Make your own organic soil



Home made rich organic soil
Making your own soil is so easy - you don't need to buy it. This home made soil is great for the garden and self watering planter boxes.
Here is a detailed description of how we make it.
Ingredients for making soil:
Compost - composted fruit and vegie scraps from kitchen, garden waste, grass clippings. Do not put meat scraps and bread into compost - it will attract rats. Weeds with seeds we put in a bucket full of water - that way seeds get drowned (are not viable any more) and get great weed tea ( liquid fertilizer) on top .
Cow manure - let it soak for  a few weeks
Sheep manure - is very mild and can be used direct
Horse manure - it is a hot manure so let it soak for a few weeks before use
Wood chips from tree maintenance - let them weather in pile for a few months.

Organic soil heap
Mushroom compost - get it from a mushroom farm, either in bags of mushroom soil where mushrooms were growing ( you might still harvest some mushrooms from these bags) or get a trailer load ($30) direct from the mushroom farm.
Mushroom compost is rich in organic matter and low in nitrogen. It's alkaline - I applied fresh mushroom compost on the top of a herb bed and nearly killed all the herbs,  so let it age for a couple of months before use.
Coffee grounds - we collect a huge amount of coffee grounds from a local coffee shop. They are rich in nitrogen and other substances as well as a great source of carbon which is very important for soil.
Dolomite -  use as a soil sweetener - a handful per one meter  square. Rich in Calcium and Magnesium. Don't use it if your soil Ph is alkaline as it would increase the alkalinity.
Rock dust (crusher dust) a handful per one meter square. Sprinkle it on the garden twice a year.
Final result - Rich organic soil
Charcoal/ash - from camp fire - smash charcoal into small pieces ( about 5mm) and soak them in chicken manure liquid. Charcoal acts as a sponge sucking nutrition in as it's very porous. Then it slowly releases nutrients into the soil. Charcoal in the soil assists with water retention. ( It absorbs water when wet and releases it when dry) Charcoal is a great source of carbon. Ash contains a lot of minerals particularly potassium and trace elements.


Quantity: one wheelbarrow of all compost and manure ingredients, a couple of buckets of coffee grounds and half a bucket of dolomite and rock dust.

Put all ingredients in layers on a pile and mix it up. Shovel this pile to make another pile and then shovel it back.This way all ingredients will mix up nicely.
Let it sit (weather) for a few weeks and your rich organic soil is ready to use.



5 comments:

  1. Hello, love your blog! Where do you get your mushroom compost from - I see in the blog that you say $30 delivered.... i would like some and prepared to pay for a big load delivered..!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We get mushroom compost from North MacLean mushroom farm.
      The compost is not directly available from the farm any more though, see details below
      Product is not available for collection directly from the Mushroom Farm. Please call our office on 07 55 710 465
      Home deliveries (min. 5 cubic metres) from just $175 + delivery or you can collect it yourself in your trailer or ute from our depot at Jimboomba for only $35. Our depot is located at Cobble Patch L/Scapes, 26 Millstream Road,
      Jimboomba.
      Hope this helps.

      Delete
  2. Hi Roman,
    I was there yesterday, and had a great time.
    I want to start making my soil.
    Can I use the horse manure in place of the cow manure, cause there are stables nearby.
    also is there any use for freekin Dog Poo:).....

    ReplyDelete
  3. would you buy or recycle something into a compost bin? In this world, we always want to buy something new.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would definitely recycle something like a 50L bucket into a compost bin. You can also recycle a rubbish bin
    Alternatively, You can try to ask on Facebook or Freecycle.
    Buying is always a last option for me.
    HOpe this helps.

    ReplyDelete

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