Buying Organic Soil in Bulk

So you finally have your raised beds in place. Perhaps you purchased one of our Kitchen Garden or Cedar Timbers raised beds, or created a style all your own, but  either way, the beds are leveled, staked down, and crumbly, rich soil is all that separates you from that very first planting . The beds don’t seem especially large, but after calculating the volume (LxWxH), you realize that filling your planters with bagged would be about as economical as buying French fries one at a time.

Purchasing a bulk soil blend, is the answer of course, but which mix is best for your raised beds, and if you live in the Charlotte area, where can you buy bulk soil?

When filling any container with a growing medium, which includes raised beds of any size, it’s important to choose a mix that will hold plant roots, and create the right balance of both water retention and drainage. It’s commonly held that soilless mediums comprised of inert ingredients like peat moss, pine fines, perlite and vermiculite are best for containers, and while topsoil alone is not the best choice for a raised bed application, mixes that include some percentage of native soil can be used in raised beds, they’ll just a little drain slower.

Some type of compost, whether it’s homemade or purchased, should always be included in your raised bed soil mix. Mushroom compost, which is comprised of grow medium that has been used to cultivate mushrooms, can be purchased in bulk and still retains many nutrients. Large, regulated composting facilities like Wallace Farm and Earth Farms Organics process food and other organic wastes into a finished compost that is even higher in plant nutrients.

Because the topsoil soil sold in the Charlotte area typically has high clay content, a soil blend that includes compost, and at least some percentage of a material that improves drainage like sand, pine fines, or PermaTill  is a better choice for any raised bed or container application.

So where do you buy and how do you bring it home? These Charlotte area companies sell mixes comprised of ingredients that are approved for organic growing by OMRI, and have both soilless grow mediums as well as options that include some native biomass. Trucks can deliver a dozen cubic yards or more in a single trip, and the delivery charge usually ranges from $50-$100. Note that each product description below is taken directly from the supplier’s website, and does not always reflect our suggestions for specific growing applications.

Earth Farms Organics Compost
Our compost is made from 100% recycled material sourced from the Charlotte area. This compost will give your soil the structure that encourages healthy roots, nutrients, and water retention plants love. The key to having great soil is having soil alive with microorganisms that help keep your plants healthy. Our compost will replenish your existing soil with organic matter allowing microorganisms to thrive, making healthy and strong plants.

Earth Farms Topsoil
Our topsoil is a 50/50 blend of compost and local soil, great for your gardens or as a top-dressing for your lawn. This will add the structure, nutrients, and water retention — just like compost does — while adding more mature soil to your garden or lawn. Topsoil is also a great planting medium. You can plant directly into it, without the need to work it into existing soil.

Earth Farms Garden Blend
This blend has a little more added to it than our topsoil. We combine our compost with rock dust to add more iron, sand to help it drain better, and some local soil. This unique blend works great in raised beds as it will help your bed drain while it retains the structure and nutrients

Earth Farms Premium Blend
Our premium blend is a mixture of our compost and two other ingredients. The first ingredient is worm castings or vermicompost. This is organic matter that is composted by worms that concentrate the nutrients, adding more nitrogen and lessening the need for fertilizers. We also add perlite, which is the white specks you see in potting soil. Perlite boosts water absorption while helping drainage by preventing soil compaction. This blend is great to use in containers or as a boost to your existing beds.

Earth Farms Organics
351 Colt Thornburg Rd
Dallas, NC 28034
704-922-1775
earthfarms.com

Premium Blended Top Soil is one of the most versatile and popular products we have to offer. Wallace Farm Premium Top Soil is a blend of native top soil and compost. This blend is mixed to promote optimal plant growth. Wallace Farm Premium Top Soil is ideal for filling in low areas in your existing lawn and garden, preparing new lawns, gardens, and flower beds, and for planting trees and shrubs. Available in bulk and 40 lb. bags.

Gardener's Delight Planting Soil is a truly "delightful" product for all gardening enthusiasts. This blend of compost and pine fines is ideal for amending native soil prior to planting grass, trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. In addition, Gardener's Delight is a great product to use for filling raised beds. Available in bulk and 1 cu. ft. bags.

Soil Conditioner is the solution for loosening hard clay soils. This product consists of 100% aged pine fines. For most soil amendment needs, we recommend using 50% soil conditioner mixed with 50% compost. For extremely hard and compacted soils, we recommend using a 75/25 mix of soil conditioner and compost. The Soil Conditioner is also a very attractive, finely ground material that can be used in mulching applications. Available in bulk and 2 cu. ft. bags.

Potting Soil is blended to promote optimal plant growth. This blend of compost, aged pine fines, and perlite works great for filling pots and raised planting areas prior to planting. Available in bulk and 20lb. and 1 cu.ft. bags.

Premium Potting Mix ranks among the best. This blend of compost, aged pine fines, peat moss, and perlite has a fine texture and is ideally suited for indoor and outdoor potting and for starting seeds. Available in 40 lb. bags. Available in bulk thru special ordering only

Wallace Farm
14410 Eastfield Road
Huntersville, NC 28078
704.875.2975
wallacefarmproducts.com

Garden Blend w/ Permatill ® 
Perfect for flowers, shrubs, etc.  ; a balanced blend of loam, compost and Permatill® with proper pH for almost any plant material. The preferred soil of professional and amateur growers.

Garden Blend w/ Mushroom Compost  Even better.
Customers have told us that it is “dirt on steroids”. It's all organic of course, and we often hear requests for more of that "mushroom dirt”. They say, "proof is in the pudding", or in this case the flowers and veggies.

Mushroom Compost
An organic concoction, the proverbial kitchen sink, straight from the mines that is used as the sterile growing media for mushrooms. The material is rotated out frequently for production purposes but is hardly nutritionally spent. It can be tilled into the soil or applied as a topdressing/mulch that will last all season. No fillers that you might find in bagged materials.

Permatill ®
Thermally expanded slate that is sterile and inert. Multiple uses but at the end of the day it aids with drainage, semi porous nature helps with moisture retention, ups the cation ratio of the soil and helps to break up our wonderful native clay soil. Also good at deterring voles. Please ask us for more information but trust that it is very beneficial for both beds and lawns.

Top Soil
Multipurpose blend of topsoil - organic biomass and sand with a clay base.

Soil Conditioner
Best thing known to gardens! Composted pine bark fines, ideal for amending our wonderful clay. Can be used as ground cover. Absolutely perfect for annual or perennial beds. Hostas love it straight.

Atlantic Landscape Supplies/Charlotte
6145 Brookshire Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
704.391.7645
atlanticlandscape.com

Atlantic Landscape Supplies/Mooresville
2880 Charlotte Highway
Mooresville, NC 28117
704.660.9838
atlanticlandscape.com

Edible Gardening Now at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

Whether you’re looking for a memorable place to tie the knot with your soul mate, share a fun learning experience with the family, or simply reflect on life, inspiration can be found in every square inch of the 380 acres at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.  

Adults and kids alike can expect wonder and discovery around the corner of every meandering trail and pathway.  Like a story book fairy tale, elegant gardens, thoughtfully dotted with fountains and artwork refresh the spirit, and a glass conservatory filled with tropical plants and orchids can splash warmth and cheer on even the gloomiest winter days.

Until recently, edible gardening kept a low profile at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, reserved to a few perennial herbs worked into existing ornamental garden displays. But like an eager sweet potato vine in August, demand for a more substantial, interactive edible gardening presence grew until the folks at DSBG decided to create something new for guests.

Because the location of their organic garden display is likely to change as the display grows in scale, the first phase of their edible gardening component, which may one day grow to include a compost station, chicken coop and even a greenhouse, consists of a simple arrangement of two 4’x6’ Kitchen Garden raised beds, flanked by a cedar framed sign welcoming visitors to the garden.

The organic garden is located next to a large hedge, and receives direct sunlight from mid morning through early evening. Because of this exposure, ½” drip irrigation line was installed in the beds to ensure that the watering schedule can be adjusted based on the time of year.

Like all of our raised beds, these were made with untreated red cedar lumber and filled with a premium organic soil and amendment blend. While a tidy backyard garden is always easier to enjoy, because this exhibit is on display to the general public, a well maintained appearance is absolutely essential. To ensure that their edible garden display is always an enhancement to the other visual elements of the grounds, we partner with the maintenance team at DSBG to keep the beds looking magnificent, whatever the season.  

Edible Garden Display at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden from Microfarm Organic Gardens on Vimeo.

Park(ing) Day 2014

Created by forward thinking design firm Rebar in 2005, Park(ing) Day has grown to become a global event that embraces the idea of using short term lease urban space to foster awareness for the use of urban space.  

The ambition of the one day event is to increase awareness for the need for diversity in public space, open up debate about how public space is created and shared, and to improve the quality of life for city dwellers.

The original temporary park was set up in a concrete laden area of Down Town San Francisco that is underserved by public space. For two hours an ordinary metered parking space became a tiny park with lush sod, a shade tree and a cozy bench.  Park(ing) Day has since been promoted world wide as an open source project inviting creativity to address a variety of social issues urban communities around the world.

It has evolved  far beyond the simple mini-park motif with participants using the short term leased space to build  free health clinics, plant temporary urban farms, ecology demonstrations, political seminars, art installations, and free bike repair shops. A Park(ing) Day space has even been used as a wedding venue.

On Sept 19^th, over a dozen participating organizations transformed Uptown Charlotte parking spaces into small, but innovative urban realms where pedestrians could interact, perhaps stay and sit for a while, or even just appreciate the creativity and smile as they strolled past.

Microfarm teamed up with the Charlotte Center City Partners, Boxman Studios, Neighboring Concepts, and The Lawrence Group to create a svelte urban farm complete with an elegant modern gathering space built into a shipping container, mobile chicken coop, rain water storage tank, plants and other cedar garden structures.

While no one shared wedding vows in our temporary urban park, plenty of folks stopped by to have a look at the sliver laced Wyandotte hens or take a break in the ultra cool steel lounge space. And when the lease was up on our temporary park, perhaps some of them even went home with a new appreciation for the importance of public space.

Know Your Farms Tour

Microfarm is built on the idea that much of what we consume can be raised even on the most pint-sized residential properties. It’s fun and rewarding for the urban homesteader to cleverly position raised beds to capture every second of sunlight that filters through giant oak trees or spills over the neighbor’s garage. It takes some getting used the first few times new organic gardeners walk right past the spinach and arugula in the produce isle. Backyard coops are popular, and while there’s certainly no limit to the ingenuity and creativity that can be invested in an urban chicken coop, there is a limit on the number of chickens that a city dweller can own.  A couple of dwarf goats might fly under the radar in a larger suburban lot, but a herd of alpacas over in Eastover might raise some eyebrows.

Simply put, even if we do have the space, most of us don’t have the time and energy to raise everything we consume in our backyard. Some things are better left to farmers. Sure it’s easy to yield all the mesclun mix you could ever want from a 4’x6’ raised bed in your backyard, but it’ll be hard to match those giant onions, cabbages, and Brussels sprouts grown on an area farm. You’ll have plenty of volunteers to harvest organic eggs from the backyard coop for the family’s Sunday breakfast, but few takers on butchering birds for Sunday dinner.

It’s our area farms that raise much of the meat, grain and produce that we consume, and on Sept. 27^th and 28^th 2014, you’ll have a chance to see first-hand how they create these products that we enjoy every day.

For anyone who wants to see working farms up close, The Charlotte area Know Your Farms Tour is the perfect  way to visit with 11 local farmers in their element, and see how everything from sorghum to sheep to strawberries is produced.  This will be the tour’s seventh event, and they’ve refined an enriching experience that gives participants a special opportunity to connect with people and places that produce the items they consume every day. Participating farms offer family friendly activities ranging from hay rides, live bluegrass, and cooking demos. Most have products for sale and food & drink offerings, and some will even allow kids to pet the animals. knowyourfarmstour.com

Brassica oleracea (The Cabbage Family)

It’s hard to believe that the peppy Chihuaha, huggable laboradoodle, and the massive Great Dane are all direct ancestors of the wolf, and while the differences might not be quite as striking, the same might be said for the kohlrabi, Brussels Sprout, and cabbage plants, which are all member of the same Brassica oleracea family.

These cultivars along with Kale, broccoli, collard greens, and cauliflower were selected by humans over thousands of years from the wild cabbage plant that can still be found growing in coastal areas of England, France and Spain.  From there, cultivation and subsequent selections of wild cabbage spread into Europe, the middle east and Asia.

It was the Celts who cultivated cabbage varieties across Europe, and gave us many of the names we use today.  Celtic words ‘kal’ or ‘kol’ evolved into the English ‘kale’ , and ‘kap’ became ‘cabbage’ and kappes in the German language.

Broccoli
Long considered an Italian cultivar, broccoli may have in fact first been developed in Crete and Cyprus.  Whatever the origin, the cultivar had been dubbed the “Italian Asparagus’ by the 19^th Century, and the flower buds were continuously selected for flavor and density. The broccoli plant is purported to have been introduced to the United States by the family of noted James Bond film producer, Albert R. Broccoli.

Brussels Sprouts
First noted in Belgium in the mid 18^th century, later appearing in England and France at the beginning of the 18^th century, the Brussels sprout plant was selected for its tight forming lateral leaf buds.

Cabbage
Selected for the tight drum heads that they form, red and white cabbage varieties originated in Germany, while the more cold tolerant, crinkly, Savoy cabbage varieties are thought to have been cultivated in northern Italy.

Kale
The closest relative of the wild sea cabbage, kale is notably both cold and heat resistant, and was selected for abundant production of nutrient packed leaves.

Cauliflower
Like broccoli, cauliflower was selected to form a dense head, and while most varieties are white, pink and purple cultivars have also been developed.

Kohlrabi
Developed for the large, round stem that forms at the base of the plant, the harvested kohlrabi is sometimes confused with a root vegetable. 

Cultivation of Brassicas

While  Brassica oleracea varieties may look different, genetically they’re so similar that cultivation is about the same for all of them. Though they famously thrive in cooler weather, kale and collard greens are also heat tolerant and when planted at the right time can survive both scorching summer heat as well as sub zero winter nights. Brassica  family plants are heavy feeders, and will thrive in rich soil amended with plenty of organic compost and bone meal. 

Leafy varieties like kale and collards should have a minimum of 12” between plants while heading types like broccoli and cabbage will appreciate a little more breathing room – somewhere in the neighborhood of 16”-18” between plants.

Crop rotation will help control insect pests like the cabbage worm which can cause a tremendous amount of damage to brassica varieties. Beware the flittering white moths flying among your brassica crop as they'll soon lay eggs that will hatch into hordes of hungry caterpillars and worms. Their cycle can be broken up with regular applications of neem oil spray, or Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) :  a naturally occurring bacteria used as an organic pest control. ALWAYS follow the application instructions for any organic pest control product. Mixing neem oil spray stronger than the recommended rate, for example,  can damage your plants.