Making Dirt!

Well, a week has gone by and I have to make the dirt to put in the planter box.  Lesson were learned!  The book says to mix at least 5 different kinds of compost together to make the compost mix and then to mix in the vermiculite and the peat moss. 

As you can see from this picture, there are a lot of bags to be emptied and mixed.  I calculated that I would need 32 cubic feet of mix to fill up the box.  I picked up the following composts:  mushroom, black  kow composted manure, Texas compost mixture, "organic" compost, and Good Earth compost.  I thought I would need a bit over 2 cu ft of each.  I laid out my tarp and emptied half of the compost on it.  It was now two heavy to lift back and forth to mix, so I had to break out the shovel to mix it up.  Then it was too heavy to slide over next to the raised bed, so I had to shovel and carry the mix to the planter.  I was so tired and sweaty by the end that I forgot to take pics of the process.  When I finished the next day, I learned and made three batches out of the second batch and it was much easier!