"I am treading lightly as I know from reading last year that some people get really offended when discussing the pro's/con's of using mel's mix..."

I remember some hot discussions on the matter, too. In fact, that was one reason I lurked here for a year or more before finally jumping in. I think you'll find really nice people here now, and none that will get upset no matter what you ask. If they do, just remind them (as I have a few times) to read what this forum is about...

"This forum is for the discussion of square foot gardening AS WELL AS OTHER METHODS OF INTENSIVE GARDENING"

So don't let anyone bully you into thinking Mel's Mix is the only thing that shall be discussed here. Now, I'll let someone else answer your question, because I don't use Mel's Mix.

Granny

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

aling - perlite is primarily used in mixes to promote good drainage, vermiculite for moisture retention....Also, use that bagged manure compost at Home Depot until you can make your own. You'll still get good results. :-)

EG

I wouldn't stress out too much about it. There are folks here using all manner of soil compositions with good results. This is my first year of SFG and I went with a variation on Mel's Mix (the same ingredients for the most part, but I think I'm around 25% peat, 25% verm, and the rest made up of various manure, humus, composts). In your case, you could just add the MM ingredients little by little, or not at all. Vermiculite is usually the tough one to find. Either it's unavailable or absurdly expensive. I happened to find a local wholesaler who will gladly sell individual bags to regular guys like me at same price ($13.15 per 4 cuft!).

I've found 4cuft bags of vermiculite at a few nurseries and feed/seed stores $19-$22. I filled my beds w/ about 90% home made compost and one bag of vermiculite. I have been against peat for the environmental reasons, but after seeing the difference of jiffy mix and my previous attempt w/ a home made seed starting mix(peatless) I'm going to have some peat for the direct sow seeds. I'm also going to add a bit of vermicompost and seed my beds w/ worms from my worm bin.

The Miracle Grow formula you used last year should retain alot of it's good properties (water retention, drainage) while it will have lost most of it's bad properties (chemical fertilizers). Personally, I think a simple application of an inch of compost worked into the bed would probably be sufficient.

After all, how did your veggies grow last year?

If you liked the results last year and get good water retention and drainage witrh your current mix, just amend with compost as has been said. If water problems are an issue, you may consider amending with peat or vermiculite. I doubt it would hurt if properly handled at planting. It is however, not necessary IMHO.

Good luck and enjoy your garden.

You didn't do anything "wrong". You grew vegetables!

If you use the manure from the home store, make sure it is composted or you could burn plants. All of it that I have seen at the big box stores *is* composted, so you should be OK. I had to top off one of my beds with the very same stuff this year because my compost pile just didn't have enough to get the job done yet.

Over time, as we add compost to our beds, we're all going to wind up with higher and higher concentrations of compost and less and less "Mel's Mix." I know I'm not going out to buy three more big bags of vermiculite any time soon.

Here's the complete contents of my beds.

From here on out the only thing I plan on adding is my own compost. So start a compost pile / bucket / bin and get going. If you have to fill in with some purchased compost, well, you do. I promise everything will be fine :-D

We just built our first SFG beds. Since they are 12" deep we decided to go with compost in the first 6" topped with 6" of Mel's Mix in order to save a few dollars. Here's my fill list:

12ft3 - Vermiculite
12ft3 - Peat Moss
32ft3 - Compost (buying 3 different kinds, just started our first compost bin)

Anybody have any opinions on the peat moss fortified with Miracle Geo vs the plain baled peat moss?

Ack! Please don't use peat! Aside from the fact that it is mined (not unlike strip mining), it is not renewable. Coir (cocoanut husks) is now available at Home Depot and many garden centres. Coir is a 100% natural, organic product that would otherwise go to a landfill as WASTE. It provides all the benefits of peat and it solves an environmental problem rather than creating a new one as peat does.

Now that being said, I am a traditionalist in many respects. It isn't natural to grow vegetables without some real earth in there. Compost can be anything organic (i.e. that was once growing) and it's pretty much all good. But you need some mineral matter in there, too. The key is to get a mix that drains well yet retains moisture.

Zuni: Sorry, renewability is not a concern for me. Let's not get into renewable vs. non-renewable resources. I'm fine with Mel's brief discussion of the topic in his book.

Now, if you want to recommend coir over peat moss because it's more effective - go ahead, I'll read it.