Diary of a poor organic farmer
6/7/2010

Had to seriously amend my soil today after loosing all of my baby plants (60+)
When I repotted them all last week at about 1 inch high into soil reclaimed from my forest floor. Knowing it was acidic b/c of the pine needles, I went ahead and did it anyway with the notion of fixing the soil immediately.
That next morning I sprinkled baking soda on each plant, then soaked them to infiltrate the deeper roots.
After the shock of the transplant,they all seemed happy, then it hailed. It was too much for the fragile things... so sad, need to restart.

So early June here in the mountains seems to be the best time to plant -
since there is danger of frost around here up until Memorial Day, which was last weekend.
So I feel I am right on time, maybe it was meant to be....

NEW SOIL
Mixed 2 flats of 12 gallons each

50 % Loamy topsoil - reclaimed from forest floor
10% pebbles & sticks & small roots
40% red clay soil, not compact, fluffy

2 gallons mix of potato skins, coffee grounds and peanut shells
2 gallons fireplace ash
2 gallons hay bits


Even though the coffee grounds are acidic, I didn't worry too much because it was only about 2 cups worth and I needed the texture, since I couldn't find any sawdust.

DD was kind enough to help out with the mixing of the last batch and filling of 15 pots.

I will reseed all my pots tomorrow and start and seedling terrarium for all the tomatoes and herbs, just to get a boost on growth.