Pnbrown: Who says it's ok digging Forrest soil? In the other thread I mentioned that I do take topsoil out if the woods for my garden, but my garden I never till.. I am taking small amount of topsoil maybe a few buckets full.. I am not digging up the whole forest for my garden... Maybe large farms it is unrealistic... But for us small gardeners i believe it is superior! If the large farms had the money I'm sure they would do it as well! Most farmers do till in manure and other amendments.. So they already are importing large quantities of amendments.. The only difference to my method is you aren't tilling it in, you are leaving it on top of the soil and planing in that.. Now you mentioned covering sod with soil is a gold idea is you planned ahead, but it is unrealistic for someone wanted a garden in April/may.. I cannot disagree with you more.. Tilling is much more labor intensive and inconvienent than merely piing up soilnandbcompost in a raised be and planting? Why couldnt you use my method and and plant in April/may? In fact i think my method is alot easier, quicker, convenient, better for the environment and better for the soil.. Joe

I am fine with sf larvae - I’ve notice they really turn up if there is large chunky stuff like melon rinds or whole fruits- but I do tend to need more dry stuff in my kitchen compost outdoors which is in separate closed bins compared to yard waste compost, which I leave open. I like to compost paper items from house rather than put in trash, so I compost used paper towels ( try not to use very many) , tissues, parchment cooking paper, thin cardboard tubes, some newspaper torn into shreds, other thin cardboard items I can tear into pieces, bits of mail. I add many of the smaller of these directly to my kitchen compost cannister so that things are already somewhat mixed and less juicy. It does mean it fills up faster but since things are less messy and not pure wet veg matter, I’m not sure I’d take it out less often. I would hate to have to add purchased processed coir as “ browns” to make compost, but in one way I could see that if there’s no other source, it’s kind of similar to adding coir to garden but putting it through this other step. But some people aren’t aware that lots of paper/ cardboard things they throw away do great in the compost and are necessary to keep kitchen scraps from being too garbage-y in the compost. Also since I do have more than one composter going with yard waste, I can often take a few handfuls of leaves and add a layer to the outside kitchen composter.

Mine is in a 15 gallon pot and is over 6 feet tall. I got it from a neighbor who had a hard time removing it. It was torture work for him digging it out of the ground. As I recall, it was at least 10 feet tall and he tried to restrain it by limiting the water. The bamboo was cracking his walkway. Mine's not happy in a 15 gallon pot. It wants a larger one. It got tall very fast and needs daily watering or the leaves dry out and look awful. Well watered, it's a beautiful plant. I like it best in 1/2 day sun. It hates full shade and starts to die off. I think what I need to do with mine is split it into 2. What I like about growing it in the 15 gallon pot is that I can move it around and the height is nice behind other tropicals. It provides welcome shade where I want it. The dark color sets off the green leaves and is showy. I think it's worth having but I know I don't want to have to dig this plant out of the soil ever.

I'm not sure where you are in the Bay Area. I buy all my soil and compost from Wheeler Zamaroni in Santa Rosa. I filled my beds with their "veggie mix" soil. This year, I've amended it with their Compost Plus compost. Have been extremely happy with both. There's also Sonoma Compost company in Petaluma where friends have bought their Mallard Plus compost to amend their in-ground garden beds. And I know of another one in Santa Rosa but can't recall the name. They sell Mango Mulch which is supposed to be very good (Renee?). Here is a link that might be useful: Loribees Garden Blog