The Clackamas Coot Mix

Here is the recipe for my personal potting soil mix and this will make 1 cubic foot (which is just a little over 7 gallons).

1. Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (CSPM). Think of this as the frame on your car. This material is standard in the nursery industry and we can get this at Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Lowe’s and other stores. This material is compressed, so we’ll want to break it apart so that it’s loose and you can move your fingers through it easily. We want 1/2 bucket which is about 2.5 gallons.
2. Vermicompost. A good alternative is 80% compost and 20% worm castings. If CSPM is the frame for this project, the vermicompost is the entire drive-train. I cannot stress enough the importance of sourcing the finest vermicompost that you can find in your area. Measure out 1/2 bucket and add to the CSPM. I’m going to switch gears a bit and we’ll add the amendments to this combination and it’s only 6 items so nothing to worry about. 
3. 2 cups of malted grains from a home-brew store. Have them grind it for you at the store. Try to get it ground to as close to whole-heat flour as possible.
4. 1 cup limestone (I.e. Calcium Carbonate - CaCO3). You do not want to use Dolomite Lime which will have 10% or so of Magnesium. We want to use limestone only.
5. 2 cups of granite rock dust. Almost every retail and even commercial potting soil lacks this all-important item. Soil at it’s basic level is rotted plant and animal material and shattered rock. For the microbial health in the soil as well as other reasons we want to add either basalt rock dust(West Coast) or granite on the East Coast. Please avoid Azomite, Bentonite, Zeolite because all are alumina-silicate compounds and the last thing that we want in our soil is aluminum especially at the levels found in these colloidal minerals. 
6. 1 cup Gypsum (Calcium and Sulfur)
   
7. 1 cup Crustacean Meal (Crab and/or Shrimp Meal) (Calcium, Nitrogen and Chitin along with other benefits)
8. 1 cup kelp meal (North Atlantic) to our developing soil mix. No other plant has the array of nutrients, compounds and such as kelp meal.
9. 3/4 cup of Karanja Meal
10. 3/4 cup Neem Meal
11. Now, water this mix and let it soak for a few hours to make sure that we have good hydration in all of the material. 
12. 1/2 bucket of perlite or rice hulls for aeration. Use a pitch fork or hoe and thoroughly mix everything together. So, you will see your potting soil coming together. 

"This mix is perfect for starting seeds or for planting seedlings or transplants that you buy at shows." - Clackamas Coot

How to find soil volume for square or rectangular beds

1. Measure the length, width and height of your bed. (Unless the boards are very thick, don't worry about inside/outside measurements.
2. Multiply all the measurements together: 6 x 3 x 1.4 = 25.2 cubic feet.
3. Divide the answer by 27 to get the number of cubic yards.

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Mushroom compost can help amend garden soil, but should be used with caution. Mushroom compost is rich in soluble salts and other nutrients and can kill germinating seeds and harm salt-sensitive plants including rhododendrons and azaleas. Mushroom compost can supply nutrients and increase the water-holding capacity of the soil but can be too much of a good thing for seeds, seedlings and young plants.

For an existing 4' x 4' bed approximately 30 lb. bag, for a 4' x 8' bed approximately two 30 lb. bags, gently work into the top 4 or 5 inches of soil careful not to disturb roots.

You can use any basic potting mix when mixing the ingredients of the living soil kit together. We provide a Rain Science grow bag because of it's ease of use and aeration. Be aware that your soil may dry out faster and you might wish to adjust your watering schedule or growing medium depending on the moisture requirements of specific plants.

Yes, Rain Science Grow bags meet the requirements of the CA Department of Public Health “Standard Method for the Testing and Evaluation of Volatile Organic Chemical Emissions. We leach nothing to the soil and exchange nothing with the environment. If the rest of your grow is organic you can feel confident using Rain Science.