My New Book: The Modern Homestead Garden: Growing Self-Sufficiency in Any Size Backyard. You can find it at these different locations... Thanks 4 the Support! Amazon: https:amzn.to/3Hfejue Barnes & Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-modern-homestead-garden-gary-pilarchik/1137153105?ean=9780760368176 Books A Million: www.booksamillion.com/p/Modern-Homestead-Garden/Gary-Pilarchik/9780760368176?id=7961563419439# An Autographed Copy of my book is at my seed and garden shop: www.therustedgarden.com/search?type=product&q=book My seed and garden shop can be found www.therustedgarden.com You can find my new Gardening Podcast here. I am doing 45 minute podcasts now with CaliKim called 'Gardening Coast2Coast Podcasts' gardeningcoast2coast.net/ You can also find our podcasts here on Buzzsprout www.buzzsprout.com/1846799 There are several options to chose from. Seed Starting Supplies: amzn.to/2GrGaZ7 As an Amazon Associated I earn from Garden Fertilizers: amzn.to/2DIQDRY qualifying purchases. It is free to use Garden Disease & Pest Control: amzn.to/2Fqvl8e Here are some links to my Amazon Storefront. Grow Lights:amzn.to/2GudeiO I turn most of that back into the garden and videos. Amazon General Search Page: amzn.to/2DZBzyZ THANKS! Greatly Appreciated - Gary (TRG) I have Neem Oil, Peppermint Oil, Sprayers, Seeds and so much more at my shop...Please check out my Seed & Garden Shop for your gardening needs at www.therustedgarden.com

SECRET TIP: My local Home Depot (Hopefully yours, too) gathers all damaged/torn bags of soil from their deliveries and bundles it at huge savings. My store says they typically have around 3 pallet carts piled with damaged bags, often selling the entire bundle for $5. When an employee told me about this, he pointed at one of these bundles which had already been sold, but he pointed out a bag of some "premium organic" nonsense that he said was normally priced at $60- and it was being sold in the bundle that went for $5. Get there when the store opens and ask someone in the garden department if they are selling any damaged soil bags.

I love this video. I have been stressing about starting an urban farm in Nigeria and getting to make a proper soil mix was my current headache. This video is so explanatory and helpful. Thanks. You have a new fan from Nigeria

One thing Gary left out of his recipe...buy everything ON SALE! Lol, I can't calculate how much that alone has saved me, especially store closings (thanks K-Mart) and end of year/season. I use a kiddie swimming pool to mix stuff in, keeps it all contained.

Gary, thanks for the information! As a thanks for all the great information, I bought a bunch of stuff through your shop and amazon affiliate shop! Glad to support your team. I’m very happy with my package that I received today! You’ve saved me a bunch of money! And I’m glad to learn that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a successful garden. Only knowledge! So thanks for that!

Awesome! You are so down to earth (no pun intended) with THE BEST hands-on explanation in every video. Thank you so very much.

1 part Topsoil 1 part Peat Moss 2 Tbs of Garden Lime 4 Tbs Fertilizer 1/2 part Cow Manure 1/2 part Humus-Manure

Nice vid for helping save money in potting mixes. Ive always mad my own soil., but one thing I want to add here, I usually buy the bale of peat but in the past I would cut it open around the top and the peat would always dry out and end of dusty blowing everywhere. So to change that I started cutting the bag half-way down all the way around the bag and have a cover lid so to speak keep the top half as a cover and it keeps the peat from drying out.

Thanks Gary, that was the great information. Going to try this recipe in my garden.

Gary, I live in Tucson AZ. We are lucky to have TANK'S. I get my small wood chips there-$20 a full truck load. I also get their gardening mix for $20/ half a yard (my Nissan won't take a full yard), also $20 beautiful (no wood chips) compost. All are certified Organic. Sunday a friend need gardening soil and I ran to Lowe's and spent $14 on 2 big bags. Any other day I would have went to Tank's and had a whole lot left....I make my own mix...

Thank you for explaining so well. I was very confused about what to use and why the videos showed them adding so many things. They don't always say why they add them. You're great Gary.

Thank you for sharing, I followed your recipe for the container mixed today.

Gary, Thankyou! I have needed a basic formula like this. It will help to end a long time argument with my guy who really tries to help me get things together in the spring for garden and container planting. We both have our ideas..

Thanks for this...my birthday present was this. Tomorrow I start mixing for my two new raised beds.

Thank you Gary! I'm a market garden startup and I realized fairly early that there had to be cheaper ways of creating potting mix. I started about 1000 plants since the end of January (about halfway). I've watched many of your videos as well as others. So valuable! Thank you SO MUCH! This winter I settled on equal parts of peat moss and black cow, plus half of that in perlite. Big bag of Vigoro is about 17 bucks in Mass. HD. I threw in a handful of fish bone meal but really its probably not necessary. Good for seeds. The perlite did seem to make mix less crusty as it dried. Now that I can finally direct seed outside I'm going to just use soil, peat moss and black kow as a top dressing. Hoping the peat will hold back weeds long enough for sprouts to get going....but the temps are CRAZY this year. Anyway, if you got this far, I am so grateful to you and other KZfaq posters for so much crucial knowledge! I wouldn't have a clue otherwise. Cheers and best wishes! Steve@Five a Day Farms.

I looked at so many versions until I got confused and decided to give up,and then I found you. I should have listened to you from the start. It two years now and I am trying again and I am happy with my container mix,and feeling much better about my plants. Next stop is dealing with the insects,they love my plants more than I do. Thanks so much for imparting your knowledge.

Thank you Mr,Pilarchik I'm learning a lot.

Love the bird songs in the background ;->

Thank you for this one Gary! I just started gardening last spring and there has been so much to learn. I have a container garden so this is a saved favorite.

I'm giving this a try this year! Thank you so much for all your amazing gardening resources!!! I'm a complete newbie at this, this is my first year gardening, and I'm going at it full swing with (mostly) confidence because I find your videos and blog so helpful, along with a few other books and bloggers/KZfaqrs. :)

Thank you. This is what I needed to know. You did a great job breaking down the process.

You are so right! The first year I grew tomatoes, they cost me about $90 per pound because of all the expensive soils I bought. I actually took your advice from an older video about buying damaged bags of soil :)

Hey Gary! Should i prep and place my soil in my raised bed today even though I dont plan on transplanting until next week?

You always give us valuable information and tips. Thanks so much.

Yours videos have helped me so much in my gardening projects. If I ever have questions on what to do I look for your videos. Thanks and keep it up!

Gary I mix in my soil some coffee grinds and ground up egg shells that I have saved up etc

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I want to do a raised bed garden, but didn't know where to start...taught me a lot! thx again!

Gary, I just subscribed to your channel after watching several of your videos. I like the delivery, simplicity and conciseness of your videos, no to mention the clarity of your voice. It is because of videos like yours that youtube remains so popular.

Are all the topsoil and soil products sterilized by heat so we aren't buying weed seeds that will grow ?

" today (and everyday) i'm gonna tell you how to save a lot of money" -- okay im listening

Thanks so much Gary for your expertise. Keep up the great work on KZfaq.

Thank you so much for this. Always wondered why nothing grew for me. My daughter and I will have something to look forward to this time. New adventure with container gardening 😀

Almost all garden soils, mixes, manures, etc have wood in it now days - Very disappointing.

The whole idea of gardening is getting your hands in the dirt. Lol

Where has this video been all my pre gardening life? Now I’m way more confident about getting this garden started. Thanks SO much

Great video as always Gary. I really enjoy watching your videos as I grow my tomatoes from seed this year.

Peat moss is not really sustainable. I'm looking at using partly decomposed hemlock bark, and add some stuff to it and see what happens

Doesn't the use of peat moss kind of defeat the point of low impact gardening as advocated by organic? My understanding is that unless it has been sustainably grown it will have been sliced out of a peat bog, which is pretty bad on a large scale.

Thank you for the information in mixing and potting soils, I will be going to the store today!🙏🙂

Yeah Gary The Birds in the Background are into Your Good Compost Soil Delights.

You are quite knowledgeable and I learn a lot from them, but your videos are often way too long! You'd probably get a lot move views if you could shorten the down to about 15 minutes or less like this one.

Great video. Next year I'm making my own potting soil!

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for posting this.

This is easily my favorite video you've done. I paid an obscene amount of money last year to fill an 4x8 bed that's 12 inches tall by using expensive pre-made potting soil. Gonna save a crap ton of money filling future beds with your tip!

Thank you so much for showing me a cheaper way to do this! I think I love you. :)

Excellent Gary!!! Very well explained.

Awesome info!! Love this video because sometimes overspending is such a waste!! TFS Gary! 🤙🏽 take care & Aloha!🌞

This video has helped me so much! We have our own manure and topsoil but needed to know how much!

May I say excellent job! This is so timely as I'm about ready to start a ton of plants. As always, thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge with us. Posting a fun garlic video tonight I think might interest you. Check it out if you have time. Should be up by the morning

Your video explains making container soil the best by far. Thanks so much.

thanks, Gary You demonstrated this for me so simply. 👍👍

Gary u just saved me! lol new to the channel and container gardening in Ohio. thank you!

Love making mixes. We're blessed to have rice hulls here. Great addition as well. Nice job Gary.

Thanks Gary, i spent hours reading up, i wish i'd found this video first, all in one! Cheers from Scotland pal!

Thanks so much for this. will try it out.

Even your old videos are super helpful!!! Now if you had a tip on how to change crazy Texas weather. I’m all ears... blessings

Thank you so much!!! I used your recipe and added a few more: Peat Moss, $2 compost, perlite, espoma gardentone and espoma land and sea gourmet compost. It is perfect. Thank you so much!!!!

Thank you so much, Gary! You have expanded my gardening experience by leaps and bounds this year! For the first time, I started some tomatoes and peppers from seed, along with a few herbs, and I gasped when they began to come up out of the seed starting mix! Truly gasped with delight! All from your store, of course! ; ) Set up the grow lights as you directed with great success. Now, I'm taking the next step and making container mix as you have directed. I'm having to use some containers on my deck this year because of some mobility problems getting down the hill to the area where I used to garden, so here's my question (finally!). I bought some 5, 7, and 10 gallon grow bags to put on plastic saucers on my deck and don't know which would be best for peppers and tomatoes. I know you say you "can" do it in a 5 gal. bucket, but is it better to use a 7 or 10 gal. if you can? For the tomatoes and peppers. I kinda figured the 5 gal. would be okay for the bell peppers (do you agree?), but which would be best for the tomatoes (I have both determinate and indeterminate)? Thank you for your time! Debra

Followed the recipe step by step.. wish me luck. Thanks

Thank you Gary Pilarchik! Now I know what I was doing wrong!

Thank you for this easy-to-do soil recipe that will save money. I use a 2.5-gallon bucket to measure each ingredient you have listed and pour it into a wheel barrel and mix it all together, I also add about 1/2 of a bucket of pearlite to my mix and other amendments for my potted vegetable plants but this is an excellent inexpensive base recipe, and my veggie garden is doing great.

Planted the first things in my life today. This diy potting mix gave me a workout and i saved a ton! I like just adding a handful of this...handful of thatlike you say. 1 part each..etc. Makes it easy. Took notes on all the stuff i am growing from your videos.

Thank-you for making this down to earth and to the point video.

You are great at explaining!!! I am happy i found your channel!! Very easy to understand :) Thanks!!

I'm learning a lot from your videos, sir! I think I would mix on a tarp if not in a tub, barrow or mixer. Flat on the ground is great and simple, but adding a liftable barrier underneath can also help with the turning and mixing to my clumsy ways. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

Great video. Here in Phoenix Arizona oh, the growing season is much longer. I notice the soil level drops pretty drastically in a pot from March through December. I started adding more volcanic sand and perlite to my mixes to help aerate in the hot summers, but also to add something to the mix that doesn't shrink down in size throughout the season. It also adds to the medium ingredients that don't shrink down through decomposition. It seems to work well here compared to what I was using before. So my mixes from greatest amounts to least: Peat moss, volcanic sand, backyard compost, perlite, locally made worm castings, and my amendments.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom :) can't wait to try this

This video is extremely helpful, Thank you

Thanks for the sanity Gary, I was watching probably the biggest (in terms of viewers) youtube gardening channel this morning and he (who shall remain nameless) was mixing soil using the most expensive stuff that you can buy bagged--comparing your garden over the seasons I've watched you with his, your output is every bit as impressive at a fraction of the cost.

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge I really appreciate it!!! Now I know how to have a good soil for my plants.

you did a very good job on this video. I personally like the way that you talk about the proper amounts. hopefully this year we will see the enormous amount of food that you grow this year.

I’m so excited I found this video! And I cannot believe how much I’ve been spending on soil!

That are Gary Hands in Honest Hard Work.

so nice and generous of you to share this! thankyou 😀

I searched all over for this video. This video helped me make A LOT of soil for my small patio garden 2 years ago and I'm still reusing that soil today. This mix grew ALOT of food. THANK YOU SOO MUCH! 🙏🏽🙏🏽

Great info. Learned a lot. Thank you. Love your channel.

Thanks, great video. Very informative. ❤️🙏❤️

Thank you very much,you were quite clear at the time it was my bad ,the whole was very well explained later in the instructions thanks again,have a great day.

Thanks for keeping it so simple. New subbie! 👍🏽

Your share is very helpful . I just started gardening.....Thank you so much !

Thanks for this! I found a rusty nail in a bag of miracle grow potting mix.... so its time to mix my own!!

Thank you for this video. I'm container gardening this year for the first time - vegetables. The woods dirt here in Georgia is clay, so went to Lowe's and got everything for building good container soil and found an 8-8-8 fertilizer was all they had. I'm also trying grow bags I got from Amazon, so I'm looking forward to how this going to turn out this year.

Thanks, this video has been a great help.

At 6:00 I started to really relate with Gary. I love using my hands in the garden and feeling the soil and cool earth on my hands haha

I was really enjoying watching this video. Thank you so much ! Very educational video. I also called my local landscaping/ rock supply and they had top soil / compost mix for $38 / ton that's like 2000 pounds lol

a well explained video! my wife and I just started our own garden and I saw that home depot has peat moss but i wasn’t sure how to use it but u make it look very easy . Greetings from Mexico

I intend to do my own container mix this year. Thanks I'll let you know how it worked. I'm retired so always looking to save money.

Thanks Gary I made some the other day. Not as costly as I thought. Have Peatmoss left will get some more cow manure and Soil for a new batch. Thanks

Going with the formula this year. Thank you.

thank you so much for this video I really needed this I was not thinking when I was shopping for soil and bought a lot of garden soil the relaxed about what I had done when I was getting ready to pant in my containers I had not bought potting soil lol so, of course, I would come on youtube to find an owner to my problem and you answered it thank you tomorrow I will be buying some peat moss and chicken poo I use crushed eggs shells for the calcium I save them up all year for my garden thank you again

Great and informative video, thank you Gary ! 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

Good info, thanks. Going to try this in some fabric grow bags. Do you have any experience with those?

Great info., thanks Gary!

Thank you so much for the recipe!!

Love your videos. I have learned so much thank you

This is the best ! Smart way to fill container's ,I did 5 ,7 gallon grow bags and 4 ,15 plus toped up raised beds for one bag of peat moss and a big bag of perlite 25 bucks .

Superb video! I went out and bought the basic ingredients, as Gary suggested, and made my own mix. Sure, his recipe is a basic guideline for potting mixes and may be experimented w/ and changed according to peoples own preferences and ideas. LOL. Well, I figure that I received six large bags of mix out of spending approx. $28 total. Well, that equates to $60-$90 worth of store bought stuff!!! Better yet, I pretty much know what's in my own. This is great!! Thanks, Gary.

I didn't know u could use top soil. I been using potting soil in my mix! This will definitely save me money

Love this video, that save my life and money.

Starting a balcony container vegetable garden this year and your videos have been invaluable. I accidentally bought some garden soil and wanted to use that in my mix with peat moss and compost but half the internet spells doom and death to plants wherever soil is in a container. Nice to see this. Got some seeds in now so we'll see what comes up.