meadowdreamer, I have a very strong feeling about what might happen over in the Container Forum. Don't get discouraged! There are many, many possibilities regarding a decent potting mix. You can absolutely work with what you already have and enjoy the experience without it becoming a complicated ordeal for you. Hopefully, you will receive plenty of good support in that forum, as they are well meaning. But they can 'sometimes' suggest that there is only one path to success and that is simply not true. I worry about the compost addition to your medium. Compost, when added to a container, tends to decompose rather quickly into a very fine textured substance that fills the small pore spaces in the mix. That can eliminate excellent water percolation, drainage of excess water, and air exchange. Next time, use the compost in the outside garden areas where it can be of great benefit. This season, just monitor how the medium drains and dries somewhat between waterings. If the soil stays too wet for long periods of time, then the roots will begin to die for lack of oxygen. Speaking of next time....I'll wager that you will decide on your own that you cannot re-use your potting mixture. Or, at least, not until you dump the majority of it and replace with fresh material. Sorry, but that is just the nature of most potting mediums. Regular bagged potting mix (which is mostly peat moss) breaks down fairly quickly, losing any porosity it might have had in the beginning. Heck, some are just plain mucky straight out of the bag. Our goal for container growing should be to come up with a medium that is sturdy, very coarse textured, and fast draining. That's the kind of stuff in which roots flourish rather than flounder. Unless the root system is happy....do you know the phrase, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" ? We want something with a sturdy structure; a mix that won't begin to collapse in a couple of months. Another reason for fresh new soil is that of disease. Powdery mildew, molds, blights and other common veggie problems can be transferred from one generation to the next via a contaminated potting mix. By next year, though, I'll bet that we can help you come up with an easy to use, less expensive potting medium. You'll need to find a fertilizer that you are happy with. I'd go for an all purpose soluble product, myself. Lots of people like to use slow release fertilizers. Veggies are heavy feeders; a containerized crop must be fully supported by you. There are LOTS of great options for you as far as types of veggies. There are some bush bean varieties that do great in pots. What about peppers? I don't know where you are in Tennessee, but you might still have time for some leafy crops, like some of the leaf lettuces or new zealand spinach. Don't forget the herb possibilities! Basil is one that thrives all season long, if you prune the flowers off. Later in the season, when you simply cannot stop the flowering process, it becomes the best honey bee plant! Don't hesitate to email me directly if you have any questions.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever took, and it may have come from this forum, was to take some time and plan out your growing year on a spreadsheet, day by day, and almost hour to hour. The first year I did this, my profit showed a significant improvement. For instance, I know the day in February that I need to seed onions, how many to seed, the day I will transplant them, and where I will transplant them. I also know when I expect to harvest them. I do this for each crop, and from this plan, I know what and how much I will have to sell at each week's market. And since I have a pretty good idea of how much I am going to ask for each crop, I have a pretty good idea of what my projected revenues will be, if sales are good. Also I keep a spreadsheet for each market day, what and how much of each crop I brought, how much sold, and what I priced it at. This is invaluable when it comes to doing the next year's planning. It drives me crazy to actually plan this all out, all the details, flipping the calendar back and forth, etc, but it is so worth it! Two years ago, I got the Quickbooks computer program. I wish I had done this years before. Once you get the hang of it, it is easy to keep up with the data imput, and at a click I can see what our expenses for the year are running, what our sales are, and what our profit and loss statement looks like. Are you doing this mostly by yourself? And are you also responsible for child care and meals, and laundry etc? Put that stuff into your planning because it will tell you what is doable and what is not.For instance, I have Monday mornings blocked out for errands- the shopping, banking, etc. And my day ends at 5 because I am the cook in the family. Over time we have come to know what grows well for us, and where on the property it does the best. Don't rule out flowers as a money maker. We have planted peonies (they don't need rabbit or deer fencing) and I sell them to florists as well to our usual customers. I sold daffodil straight bunches this week, and I hope to do well on them next week as they look so nice on Easter tables. Think about perennial crops that can do well. As we have aged, we have decreased the amount of annual cropping that we do as many of them require weekly seeding, transplanting, and harvesting. We have expanded rhubarb, and blueberries. I would do asparagus if our soil wasn't so rocky. We also do hardneck garlic (once you pay for the first seed garlic, your own garlic can be self-perpetuating), and onions (plant once and don't need rabbit and deer fencing.) Read all you can. I got so much out of Eliot Coleman's The New Organic Grower, and we have had a subscription to Growing for Market since day one. We never did well with raspberries as we only had a once a week market, and they just spoiled. Same situation with strawberries. I think that organic fruit trees in the Northeast is very tough. We have never gone there. Good luck with whatever you decide. Market gardening is a tough way to make money, so only do it if you love it. But it has its advantages. You can be home, you are your own boss, you can involve your kids if they are at all so inclined, and, as several previous posters have noted, you can eat like royalty. We could never afford to eat like we do if we didn't grow it ourselves. Last year I grew melons.....oh my!

Tinkyada is a staple here. I also eat the Quinoa based pasta(higher in protein but it doesn't cook as easily). My DH got me some G/F Kinninnick foods for my birthday. I got donuts,a cake,a pizza(Amy's),hotdog buns and bread! I ate like a normal person for a week. Unfortunaly, I also packed on an extra 6 pounds. Had to curb that habit! I can bake normal tasting food with a potatoe,rice,and starch flour mix with Xanthum gum as a binder. Having celiac has forced this person to learn how to cook! You garden in the Pacific Northwest! Seattle? I'm origionally from So. Cal( high desert) and now I'm trying my hand at TX native gardening. A LOT more water but serious hot/dry spells as well. It tends to be drought or drown here. I'm not sure if I could garden in overcast/wet! Acid soil? Only in bags from the store! LOL! The PNW is beautiful no doubt tho. We're in the same hardiness zone(7b).When I'm done taking care of my dad(sandwich gen) I'll be back on that side of the country too. I love TX but my family (except dad) is all back there. There is so much conflicting advice about minerals. I just take it slow and see how I react. Playing it by ear has always been the best way. People are so unique in their bodies it's nearly impossible to judge how anyone is going to do. Gardening is HARD work! I envy your acreage. I half a half acre here. If I don't use the tractor thingie mowing takes all darn day! I use the cart for a mulch bin. The constant exercise helps with gardening. If it weren't for the yoga I'd definatly have hurt myself by now. Gardening isn't for whimps. Trees are akward and heavy; soil in a bag is dead weight with no support;hoses snag on stuff and suddenly you're practically being thrown backward;bricks and rocks are heavy and "surprises" live them; and your "helpers"(animals/kids) tend to run under your feet at the worst possible moment! I'm resting today. Tommorrow is weight training. Saturday is how far I can run/walk. Four miles was pretty easy(especially the walk parts). I need to see what I can do. PJ

I'm about ready to ditch them all and pretend we came from under a cabbage leaf! I just got done with a 12 days visit from my mom and my cousin. My mom is 88 and time is not being kind to her memory. She has decided she is going to divide the pictures a certain way, such as all of the picture of me in one group. That's not how the rest of us want them. We would like a good sampling of everything and make a copy for each of us. I don't want 50 pictures of me and no one else! I've also asked her to label things for at least 20 years. Just like everything else, she's going to get to it. I guess she thinks she'll live to be over a 100 or something. I am frustrated and resentful that she wouldn't take the time to do it while her mind was clear. Really, most of the pictures will just end up thrown away since we have no idea who those people are and I'm not going to lug boxes of unlabeled pictures around for the next 30 years myself. My kids will end up thinking my memory is gone when I never knew who they were in the first place. Generations in my family are frequently 40 years apart, so these people were old when I knew them. I can't recognize what my great aunts looked like as young women. We also just got a load of photos from my MIL's estate since my brother-in-law died. Unlabeled for the most part, although my DH does recognize some people. We have made a date to start sifting through this stuff and get rid of most of it. Our kids don't need pictures of their grandparent's friends. We'll just mail those to the people who are still living. Gloria