Have used it for years. Actually prefer the Blue Ribbon Blend but both are excellent products with a good consistancy and great durability. I wouldn't consider using any other commercial potting soil with the exception of the Master Nursery label, which is exactly the same stuff made by the same vendor but just sold under a separate label to associated Master Nursery members.

As to nutrient levels, they are container mixes and so anything grown in a container will need supplemental fertilization as the season progresses but you are starting out with a full compliment thanks to the worm castings and kelp meal (plus the bat guano and alfalfa meal in the BRB)

Rain, at least it doesn't have the word miracle in the name for those of us too lofty to think we need miracles :)

The Gardner and Bloome products are great - I go back and forth between that one and the Cornell Lite 'recipe' that a local nursery has bagged for us here.

You should try their soil building compost in a compressed bale if you have a need for additional compost. I'll sometimes use it as a top dressing/mulch and buy some every year, one of my garden staples.

Well, thank you kindly! You have verily restored my faith in God, country, apple pie and our local hardware chain.

Will keep an eye out for the Blue Ribbon Blend, Gardengal. Morz8, I hope not to have to use G & B's compressed bale, as am the proud (lofty?) owner of my very first pile of finished compost and have fallen in love with its chocolate brown appearance, fluffy texture and rich, earthy aroma -- now THAT'S what I call a miracle!

It's a sunny Saturday in early March. Doesn't get any better than this, oui?

Rain

I absolutely adore..(Yes. I will use the word 'ADORE' in a gardening blog) G&B products. My raised beds for my veggies are mostly a mix of G&B potting soil with a mix of either G&B Farmyard Blend or G&B Harvest Supreme. Both these are soil conditioner. I do fertilize my plants with the usual suspect like fish emulsion, seaweed extract, Dr. earth products but G&B for me is FANTASTIC. LOVE IT. :)

I would not fill raised beds with pure potting soil. Potting soil is made more porous than is normal for actual soil (dirt) because the walls of pots interfere with aeration.

I have also seen advice against using potting soil in raised beds. If I were importing soil for raised beds I would use maybe topsoil and blend in some gardener and bloome soil building compost, 3 cubic ft. bag.

Anyone know how I would find out whether sludge is included in the mix? Apparently this is common in "organic" mixes.

sjerin, there was an article in Mother Jones that touched on this issue as Kelloggs had been noted using sludge. When I questioned Kelloggs re: G and B, they vehemently denied using it that that line of products. I crossed them off my list for that reason.

I am wondering if some composted wood is also adding lead (from old paint). I have seen building refuse in local topsoil yards.

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/04/your-organic-compost-really-sewage-sludge-rosario-dawson-kellogg-amend

Let's be clear about what we are discussing - potting soils contain no sludge and only minimal compost.

Kellogg makes a lot of different soil products and markets them under a number of different labels. The Gardner & Bloome products are their premum line and all the soil products are fully organic. Sludge, aka biosolids, are contained in only a couple of Kellogg's non-G&B label soil amendments but NOT in any potting soils.

FWIW, biosolids are routine components in a variety of common soil products - MiracleGro's Organic Choice Garden Soil for one; Tagro, GroCo, SoundGro for some local products. And they ARE considered organic components/amendments. You just cannot use them in a certified organic garden, which tends to be beyond the scope of most residential gardens.

Call me old-fashioned by I am troubled to hear how prevalent adding sludge is to soils or amendments.

I would think that others, if they knew these contained sludge (which includes industrial waste with heavy metals, medications as well as treated human sewage) it would also give them pause to purchase these soil products especially in the food garden areas.

I know sludge must go somewhere. I had thought it was only used in forested areas prior to learning of the incident with Rosario Dawson.

Thanks gardengal for the heads up re: other products. I will avoid them. I will screen through OMRI as well.

It depends on whether or not you buy into the assurances that come with these products.

TERRIBLE ...premium garden soil???? All wood . Plants sprouted then refuse to grow. AVOID. Transplanted to OCEAN FOREST plants finally beginning to grow.

Gardner & Bloom Garden Soil is formulated from composted forest products, coir and rice hulls, together with a number of common organic fertilizers. It is intended as a soil amendment, not as a replacement or substitute for regular garden soils. And it is not intended for container use. It does not contain recycled wood that could contain lead paint residue or any biosolids and it IS OMRI approved. When used as directed/intended there is no risk of damage to plants - that is more likely to be the gardener's fault :-) I grow tomatoes in a closely related Kellogg product and have had no issues whatsoever with them growing lush, healthy and extremely productive.

btw, WA state has a monitoring and registration system for all commercial packaged fertilizers and soil amendments sold in this state to comply with requirements for maximum allowable levels of heavy metal concentrations. It was one of the first states to undergo this sort of analysis and AFAIK, is the only state to have have a regulated database of these products. If they don't meet the requirements, they cannot be sold here. All the Kellogg products, including the G&B products, meet these requirements.

Hi -- PO here.

Not sure why I didn't receive notification of the other responses but I did get GG48's comment above.

Thank you, GG, for your elucidation of WA's singular leadership role in the monitoring and registration of packaged fertilizer. It is comforting to know that the only heavy metals my precious veggie starts might be exposed to are the sounds of Iron Man and Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap leaking from my ear buds.

I still find the "regular" G & B to be full of what appears to be mostly wood shavings and, while that may make a great mulch, does not do the trick as potting soil.

Happy gardening, all. If it hadn't rained over this past weekend, I would've thought I had somehow been transported from Woodinville to Malibu!

Blameitontherain

Amended garden soil with harvest supreme and veggies all but died, went back to retailer and was told it had been recalled due to inorganic compounds...yet was assured it was safe for food production. Everything mixed with it has stunted or died. Dug it out and set it to the side and all the grass around the pile is dying. Suspect some sort of herbicide contamination. Obviously this company is not careful with their product and is deficient in quality control.

I'm not sure I would make such a blanket assessment :-) I have been using these products for years and have had no issues. In fact, I grow containerized tomatoes directly in Harvest Supreme/Bumper Crop (not exactly a recommended practice) and they grow amazingly well.

There are no publications about any Kellogg soil product recalls. And the company has a number of production yards so not exactly reasonable to assume that this is a widespread or common issue.

As an aside, I used to be a hardgoods buyer for a local nursery and am very familiar with this company. They are stringent in their quality control and ALL of their products - soil mixes as well as ferts - are routinely inspected and carry OMRI certification. The fact that a product was recalled by the company, if in fact that happened, only shows that they operate in opposition to your last comment.

I don"t think it was the company who made the recall. I was told by the retailer it was ordered by the Organic Certification Authority (spring 2017) Grants pass Oregon. Severe disappointment to say the least. Have had decent results in the past but not worth the risk. Much time & effort not to mention money lost.....

Has anyone had any problems using G &B soil building conditioner? 3 years ago I ran out of mulch and bought a few bags of that stuff for 4 planters. The next year those and only those planters were terrible! What I planted became stunted and wasted away. I dug out the plants and really combed through the dirt and identified the problem...Symphylans! Never had them before. Horrible, soil dwelling things that eat the hair roots with a vengeance. Apparently, they are attracted to wood products and guess what that G & B conditioner is. Their entire life cycle is in the soil, so they didn't fly in. They are impossible to get rid of and now my beautiful organic soil that I spent 25 years building is shot. Beyond frustrating to say the least. If I dig out the soil and replace it I need to go at least 3 feet deep. Not happening.

"They are impossible to get rid of and now my beautiful organic soil that I spent 25 years building is shot."

Symphylans can be controlled by various pesticides but one that seems to have high efficacy is Azadirachtin/neem oil, which is approved for organic gardening