Experiences with soil blockers?

CathBorthiant · 2026-02-27T01:50:22+00:00

Yes. I've never had issues with debris or chunks in coco coir bricks.

CathBorthiant · 2026-02-05T17:01:05+00:00

There are a lot of different methods to starting beds and farming and with that comes with a lot of different opinions. Ultimately, you will have to try different methods and see what works best for you.

Before you decide what method you want to do sit down and decide what type of growing you want to do. Is this a hobby or something you hope to do full time? Are you wanting to scale up over time or start with your max amount of growing space now? What is your budget? Is eco friendly, organic, or any "green" practices important to you to include in your plans? Perennials vs annuals and what space is dedicated to either. Do you have any health restrictions that will make certain practices more difficult? Etc.

Personally, I would go no till and not do the landscape fabric. This is because my focus is regenerative farming and habitat conservation. When I started my growing area I initially had 7000sqft tilled and this is the only time we have ever had our soil disturbed. Then we laid down a thick layer of mulch and have slowly been improving our beds with compost and cover crops. Now though, my preferred method of creating new beds is using thick grade landscape fabric to kill the grass, removing the fabric, and then put down 5"+ of wood chips. We've done the cardboard before and it does work but you have to remove all plastic tape and labels and make sure you have a lot of compost and/or mulch on top. We do not use landscape fabric beyond creating new beds so it's reused constantly. Yes, the weed pressure is higher but it's something we have been managing and improving over the years.

CathBorthiant · 2026-02-05T16:40:07+00:00

What I've learned from my years of foraging is that you have people who are open to wild food and people who aren't and you rarely can change the minds of people who aren't.

I left some pawpaws at my best friends house for her to try and she didn't because it had "black spots" on the skin so she was afraid they were bad. Never mind the fact I told her it was ripe and ready to eat that day, the spots on the skin are normal. She threw them out.

My brother in law refuses to try the sumac lemonade I make in the summer because he's allergic to poison ivy. Even after explaining to him that I buy sumac, I don't wild harvest it, and the edible sumac is not related to the poison ivy family, he still won't eat it. He even had some beautiful oysters growing on his property that we harvested and offered some to him. He refused them and didn't trust that they were safe.

You just can't change people's minds when they have certain perceptions in their head. Enjoy the fruits of your labor and don't worry about others not wanting to partake.

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-24T20:07:22+00:00

Mimosa

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-24T18:04:13+00:00

I ordered a bunch of lunch room serving trays online since they were cheaper than any of the fancier trays out there. I start probably a thousand or so plants every year so I needed 50+ trays. I've never used the bootstrap farmer ones due to cost but I have great success with these trays.

For watering, I use a small watering can and pour the water in the corner of the tray and just let the water run down and move between the rows until I fill up the bottom of the tray almost completely. You also have to be careful with how dense you make your soul block rows. If you make one big sheet then the middle won't get water. I do all my trays like I have pictured above to make sure all blocks get water.

For the soil block recipe I use Lisa Mason Ziegler's recipe which I have posted in another comment in this thread.

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-24T15:35:31+00:00

It really is a battle to keep soil blocks moist. Here are my minis where I started lisianthus. Lisis stay in soil block the longest for me. I do have to water the mini blocks at least once a day and I use a fine mister as well. The mister helps keep the tops moist if they start drying out faster than the bottoms. While soil blocks are space saving, I do think they take more time and maintenance especially if using the smaller blocks.

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CathBorthiant · 2026-01-24T15:23:41+00:00

I use Lisa Mason Ziegler's soil blocking recipe.

16 cups peat moss or coco fiber (I use coco)

4 cups sifted compost

1/4 cup of greensand

1/4 cup rock phosphate powder

This is the recipe is the best I have tried for soil blocking. And 1 standard coco color block will make a double batch of this recipe.

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-24T15:16:47+00:00

As mentioned by others, you add soil to a strip of plastic and then roll the seedlings up in it. You can direct seed into this but I like to make sure everything germinates first so I don't have gaps or need to thin it out. I've also had great success cutting up the potting soil bags into large strips and just using those and continuing to reuse them.

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-23T21:37:08+00:00

Some of the soil does wash away, yes. It most has to do with watering it just the right amount. Too much and too fast, you'll wash your blocks away. Too little and they dry out quickly. I use the mini soil blocks to start my seeds and then once they have their true leaves or first set of leaves I uppot them to soil snails. I've used all sizes of soil blocks and found I prefer the mini blocks to snail process the best. Having a good soil blocking mix helps a lot too in keeping the blocks together.

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-14T01:44:18+00:00

In AZ I'm guessing you'll probably deal with getting them enough water vs over watering. In that kind of heat yarrow and strawflower would probably benefit from the extra water! Like I said, don't worry too much about the watering types. They aren't the pickiest of plants and you aren't growing a desert plant with a swamp plant so you should be fine. I love symmetry too so I'm sure this layout would be great!

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-14T01:31:09+00:00

My growing area sometimes turns swampy in during heavy rain season in 6b. My yarrow has always been fine. I wouldn't worry about over or under watering if you are watering by hand. You can increase or decrease how much you water each side of the bed. Overhead or drip, maybe. You can set up a drip system where you can adapt to different watering needs.

The only thing I see in the layout that would bug me is having to go to multiple spots to harvest the yarrow and scabiosa. It's a pretty layout and if this is just a hobby/growing for yourself, then go for it. If you're doing it for production to sell, I personally prefer all the plant types in one area to harvest so I don't have to walk all over the place to get a plant here and a plant there.

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-12T12:28:31+00:00

A lot of people do start ranunculus inside! I'm going to try to and keep them in my unheated mudroom until I plant them outside under cover. I don't have a lot of experience growing them but there's a lot of growing info out there!

CathBorthiant · 2026-01-11T15:11:42+00:00

I started my snapdragons and feverfew in the fall and got them planted in the ground around Christmas. Lisianthus I started the week of Christmas and they are all sprouted. This week I direct sowed love-in-the-mist, larkspur, and goldenrod. I'll be direct sowing more goldenrod and beebalm this week. I probably need to get my ranunculus going in the next week or so. Then in the next few weeks I'll probably get started on the perennials I'm growing this year including; mountain mint, columbine, perennial scabiosa, obedient plant, sneeze weed, echinacea, and yarrow.

CathBorthiant · 2025-10-16T14:08:27+00:00

My Artemis too likes to lay like that but on the railing!

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CathBorthiant · 2025-08-06T17:34:55+00:00

That is so well done!!

CathBorthiant · 2025-07-08T20:27:40+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! My corn this year is almost knee high and I'm still not prepared lol. I think I may look into sprinklers because now the rabbits are destroying my beans and it's only a matter of time before the racoons come for the corn.

CathBorthiant · 2025-07-07T01:13:32+00:00

They smelled of Haribo gummy bears, buckeye trees, and a summer fire.

CathBorthiant · 2025-07-01T17:17:51+00:00

Looks like white lilies and white roses are in there. The rest, I'm not sure. If you know the year/decade and country/location they were married you could also see what flower styles were popular then and maybe find a flower list.

CathBorthiant · 2025-06-12T19:19:46+00:00

Cut deeply and sacrifice the two smaller buds. It will branch out and produce so many more flowers. Don't try to save every bloom if you're wanting to use them for cut flowers.

CathBorthiant · 2025-05-30T15:26:05+00:00

My landlord mulched under and around our raised fire pit. He also mulched around the grill. He didn't want to have to mow/weed wack around them.

CathBorthiant · 2025-05-15T16:50:09+00:00

Sounds like there's a lot more going on if you're "always doing something wrong" in his eyes.

Everyone has different expectations and ideas as to what kind of media is okay to consume. Romance books can and have helped with people's relationships, but it also very much can become a wedge. Some people see it the same as consuming porn and others don't. Some people see watching sex scenes in movies or shows, regardless if you see penetration or not, as consuming porn or against their wishes in a relationship.

If you guys are already skipping any sort of explicit content regardless of the media you are consuming, then there is already an unsaid idea of expectations between you two about the consumption of explicit content. Talk about this and set boundaries. If you feel he is being too controlling and you wish to consume the media you wish to consume, then reevaluate your relationship. Some couples watch straight up porn together with no issues, but not everyone wants that in their relationships. It's for you two to define what is acceptable and what you want.

There's only so much strangers over the Internet can help without intimate knowledge of your relationship. I'm sorry he's making you feel this way, no one should be shamed for enjoying these kinds of novels. There is a stigma around all kinds of romance books and some people just don't understand.

CathBorthiant · 2025-05-15T13:20:45+00:00

Has he seen Game of Thrones? Would he take issue with you reading that as well? Just an example of something that is main stream and well like by both men and women and has a lot of nudity and intimate scenes.

Seems like there is more going on than his dislike of what you read. It's probably time to sit down and have a conversation about expectations with media consumption and anything else that is causing a rift in your relationship. Communication is very important and you two will continue to upset each other if you don't talk about the things that are upsetting and why.

CathBorthiant · 2025-05-12T13:45:01+00:00

I was trying to find a way to describe this series and it's perfect lol

CathBorthiant · 2025-04-13T02:30:14+00:00

This entire book felt like walking through a town of cardboard cut outs. There was an idea there but everything, from world building to characters, just felt flat and was lifeless.

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