not sure where this debate is heading it certainly seems to be getting somewhat personal, not a good debating method to attack anyone's character, we don't know each other that well enough. a judgement can't be made unless one knows about who they are judging. this whole spent mushroom compost seems to be getting off line, see our bale garden presentation like all gardens we do they are raised and like all gardens to date, we use spent mushroom compost in the beginning and when topping up is needed we use spent mush' compost again. it's not so much about improving the soil that is there but it does that very well from our experience, i'm not sure about the gypsum factor in the mush' compost? but either way we end up with a good growing medium, that we plant in as soon as the garden is built, we have the pic's there unless someone is going to judge that we are slight of hand and snake oil sellers? all the soils we get to work with here are clay and we use heaps of gypsum sometimes a sprinkle of dolomite as well but rarely, at around 12 months or more we dig by finger through our medium and down into the original soil without really noticing so some change for the better is occurring. i listen rarely to science they only get involved when someone pays them to so they support the persons who pay them, in gardening KISS is the go, science has led our food growers down the wrong path and over here with their nothing but theories they are conspiring on this climate change do dat. len Here is a link that might be useful: lens straw bale garden

Surprisingly, I am on one of the old 1920s lots that is a half acre!!!!! Long and skinny -- house up front, backyard and garden in middle, and woods at the end. The house has ALL sorts of goofy "old house problems," but we love it. It's a nice, quiet, walkable neighborhood. Unfortunately, the yard is so very hospitable that a whole family of squirrels loves it too. And they eat out at my garden every day like it is a restaurant. Oh well! I take Bells Ferry as a shortcut to Barrett Pkwy all the time. I know Barrett Pkwy is a headache, but so nice for shopping and eating out!!!!!!

Hi there, I'm trying a sort of SFG here in 10b, but am allowing more spacing because of my specific climate. I basically followed the Mel's mix with the peat, vermiculite and various composts, but I deviated from the 6" recommendation and went with 12" This is my first season with SFG, but a local gardening friend has been doing a variation of SFG here for nine years successfully and gave me some tips on making it work in our area (yours may be different). For 10b I was advised the following: more spacing, soil depth of at least 10" for surface crops and 12"-18" for root crops to help combat heat and moisture loss, need to add the trace minerals in a slow release form (ie - bone meal, Azomite, greensand, etc...) at the start of each season when building up the soil depth because the very frequent downpours here can quickly wash out the mix, and keep a good eye on the watering needs outside of rainy season (for my area the soil could dry out very quickly), and need to have a mulch covering. I'm a ways south of you so, I also need shade cloth for mine during the intense sun periods and had to build the support for it into my bed design. My local advisor also has to strictly adhere to crop rotation due to bug build up and even has to redo his beds every few years or let them lay fallow for a good soil solarization every now and then to cut down on our gazillion bug and disease problems that will build up this far South. I'm glad I found a local to ask about "variations" to Mel's mix - I asked in a few forums and was nearly stoned in the public square for thinking Mel's mix was not perfect the way it was for every situation. Guess those folks forget that the latest book is the third time Mel has revised his mix and that he has a different mix suggestion for countries that can't access the ingredients we can. Good luck! Chrissy

Can't help with accesSories-chairs/ benches (cheap), but mulch and mushroom soil without seeds are available reasonably. Cheapest is haul yourself. Here is a link that might be useful: 1/2 hour from DowninGtown