Compost is NOT SOIL, soil is Sand, Silt, and Clay. Exposing the compost scam with Gary's Best.

[EvanHinkle]

I think that’s what he’s specifically talking about. The medium a Home Depot or other such commercial seller pots a plant in.

 

[Perry Staltic]

I think that’s what he’s specifically talking about. The medium a Home Depot or other such commercial seller pots a plant in.

I recently wanted to buy some of that to save time from going up into the woods and scraping off the top layer of composted material to use. I nixed that idea because the negative reviews said it was mostly ground up chunks of bark and wood. About the worst thing you can put in soil because it robs nitrogen to break down the cellulose.

 

[EvanHinkle]

I recently wanted to buy some of that to save time from going up into the woods and scraping off the top layer of composted material to use. I nixed that idea because the negative reviews said it was mostly ground up chunks of bark and wood. About the worst thing you can put in soil because it robs nitrogen to break down the cellulose.

Wild harvested compost sounds pretty epic!

 

[Perry Staltic]

Wild harvested compost sounds pretty epic!

When I can't find a good thick layer of it, it's a lot of work

 

[mostlylurking]

When I can't find a good thick layer of it, it's a lot of work

You could just lay down a 6-8" bed of hay (old moldy hay is fine). It rots pretty quick and the worms love it. I think it would be less work. I use old alfalfa myself; the roses love it.

 

[Perry Staltic]

You could just lay down a 6-8" bed of hay (old moldy hay is fine). It rots pretty quick and the worms love it. I think it would be less work. I use old alfalfa myself; the roses love it.

I mixing it about 50:50 with topsoil. Uncomposted hay would be good for on top as mulch, but not mixed in with the soil. I do have hay mixed with chicken mature that I'll use once it breaks down.

 

[mostlylurking]

I mixing it about 50:50 with topsoil. Uncomposted hay would be good for on top as mulch, but not mixed in with the soil. I do have hay mixed with chicken mature that I'll use once it breaks down.

If you just put the hay on thick over new unbroken soil it will work absolute magic on the site in just a few months, assuming it gets rained on. Putting the hay down in the fall results in wonderful garden soil the following spring. Check out the Ruth Stout Method.

 

[Perry Staltic]

If you just put the hay on thick over new unbroken soil it will work absolute magic on the site in just a few months, assuming it gets rained on. Putting the hay down in the fall results in wonderful garden soil the following spring. Check out the Ruth Stout Method.

I wish I could do that, but it's raised beds in a greenhouse. I intend to do that outside, though. I plan on discarding plant material along with leftover peppers and tomatoes mixed in so the stuff can just grow there. Thanks for the link

 

[mostlylurking]

I wish I could do that, but it's raised beds in a greenhouse. I intend to do that outside, though. I plan on discarding plant material along with leftover peppers and tomatoes mixed in so the stuff can just grow there. Thanks for the link

you're welcome. I'm going outside now to plant some things.

 

[Regina]

Just wanted to revive this post with spring right around the corner. My wife and I have really committed to our backyard orchard and Gary’s advice has been invaluable!

In addition, he’s very “Peaty” as he talks about the necessity of carbohydrate for plants to grow and how wood is just rearranged sugar. I literally just watched a video where he said carbon dioxide and water will make things decompose slower. Incredible stuff. Highly recommended.View attachment 47942

Wow! Looks awesome. I LOVE where you live.
I just planted a bunch of baby trees. They haven't begun to sprout leaves just yet. But I'll update with photos soon too.

My land is "sandy" loams.

 

[EvanHinkle]

Wow! Looks awesome. I LOVE where you live.
I just planted a bunch of baby trees. They haven't begun to sprout leaves just yet. But I'll update with photos soon too.

My land is "sandy" loams.

Not gonna lie we feel pretty blessed to have found this spot. The other side of that brick wall is one of the best little parks in our area, and it’s an incredible resource for my 18 month and 4 year old to just play all that OJ, milk, fruit, chocolate, and ground beef energy out.

In garden related news, I learned earlier today that my two little helpers are the best aerators on earth. We’re working to properly bare root our trees, (not the apples cause apparently they don’t mind soggy) and swap the compost for Gary’s mix. Of course afterwards I’m going to have a ton of “old” compost. I’m planning to keep it and use it to grow potatoes in buckets, (I have two currently-the black buckets in the picture). In the meantime I tossed it in an old large planter I had and the kids will spend an hour in that thing just digging and turning the soil! They’re like an army of worms, and they work for free… I mean, sorta… hahah.

 

[EvanHinkle]

I should mention, (not strictly soil related) but I use a natural action technologies water structuring unit to water all my plants, (been using it for years on house plants to great success). It only just occurred to me to use it on the outdoor plants though… duh…

Our little juice orange tree has no lie about 400 blossoms this year. I’ll post a pic when I get a moment. It’s the only thing I’ve don’t differently on that tree this year as we have not yet done the bare root process, (we may wait til after the season-need to learn more about best practices).

 

[EvanHinkle]

Obviously we’ll loose some of these, but I’ve never seen this amount of blossoms like this before

 

[Perry Staltic]

Have you tried throwing a piece of cardboard on the ground and leaving it for a few weeks? Brings worms to the surface.

 

[EvanHinkle]

Have you tried throwing a piece of cardboard on the ground and leaving it for a few weeks? Brings worms to the surface.

I have not! Thanks for the tip! This thread is becoming valuable!

 

[:M :B.]

Not gonna lie we feel pretty blessed to have found this spot. The other side of that brick wall is one of the best little parks in our area, and it’s an incredible resource for my 18 month and 4 year old to just play all that OJ, milk, fruit, chocolate, and ground beef energy out.

In garden related news, I learned earlier today that my two little helpers are the best aerators on earth. We’re working to properly bare root our trees, (not the apples cause apparently they don’t mind soggy) and swap the compost for Gary’s mix. Of course afterwards I’m going to have a ton of “old” compost. I’m planning to keep it and use it to grow potatoes in buckets, (I have two currently-the black buckets in the picture). In the meantime I tossed it in an old large planter I had and the kids will spend an hour in that thing just digging and turning the soil! They’re like an army of worms, and they work for free… I mean, sorta… hahah.

What are you going to do on top of your soil?

 

[EvanHinkle]

Gary thinks this is where you want your compost. His thinking is this is how it’s done in nature. Sticks and leaves fall from the tree and cover the ground near by. I’ll give it a shot at least. His results are impressive, (his YouTube channel has a lot of great content).

 

[:M :B.]

Gary thinks this is where you want your compost. His thinking is this is how it’s done in nature. Sticks and leaves fall from the tree and cover the ground near by. I’ll give it a shot at least. His results are impressive, (his YouTube channel has a lot of great content).

Nice. Should work great for you.
"anything on top of the soil is fine" Gary
I remember him saying the fungal network on the duff layer can get going pretty fast. It would be sweet to have a good 8 inch layer of duff or wood chips or whatever.

Last time I visited my parents in Southern California we went to their friends orange and avocado orchard. So cool, it was all growing on the side of a decomposing granite mountain. All the trees were planted into the native soil and thriving. The avocado trees were like a forest, giant trees with probably 5 feet deep of their leaves piled up. This entire orchard was scabbed into the slopes with switch back roads going throughout it. The farmer actually had a huge reverse osmosis system for watering the property because of too much salt being in the water or something.

 

[EvanHinkle]

Nice. Should work great for you.
"anything on top of the soil is fine" Gary
I remember him saying the fungal network on the duff layer can get going pretty fast. It would be sweet to have a good 8 inch layer of duff or wood chips or whatever.

Last time I visited my parents in Southern California we went to their friends orange and avocado orchard. So cool, it was all growing on the side of a decomposing granite mountain. All the trees were planted into the native soil and thriving. The avocado trees were like a forest, giant trees with probably 5 feet deep of their leaves piled up. This entire orchard was scabbed into the slopes with switch back roads going throughout it. The farmer actually had a huge reverse osmosis system for watering the property because of too much salt being in the water or something.

Yeah, there are some really interesting orchards here, some right along the various toll roads right up in the side of the foothills. Very pretty.

Not surprised about the water too, and good for them taking the extra step. Last I checked the EWG had our water as registering 16 contaminants outside the recommended range… good stuff, good stuff…

 

[Regina]

Not gonna lie we feel pretty blessed to have found this spot. The other side of that brick wall is one of the best little parks in our area, and it’s an incredible resource for my 18 month and 4 year old to just play all that OJ, milk, fruit, chocolate, and ground beef energy out.

In garden related news, I learned earlier today that my two little helpers are the best aerators on earth. We’re working to properly bare root our trees, (not the apples cause apparently they don’t mind soggy) and swap the compost for Gary’s mix. Of course afterwards I’m going to have a ton of “old” compost. I’m planning to keep it and use it to grow potatoes in buckets, (I have two currently-the black buckets in the picture). In the meantime I tossed it in an old large planter I had and the kids will spend an hour in that thing just digging and turning the soil! They’re like an army of worms, and they work for free… I mean, sorta… hahah.

That's great!