screened compost

Coir?

V.

Why would you want to? Peat Moss is a great material.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's SFG mistakes...

aged leaves make a good substitute for peat moss, but they aren't readily available unless you "make" your own. It takes a while for them to break down.

sinfonian,
Peat moss is a non-renewable resource that's disappearing pretty fast, so people are trying very hard to get away from using it.

zaleon, try this link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Alternatives to peat

Peat moss is a non-renewable resource that's disappearing pretty fast, so people are trying very hard to get away from using it.

If you live in the US or Canada you are almost certainly getting the peat from Canadian bogs which are government regulated to be harvested at a rate exponentially less than the rate which new peat is being formed. It is entirely renewable.

This idea that the peat harvest isn't sustainable comes from three places:

1. Europe where peat harvesting has been disastrous (not comparable to the Canadian situation)

2. Various 'gurus' on the web who don't understand the way the Canadian government regulates the peat industry or confuse it with the problems experienced on the European Continent.

3. Those who profit from the peat alternatives who would like nothing better than to have the environmentally conscious believe they are destroying the environment by not buying their overpriced product.

Coconut coir is an example. In most of the US it is exponentially more expensive than peat, yet it is nothing more than an industry garbage product that is now sold at great profit instead of going to a landfill. It ought to be super cheap, but in most of the US it isn't because people are willing to pay more to 'save the environment' even when it doesn't need saving. Coconut 'coir' is just the husk of a coconut. Why call it 'coir'? Because it sounds more trendy than 'husk'. It's just marketing. Since it is an industry waste product why does it cost more than peat? Because people are willing to pay for it. People seriously misinformed about an easily available, relatively inexpensive product that is just as good in every way, if not better.

That's an interesting post justaguy. I don't know much about peat, but it's sure a fact that businesses are now selling waste products they used to throw away under the banner of "being green". When i was younger, cottonseed hulls were a waste product. Now it is a very expensive mulch out here in the plains. It is truly an interesting world.

I just put 7 bales of peat moss into my 6.5 yard mix and sure enough it came from Canada. It made me feel good that I got reasonably priced peat moss from a country that insures that it is a renewable resource.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's gardening adventure

I know it's not a third-party confirmation, but even if this industry organization is in the ballpark, it's still impressive what Canada is doing to preseve their peat bogs.

Peatmoss.com's FAQ on peat moss harvesting

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's gardening adventure

Pls visit our website at www.densuventures.com and hit the research tab.
Email me and let me know if I may be of further assistance to you
Jake

opinions aside, the united nations classifies peat moss as a non-renewable fossil fuel - mostly, as it was mentioned above, because some european country burn it to power the electric plants - but coal itself is peat moss that's been compressed under geological pressures and it is outrageously "carbon dense" as a result.

That being said, I still use it when needed, as the alternatives are far more costly at the moment...

Thank you all for your assistance

Sinfo...stick to your guns...while it is true that peat moss is a limited resource, we SFG'ers are doing exactly what we should be doing-limiting the size of our gardens and using a lot less peat moss than our fellow traditional single row gardeners. You ever see how many bags of peat moss they start dumping in their gardens in either(some both)fall or spring? Since their gardens are so big, they can't possible truly change the soil composition-hence the reason they add it in year in and year out. We are conserving the resource...how much more peat moss would there be if everyone had a SFG?...its amazing to see how others don't understand that concept......