Square Foot Gardening around the state of Ohio
Wow! What a busy, busy start to the gardening season! Right now I am sitting in a hotel in Springfield, Ohio, as I write this. Tomorrow, I’ll have a booth and be presenting at the Garden Fling presented by the Clark County Master Gardeners. I’ll be talking about “The 10 Basics of Square Foot Gardening” at 10:45 and then we will expand the subject at 2:00 and cover a few advanced techniques for experienced Square Foot Gardeners. I’ll be covering composting, trellising, inter-planting and fruit production. Come on out and say hi! I will have Mel’s new cookbook as well as The All New Square Foot Gardening book to sell.
Sunday, I’m back in my home town of Newark, Ohio, at Wilson’s Garden Center for their Grand Opening of the new building. We will actually be installing two 4 x 8 raised garden beds. Then the Wilson’s staff will maintain it and donate the produce to local charity.
If you are interested in the OFFICIAL bagged Mel’s Mix, the perfect garden soil for the Square Foot Garden, I’m taking orders. We hope to have a truckload to central Ohio in the next few weeks. I also have samples of the new, beautiful Ohio Amish-made cedar garden boxes. I’m taking orders for these, too, and I can save you on shipping costs since I will go pick up from the maker instead of shipping from Utah. I will have them at both of the above events. If interested in the soil or garden boxes, please email me at cassie@cassiesstuff.com.
I’m also thinking about selling pre-planted patio planters. Would this interest you? What if I came and installed a garden in your back yard? Let me know!
May 31st, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Hi Cassie,
I was at your Square Foot Gardening class in Springfield the first weekend in April. I’m slow to get started with Square Foot Gardening, but I will have the frames built this week and I want to start planting next weekend (June 5th/6th). However, I am very frustrated with finding the ingredients to make Mel’s Mix in the Columbus area.
I have called several garden stores for course vermiculite, but can’t find any leads on it. I will be making my own compost in the future, but right now, I’m trying to locate sources for different types. I need to find different kinds of compost, but is compost in plastic bags okay? It seems like being enclosed in plastic would kill off the microbes (or whatever) that makes compost so rich.
If you can help me with where to locate vermiculite and compost in the Columbus area or if you can tell me where to buy Mel’s Mix already made, I’ll greatly appreciate it.
Thanks so much,
Laura
June 1st, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Hi Laura! Finding ingredients can be challenging, indeed! I’ve been told that Oakland Nurseries carry the coarse vermiculite as does Menard’s. I just bought it today at Menard’s in Marion for just under $11/ bag! That’s way less expensive than what I’ve been paying at the garden stores. At Menard’s it is in the insulation department! And, yes, bagged compost can be used. It can be tricky to find 5 sources and you will have to do some driving. First, let your finger’s do the walking (call). I know Price Farms in Delaware has a great selection of bulk compost and if you get their Zoo blend, barnyard blend and leaf mold, those three will be more than equivelent to five. Things to look for are: mushroom compost, cow manure, chicken manure, vemi castings (worm), rabbit manure, yard-waste compost, etc. Keep away from horse manure unless it is really well composted at high temperatures because it will have lots of weed seeds if not. I know where to find various composts in Newark, so if you get frustrated in Columbus, let me know and I will get you those locations (they might even be in previous posts). good luck! Hey you Columbus people, please reply with where you’ve found ingredients and help Laura out!
June 1st, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Laura, here’s the post that I listed several ingredient sources in central Ohio, mostly Newark, but some in Columbus, too.
http://www.cassiesstuff.com/2010/05/05/mixing-homemade-mels-mix/
January 9th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Greetings!
I work at St. Stephen’s Community House in Columbus (right next to the Ohio State Fairgrounds) serving the needs of the Greater Linden area. Last year the agency had a community garden. I encouraged them to use the SFG method but they chose instead to do row gardening.
Didn’t work out that well. So, I volunteered to lead the community garden project this year, and they are willing to do SFG. My gardening experience is limited (an accountant by trade) but am excited with the agency’s go-ahead.
Now I am laying out the plans for this year’s garden, and appreciate your info on vermiculite. I have shopped at the Menard’s store in Marion, and am glad to know they have good prices.
However, I will probably be purchasing a fairly large quantity of vermiculite for the community garden boxes. What would you recommend for this large initial Mel’s Mix purchase? Obviously, purchasing premixed is easiest, but I want to be a good steward of the agency’s funds.
Your thoughts.
Bruce B.
January 9th, 2011 at 5:47 pm
Hi Bruce! What a great project! Would you like me to come teach a class to your group? As for your bulk order, look into Price Farms for your compost. They have several compost blends that, used together, would make a wonderful blend for SFG. They are in Delaware, Ohio. You can find them online at http://pricefarms.org/index.html.
As for the vermiculite, talk with a garden center or greenhouse about buying a bulk order. If you buy a whole pallet, they should be able to offer you a pretty good price break. Or talk with Mennard’s. I’m not sure how many bags are on a pallet, maybe 30 or so?
The other option, is to buy the bagged Mel’s Mix from me! We are negotiating right now to get a truckload or two to Columbus. We can discuss a decent discount. It is also possible that we will be obtaining the individual ingredients to be warehoused in Columbus. I am negotiating with a new business partner now and will know more in the next few weeks.
March 4th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Cassie,
I travel to Columbus periodically and would be interested in knowing more information about your Mel’s mix…I am having trouble locating the vermiculite – drive at least 3 hours to get it.
The drive to Columbus is also 3 hours, but we are there for medical reasons so could both things (med/pick up Mel’s mix) at the same time.
When do you think you would have the mix? What’s the size of the bags? What’s the cost?
Thanks!
March 8th, 2011 at 1:03 am
The plan is to get a truckload at the end of March. The bags are 2 cu. ft, so you would need four to fill a typical 4×4 Square Foot Garden. I have not yet heard a confirmation on the retail price, but in the range of $16 to $18 per bag. Where are you located? I do presentations all over, so host a presentation for me and I’ll bring you the soil! I offer a 10% discount on all event sales.
Cassie
May 1st, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Cassie,
We are from the Tipp City, OH area(just north of Dayton). We have just built (2) 4′X16′ SFG’s and are interested in buying some Mel’s Mix. From your info above we will need 32 (2cu ft bags) bags total and may want to get a few extra bags. Do you still have some of the truckload that you got in? If not will you be getting more very soon?
I am working together with one of my sons on this. He is pretty excited about it- he wants to sell some produce!
We may be interested in hosting a presentation for you- we are just getting started with SFG so this would be very helpful. Let me know what this consists of… do you put the word out etc… or are we to invite folks over to it etc etc??
Belden
May 1st, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Hi Belden,
How exciting that you are involving your son! This is a skill that will benefit him for a lifetime. Wow! That is a lot of garden for a beginner. I applaud your enthusiasm!
The truck has not yet arrived and I will post when I have an arrival time. I will be offering a $2.00/bag discount on prepaid orders, so stay tuned. I won’t do that until I am SURE the truck is on its way.
If you’d like to host a presentation, there are a couple of different ways to do it.
1. Partner with a garden center and let them carry the cost burden (it’s really not that big, but makes a difference whether I can sell my stuff or not)
2. Do an “in-home” and invite people to your home and we can do a presentation and maybe a workshop. This is a great way to get free labor to set up your gardens!
With the garden center, for sure I will promote on my blog. Whether or not I do that with your in-home is up to you. Depends on whether you want strangers showing up on your doorstep.
Cassie
May 2nd, 2011 at 7:05 am
Cassie,
How would I go about pre-ordering? The time and gas saved driving to pick up pre-mix would be well worth it!
Thanks!
Susan
Mt. Vernon
May 2nd, 2011 at 7:11 am
Hi Susan! As soon as I get a delivery date, I will post that info. I still need to set up payment via Paypal.
Cassie
May 2nd, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Cassie,
How soon do you feel that you will have the Mel’s Mix in? I have a project going in Dublin and I could pick it up on one of my trips over.
Can you give me more details about the “cost burden (it’s really not that big, but makes a difference whether I can sell my stuff or not)”. We may be interested in doing it at our place. How do we go about getting a garden center to partner with us? What role do they play in that? We have a couple near us- either of which I would check with.
First we are going to need Mel’s Mix though so let us know about that as soon as you are able to. If you have some kind of idea when it will be in will help also.
Thanks, Belden
May 11th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
Hi Belden, are you asking about cost of the bagged Mel’s Mix? It retails for $17.99 per bag, but I am offering $2.00 off per bag on prepaid orders. The truck should arrive by Friday! maybe Monday.
For my presentation, I should charge a speaker fee, but right now I just ask for a donation and travel costs. I also ask that you allow me to set up a product sales table.
I will be in Dayton the morning of May 24. Isn’t Tipp City north of Dayton? Want to set up a presentation that afternoon or evening? Or both? lol
Cassie