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Re: [SG] peat moss alternative

Harry Abel wrote:

> hi all,
>
> back years  ago, i believe thru the efforts of dr, carl whitomb ( of
> writing
> and container fame), research was done on "soil amendments".
>
> the findings coming from that study were hated by the peat moss
> merchants.  in
> the upper south, where i am, we already knew the problems with say,
> azaleas,
> grown in peat moss, and being subjected to out potholes in the clay,
> and given
> our alternating drown or drought situation.
>

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Isn't it marvelous Harry how the gardening public will buy any piece of
malarkey if it's told often enough?
I lived on top of a sand and gravel pit for years! {Along side a river}
The dirt was just about 75% sand.
The draining properties were unbelievable! No wet and soggy soil there,
either first thing in the spring when you wanted to make an early garden
or after a long spell of summer time rain. Sounds wonderful doesn't it?
Of course the soil wouldn't hold liquid fertilizer either. { Peter's -
Miracle Gro - etc.} It leached through faster than in any container
planter. The popular theory from the local nursery's and even the County
Extension Agent was to amend the soil with peat moss. Couldn't tell you
how many hundreds of dollars worth of that stuff I roto-tillled into
that property! I had a couple of acre's of flower - veggie beds. Lot
younger at the time, and my back was still young and limber!
    After a couple of years of this wasted effort, it slowly dawned on
me that the soil was exactly the same condition each spring. No
improvement what so ever. So I started collecting bags of leaves from
friends, neighbors, the streets of the local village, you name it - we
went there and collected leaves. Also became real well acquainted with a
local farmer who was more than happy to bring me a few loads of "barn
cleanings" each spring.
    We handled the leaves in several different ways, too wordy to go
into here, but let it suffice to say, the gardens slowly improved over
time. It was something that we could never quite doing, because even the
vastly improved soil that was made by using leaves etc, eventually
leached away. But not as quickly as with the peat moss, and it
difficulty was an ever renewable source, unlike peat moss.

Carrie Hampton
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