Here is a link

Here is a link that might be useful: Mel's Mix/Compost

I'm using 90% compost and 10% top soil. It's what I could afford. Mel's Mix has fantastic reviews and if I had money to blow, I'd totally use it. However, I'm gardening on a budget (in raised beds) so I have to make the best choices for my dollar. I've already got sprouts up and more daily for my sugar snaps and other cooler loving veggies. Whichever you choose, good luck!

~Viv

My understanding is that Mel's mix is vermiculite, peat, and compost.

In my experience, peat and vermiculite both break down pretty quickly. With Mel's mix you're supposed to keep topping up with compost,

So, in my oppinion, after the first year or two, you're basically gardening in compost.

I thought vermiculite was a mineral? It breaks down? And I thought peat lasted for a very long time?

No, vermiculite and peat do not break down quickly but compost does. That is why every time you plant, you add compost but not peat or vermiculite.

Peat moss will last at least 5 years, vermiculite should last for a very long time, but compost may only last for one year depending on the content. I use the mix from Mel's original book from 1981 in-which he also recommends some sand. So I use two gallons of peat moss, two gallons of course vermiculite, two gallons of compost, two gallons of washed builders sand, one quart of wood ashes with charcoal and 2 cups of organic fertilizer (including bone meal. blood meal, earthworm castings and lime). This makes approximately one cubic food of soil that is the perfect blend for most square food gardens.

Each time you replant a square it is useful to add a little compost and work it into the soil.

Larry

My homemade compost makes a mud if I try potting 100%. Even a bag of inexpensive potting mix (Kellogs makes a red bag 3 cf for about $7, good deal) with lots of wood chips will keep the compost from mudding up. That's probably your cheapest alternative. Vermiculite is quite expensive to boot...