Why Mel's Mix is the best
I mentioned that I was excited (and relieved) to find a gardening method that advocated for a “one size fits all” approach to gardening soil. It was really confusing and overwhelming to remember the specific needs and best practices for each vegetable out there. When I read that Mel’s Mix was a tried and true, perfected blend of ingredients that works well for almost everything you would want to grow… I was excited and ready to try! I was also a little bit more motivated because I felt like I could actually do this.
“The thing that makes a Square Foot Garden – and the thing that makes it work – is Mel’s Mix”
–All New Square Foot Gardening, 3rd Edition, Fully Updated
what's in Mel's Mix?
Mel’s Mix is a three-ingredient formula that combines EQUAL parts:
- Compost
- Peats Moss
- Vermiculite
To be honest, I really only knew what compost was… so if you’re anything like me, let me help give a quick overview to what each part is and why we use it to grow our plants 😊
WHY WE USE IT:
- No need to get stumped over pH, macro/micronutrients, or soil enzymes! This formula is perfectly balanced so you’re good to go
- Loose mixture, means no digging – it’s nice and crumbly… again good to go
- Holds water very well – this leads to less watering because it holds more moisture and drains good. This is thanks to Peat Moss and Vermiculite retaining the water for us, Mel got the idea from sponges!
- He thought about how when you add water to a dry a sponge slowly, it just keeps taking in the water until it’s fully saturated… then it just falls out of the bottom… this is what we recreate with Peat Moss and Vermiculite… because they act the same way with water. They take in water until it drains right out of the bottom.
- No amendments necessary or extra feedings – again, this combination has everything we need so we don’t have to run out and buy fertilizer or soil amendments
mel's Mix part 1
COMPOST
According to the book, this is the only ingredient that will need to get replaced after each grid is harvested. It is probably considered the most important ingredient of the three, so it’s important to ensure that it’s a good-quality organic compost.
Good compost has all the nutrients plants need to grow!
The book encourages gardeners to make their own batch in their backyard… and even goes into great detail about how to build a contraption… what to include… what NOT to include, etc. However, since I’m just starting out (and obviously don’t have anything like that at the moment), I went with Nature’s Care “Really Good Compost” from Miracle Gro 😊
The book recommends that if you do opt to purchase pre-made compost, that you buy a VARIETY of commercial composts and blend them together… Given my options, and due to the time of year I’m starting this (right in the middle of a pandemic)… my husband was only able to make one stop and picked the best kind he could find. I’m open to changing this up as I go.
Mel's Mix part 2
PEAT MOSS
Not going to lie… I had no idea what this was before starting this project. Of course I know what MOSS is… but Peat Moss is a different.
Peat moss is a natural material that’s the result of mass quantities of vegetative matter decomposing for million of years. It’s where large amounts of living moss were buried and gradually dried out in preserve form. It’s super common in gardening because it makes the soil nice and light – plus holds in a lot of water.
However, it has become a bit controversial because it’s a non-renewable resource. It’s a “once it’s gone… it’s gone” type of product and there are areas of the world where it’s carefully controlled. It’s important that gardeners (or anyone) use it responsibly. Rest assured, Square Foot Gardening is extremely efficient and once you add it to the mix, you don’t have to worry about adding more. Remember, the only thing we need to replenish is the compost.
The book references a few substitutes for Peat Moss, but since I’m using the actual stuff, I’ll just list them out below in case you want to do your own research:
- Coconut Coir
- PittMoss
Mel's Mix part 3
VERMICULITE
The last ingredient in Mel’s Mix is Vermiculite. Vermiculite is a nontoxic earth material created when mica is mined from the ground, then ground up and heated until it explodes into little pieces. Mine looked like little iridescent seashells. It was also the most expensive ingredient of the mix. Vermiculite comes in several sizes and you should select the COARSE grade because it holds the most water.
TIME TO START MIXING!
Anyways, so once you have all three things, you are ready to start mixing it up 😊 Obviously there’s a bunch of different ways to do this. The book recommends that you follow this order – compost, add peat moss to the compost, mix, then add the vermiculite, mix again. This is what I did 😊
The book recommends laying out a huge (16×16’) tarp on a flat surface (e.g. garage floor or pavement), then transferring the mixture to a wheelbarrow, and rolling that to your boxes. However, I don’t have a tarp and decided to just mix everything bucket-by-bucket into my wheelbarrow and then transfer. It probably took longer and honestly was the hardest part of this project so far!!! But I’m working with what I have….
HERE'S WHAT I DID IN A BIT MORE DETAIL...
- Add two buckets of compost to wheelbarrow. My kids loved helping me break up the larger chunks and kept calling it “cow poop”… which honestly isn’t far from the truth (hahaha)
- Add two buckets of peat moss. Be careful, this gets dusty! It’s best to wear a mask or goggles if you have them; mix thoroughly with the compost
- Last add two buckets of vermiculite, mix all ingredients well
- REPEAT process a million times… haha not really that much but I was able to fill my 3-foot x 3 foot (11 inches high) box with about 4 wheelbarrow trips
Again, there’s probably more efficient ways to do this (i.e. calculate how much mix you need total, make one batch, and you’re done)… but I am just sharing my experience and how I made mine.
ONE MAJOR CAVEAT...
Since my husband was the one going out to The Home Depot and picking up my bags, he wanted to “test” a pre-made raised bed soil mix in one of our beds.
I wasn’t thrilled about this because I like to follow the rules and have a true square foot garden BUT I’m also good at compromising and figured that two of my beds would be filled the “authentic” way… so that’s where we are. We have two boxes filled with Mel’s Mix and one box filled with a pre-made mix.
I am interested to see how the third box compares to the other two… will I notice a difference? We shall seeeee 😊
Good luck if you are on a similar journey making Mel’s Mix. Please let me know below in the comments what your experience was like – I would love to hear from you!
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