Just last monday I mixed up a batch of CC's Soil as well. I mixed up a bit more than Sue did and recorded the amounts of each ingredient I used. This should save someone some time and energy trying to put the ratios in actual amounts.
Here is what I used to mix up 1 cubic yard of soil based on Clackamas Coot's Soil recipe.
9cu. ft. of Alaskan Peat moss
9cu. ft. of Oly Mtn Fish Compost
9+ cu ft. of Red Lava Rocks (had to by 1/2 yard. I used some around the yard, but I'm sure the mix got a little extra. Cant have too much aeration right?)
Peat moss is packed very tightly in it's bail. A 3.8cu.ft. bail of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss will actually cover about 6cu.ft. so for a yard of soil you need a little less than 2 bails. I was very fortunate to stumble across this tip moments before going to the shop to get this stuff. I would have added WAY too much peat otherwise.
For aeration I chose to use lava rock. It's got nooks and crannies that will give the micro-beasties lots of room to dance and sing as they see fit. Lots of air pockets too! Also the rock will eventually breakdown and add cool minerals back into the soil. Minerals what came from a volcano. That's pretty sweet.
13.5 cups of Kelp Meal
13.5 cups of Crab Meal
13.5 cups of Neem Meal (*when it gets here)
62 cups of Glacial Rock Dust
16 cups of Basalt
16 cups of Oysters Shell Powder
16 cups of Bentonite.
Most of this stuff comes in #50 bags and it really cheap. In my area I was able to get several of these ingredients by the pound, which saved me some money and storage space. I used the entire 50# bag of rock dust. It was about 19# of basalt and 10#-12# of everything else
One cubic yard of Beautiful Living Organic Soil in the works.
Pics time!
The Accouterment
Sphagnum Peat Moss, Alaska Peat Less than 2 bails is a lot of peat
All the Meals, Minerals, Compost and Aeration added, time to stir it up! I wish I would have gotten a picture of just the compost It was beautiful dark earthy fishy smelling. Cool
A lot of mixing and turning. A little over an hour later and we had a nice soil mix. A after a smoke break I watered it and covered it with a tarp, just as the sun went down. No better way to spend 420
That's how you big batch some soil. The only ingredient I haven't added yet is the neem cake as that isn't available in my area I had to order that from the soil build a website mentioned earlier in this thread. It arrived today so I will add it in on Monday when I turn the soil.
I am really excited to see my soil in action! I have seen what COorganic and Sue have done with this soil. I also had the pleasure to see some no-till plants in action recently.
I have grown in TGA Supersoil since I started growing. I have always loved the idea of a soil that can take a plant from start to finsih. And Supersoil definitely does that. With decent results, too. But it seems to lack the vigor and ability for great results. It's also only good for one cycle. Well, that's not true I did successfully run a few plants a second time through the soil, but they were a little smaller than the first run and definitely suffered deficiencies. At $30 1.5cu.ft, it's not cheap route to take by any means. So when I found out about this soil I was more then ready to step up my game.
It is my sincere hope that Real True Actual Organics will catch on and we can all ditch the snake oils and the chillates and all smoke a better healthier product as a result. We are talking about medicine here. Or at least something we are going to ingest in large quantities for fun. I want that pure, grade A, uncut, good shit.
