I know you said you don't want to buy any compost, but unless you piled compost-type materials on the bed last fall, you'll probably have to add some nutrients. Not all nutrients stay in the soil over winter, they're washed out by rain and melting snow and need to be replaced for a decent crop. Soil is a living thing and needs feeding. The quickest way would be to buy a complete organic fertilizer. I get 5 lbs (for 100 sqft of area) for $10, but my source mixes his own, and I don't know if that's average or not. The advice to build a compost pile was good, but if you want to use it ASAP, keep all the additions small, and don't let anyone talk you into putting branches and sticks on the bottom, they're only good for long-term piles and their nuisance value. Turn it every week or 10 days for quickest decomposition. Another idea for next spring is to put your garden area to bed in fall with a thick layer of mulch, and let it break down over the winter. In spring, rake off the excess, maybe add a little compost or organic fertilizer and plant again. This method also keeps the weeds down, and the soil may be so nice that you won't have to till or dig it much, if at all, just fluff the surface a bit to even it out for planting. Sue

You lucky gardener, to have access to well-aged cow manure!In answer to your questions 1, 2, and 3--Yes! When I put the tomato and pepper plants in, I dig a hole, put in about 1 cup of aged manure, and plant. For the squash, zucchini and cucumbers, I make a trench, put in the seed at the proper spacing (well, I do crowd them a bit!) and then sprinkle the manure over the seeds, finishing off with the garden soil. For lettuce, basically the same trench method, except the trench is so shallow it is more of a "scratch" and I don't follow up with the garden soil. Composted manure has nutrients and microbes that are beneficial to plants, and it adds "tilth" to the soil--which simply means the soil accepts and holds moisture more readily, and that it doesn't compact as much. We're in Texas and cow manure rules, but sheep, chicken, and horse manures are good also, as long as they are well-aged! Fresh burns the plants.

In all honesty, I cannot take credit for the wonderful examples and analogies quoted above... they belong to Al. They are important, interconnecting parts of the entire article on container soils and water retention he offers, but they serve to get the point across in a way we can all visualize, which sometimes works better. I recently mentioned in another forum... it might even have been this one... that the gardening industry as a whole exists for one purpose, and one purpose only... that being profit. They found a niche to fill, one where consumers are less likely to take the time and expend the effort to learn the basic science of plant culture and the physics of how water reacts in soils, or mediums... not to mention proper watering technique and nutrition regimens, and other variables that allow us to grow our plants to their genetic optimum. The general public has been sold the same methods and supplies for so long that the whole thing has become rather... stagnant, I guess would be the word I'm looking for... but our automatic reaction is to trust that the industry is offering us what we need, what works. It might work for us, the consumers... but we're not the ones planted in such mediums... our plants are! It also might work from the viewpoint of convenience, because we only have to water or feed so often with the heavier, peat based soils... but that doesn't mean our plants are happy or healthy residing in such soils, and more often than not, we are not getting them to grow anywhere near their genetic potential. An expert, or someone with an understanding of such heavy mediums, who has the experience and know how to properly water and feed to the best advantage they offer might have a fair level of success... but most of us are just average, everyday, weekend gardeners who don't really know what is happening under the surface of our soils. A lot of growers throw out the axiom "it works for me"... and it very well may... but no one else has their exact environment, climate, level of experience and knowledge, plant material, schedule of care, or other variables that could make a small or large difference. It's also kind of a sentence or argument ender for some. They may not want to explore the depths of container growing as thoroughly as someone else, and may feel that the convenience is ok for them. Not everyone is so devoted to growing well. Under the surface of that heavy soil, however, where there is a perched water table, and moisture is held for long periods of time before drying out... roots literally drown due to lack of oxygen, and they die. As the soil dries out, new live roots are then able to re-colonize those areas... and then we come along and water again... and the cycle replays. As this cycle continues to replay, decaying root matter accumulates, causing toxic gasses to form... and the plant is weakened by this continual cycle of death and regeneration, and an inadequate exchange of fresh oxygen and gasses at the root zone. All this prevents our plants from growing as they should... as they could. If we didn't re-pot on a very regular basis, those plants would surely meet their demise. I'd also like to touch briefly on something else we don't talk about nearly enough... the vast differences between growing in the confined space of containers... and growing in the ground. Once you understand the science of growing plants in pots, you understand why a more inorganic approach works best... one where we are in control of the moisture, nutrition, PH, and we're using a medium that holds its structure well, etc. We wouldn't really want to use organic methods with pots because the two environments, that within a pot and that in the ground, are so uniquely different. In the ground, Mother Nature has an entire army of tiny insects, worms, microscopic creatures, fungi and bacterias that all work in unison, decomposing organic matter into usable nutrition, and maintaining and balancing the environment, keeping it aerated, nutrition rich, and drained well. We don't have that same natural army within our containers doing all that work, actually maintaining the environment and keeping it all in perfect balance, and trying to duplicate Mother Nature within our pots would be next to impossible! Therefore, it makes sense to reserve organic gardening methods for the garden outside, and stick with a more inorganic approach for our containerized growing. Outdoors, in my vegetable garden and perennial beds, I use mostly organic methods. I fertilize using composted goat and horse manure, and the used pool water from a group of Muscovy Ducks. For pest control, I try to stick with natural predators and encourage beneficial insects to stick around, like praying mantises, spiders, toads, snakes, and other critters that eat the bad bugs. I use aged natural wood mulch to help protect roots from our frigid winters, and I generally try not to use chemicals or anything unnatural. With my containerized plants, whether I grow them indoors or outdoors, I realize that they depend on me to ensure proper moisture levels, aeration, drainage, protection from damaging insects, the proper amount of light, humidity and temperature... and they need a nutrition regimen in which the food is in a form that is immediately usable for uptake by the roots, and doesn't require anything to break it down further into usable form. Often, fertilizers like fish emulsion and other natural items aren't really broken down enough for immediate uptake, so it pays to check into that when shopping for a container plant food. The garden has a pretty steady food supply going on, so I try to maintain that type of buffet for my potted plants, by offering them a weakened solution of liquid fertilizer that's ready to be up-taken by the roots, and complete with the micro-nutrients needed. I offer it every time watering is necessary. There was more I wanted to mention, but I can't remember what it was, now... oh, well... it'll come to me later. Frank, there's nothing wrong with a grown man, or woman for that matter, getting excited over the pending arrival of new plants! I'd call it enthusiasm for something you enjoy greatly... and part of life is about attaining that state of happiness! I'm happy for you! :-) And I can't wait until next spring, when I'll be in the very same euphoric state, awaiting the arrival of whatever I decide to order! And don't worry so much about getting everything exactly perfect with the Gritty Mix... once you really grasp the concepts entailed, when you reach that epiphany moment, when the light bulb goes on and you think, "aha!"... you'll find that you will begin slightly adjusting the various ingredient ratios you use in a batch of mix to suit different plants, pots, and situations. And I think you've reached that point. Instead of using a topsoil or a manure compost as your "extra moisture retention ingredient", though, I would get a bag of high grade potting soil that doesn't have anything added, like those nasty moisture crystals, or extra feed. Miracle Gro potting soil has really tanked in quality over the past few years, so I pass on that. We use a different brand, though I can't recall the name at the moment. Sunshine is a good brand, too. You want something fairly even and nice in quality. And remember... turface holds a decent amount of moisture, so take care when adding anything else. Eddie Haskell?! No, no, no... you're much too intelligent and funny to play a secondary sidekick role like that! ;-) Thanksgiving... I know... time flies faster the older we get. Remember when you couldn't wait to be old enough to ride a two wheeled bike? And you couldn't wait to go from grade school to middle or high school... to be able to earn your own money... to get your driver's license... to be approved to drink alcohol... so many milestones. Every time I turn around, another decade is gone. I'm only 50, but I feel ancient sometimes. In fact, this has tired me... I'm thinking a nap sounds good. ;-) Have a nice day!

Jacksonville zoo offers free "zoo dew". animal manure if you come and pick it up. Not sure of the details, but I know some friends went and got some. Do you have a zoo nearby?