Making My Own "Miracle Grow"

So I have just spent the better part of the morning making my own "miracle grow" potting mix.

Ted and I bought 8 organically grown heirloom cherry tomato plants. Ted decided he did not want to put them in the 3 gallon pots we used last year - he claims the pots "limited the plants growth". So he brought home 8 huge 16 gallon pots.

I filled a few inches of the bottom of the pots with wood chips to help with drainage, and the rest of the pot was filled with my own soil mixture.  Let's just say, after this experience, these plants better be freaking HUGE!

I went around my pasture looking for fresh (but not too fresh) manure from the animals. I decided it would be best to find piles that were "full of life" - meaning full of all different kinds of bugs throughout the pile.  If the pile is too old, there is no life in it at all so it is not as "good". If it is too fresh, the only thing that likes it is the flies - so, it is also not as "good". Lets just say after a while of looking for the "right" piles - I have become quite the "poop aficionado".

After scooping several piles into the wheelbarrow, I sprayed enough water into it and mixed it with my shovel until it was like very thick pea soup.  Then I started adding soil.  I added soil until the "soup" started looking more like dirt.  I figured when it was no longer required that I breathe through my mouth - the mixture was probably pretty good.

Ok - so here are the important things I learned while doing this task:

1. While spraying the water into the "fresh" piles - if it splashes up onto your face - don't use the back of your hand to wipe it off - spray it off with the hose.
2. When mixing this up in your wheelbarrow with your shovel - pull in to the middle from the outside edges not from the middle out. Mixing the wrong way causes the wheelbarrow to tip over and spill its contents all over you and your unsuspecting dog who loves to lay at your feet while you work.  Yuck! Trust me.
3. Make sure you set up the sprinkler to keep the kids occupied on a hot day. Otherwise, your 2 littlest boys will try to swim in the animal's watering trough.

Now that the monster sized pots are full, I am hoping it will be quite some time before I have to tackle this job again. But, around here, you never know. This might work so well that Ted will make me fill all the raised garden beds with this mixture. Let's hope not.