I just went to Lowe's to see about getting some potting soil. The only
thing there with ORGANIC on it was something from Miracle Gro. It had
poultry and/or cattle manure in it, along with forest products, etc.

To me, it would be organic if the livestock was never fed antibiotics or
growth hormones, but I'm betting that was not the case.

Are there any truly organic soil amendments out there that I might be
able to find locally, easily?

Are there any truly organic soil amendments out there that I might be
able to find locally, easily?

Well, the most local is your own property. So there's the whole green
manure thing (grow a cover crop, usually a nitrogen fixer, and dig it
into the soil (or compost it, if you want to go the no-till or
less-till route)).

Then there's any number of waste items (when I worked in a peanut
butter factory, which was also a farm, we had peanut skins, although
that's sort of a bad example because we fed those to the cows).

Animal manures are another route. Maybe see who is selling animal
products at the local farmer's market and ask them? That's more
likely to meet your standards for "truly organic" (which, I think,
exceed the legal definition).

Straw (which you can compost) is available a lot of places. There's
bagged tree bark (which takes a long time to decompose). etc.

I'm not really saying these particular ideas are especially good. But
my point is that there are lot of ways to introduce organic matter,
and nutrients, into the soil. It is just a matter of figuring out
what is available around you (another reason to go local is that some
of these aren't very rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, so you need
a lot of them).

Steve wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:08:13 -0700, doofy wrote:

I just went to Lowe's to see about getting some potting soil. The only
thing there with ORGANIC on it was something from Miracle Gro. It had
poultry and/or cattle manure in it, along with forest products, etc.

To me, it would be organic if the livestock was never fed antibiotics or
growth hormones, but I'm betting that was not the case.

Are there any truly organic soil amendments out there that I might be
able to find locally, easily?

You didn't tell us where "locally" is, but you look to be a sonic.net
customer so I'm guessing the Santa Rosa area.
If no one comes up with something satisfactory then have a look at
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply http://www.groworganic.com
You should be able to order from them and have it shipped without
paying too awfully much for shipping.


Thanks for the info. I was able to find some organic compost at OSH
yesterday. It spelled out that it conforms to organic standards.

Now I have to mix up some potting soil. Got a bit of peat moss, and
some alfalfa meal. I'll find some other amendments when I can. I think
I live in the only non-organic portion of the normally organic-friendly
Bay Area. Can't even find any organic seeds anywhere. I'll have to
drive to Berkeley. I live in Fremont, CA, by the way, not Santa Rosa.

Jim Kingdon wrote:
Are there any truly organic soil amendments out there that I might be
able to find locally, easily?

Well, the most local is your own property. So there's the whole green
manure thing (grow a cover crop, usually a nitrogen fixer, and dig it
into the soil (or compost it, if you want to go the no-till or
less-till route)).

That's a problem though. My property is a concrete slab about 10x16.


Then there's any number of waste items (when I worked in a peanut
butter factory, which was also a farm, we had peanut skins, although
that's sort of a bad example because we fed those to the cows).

Animal manures are another route. Maybe see who is selling animal
products at the local farmer's market and ask them? That's more
likely to meet your standards for "truly organic" (which, I think,
exceed the legal definition).

I'll check into that. A friend of mine has some chickens, but I'll have
to see what she feeds them.


Straw (which you can compost) is available a lot of places. There's
bagged tree bark (which takes a long time to decompose). etc.

I'm not really saying these particular ideas are especially good. But
my point is that there are lot of ways to introduce organic matter,
and nutrients, into the soil. It is just a matter of figuring out
what is available around you (another reason to go local is that some
of these aren't very rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, so you need
a lot of them).

I'll be putting in a compost bin, but I needed something to get going
for some stuff I'm going to be potting soon. This will be container
gardening.

In article ,
doofy wrote:

Steve wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:08:13 -0700, doofy wrote:

I just went to Lowe's to see about getting some potting soil. The only
thing there with ORGANIC on it was something from Miracle Gro. It had
poultry and/or cattle manure in it, along with forest products, etc.

To me, it would be organic if the livestock was never fed antibiotics or
growth hormones, but I'm betting that was not the case.

Are there any truly organic soil amendments out there that I might be
able to find locally, easily?

You didn't tell us where "locally" is, but you look to be a sonic.net
customer so I'm guessing the Santa Rosa area.
If no one comes up with something satisfactory then have a look at
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply http://www.groworganic.com
You should be able to order from them and have it shipped without
paying too awfully much for shipping.


Thanks for the info. I was able to find some organic compost at OSH
yesterday. It spelled out that it conforms to organic standards.

Now I have to mix up some potting soil. Got a bit of peat moss, and
some alfalfa meal. I'll find some other amendments when I can. I think
I live in the only non-organic portion of the normally organic-friendly
Bay Area. Can't even find any organic seeds anywhere. I'll have to
drive to Berkeley. I live in Fremont, CA, by the way, not Santa Rosa.

Once you get a handle on how much gardening your going to be doing, you
may want to check-out the local landscape supplies stores. A cubic yard
of organic mushroom compost cost me about $25.
--
FB - FFF

Billy
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/