Argonne a little ways. I stubbled upon it there totlaly by accident. Would have NEVER in a zillion years thought to look there!!

Hi,

I am new to this as well. I just got my boxes built this weekend and my soil mixed and seeds planted today!!! I think I actually did the 2 year old happy dance today! LMAO!!!!
I bought a roll of heavy duty plastic at Home Depot so I could use it to mix soil and then cover my beds when needed as well. It worked great. I had three 4x4 boxes worth of soil and didn't really pull the corners much. I was by myself. I did use the back side of my rake to mix so I wouldn't puncture the plastic, worked just fine. I then used a 5 gallon bucket as a scoop, the soil really is light, and filled my boxes. I was so excited I had to go plant after dinner!
Good luck!!!!

YEA!!! I am so excited.....I probably wont get soil mixed and in the boxes till mothers day weekend. We still have prepping of the area where they will go to do this saturday and then sunday our family is walking in the Bloomsday run in SPokane WA. So 7 miles that morning with 2 little kiddos and the hubby and I think I will be too spent for gardening... So after monthers day weekend look for pics from me!!