DIY seed starting soil mix (peat free, suitable for soil blocking or trays!)

UPDATE JANUARY 13, 2024: HERE IS OUR UPDATED FAVORITE SOIL BLOCKING MIX!    • Seed starting soil mixes--Mycorrhizae vs. ...  

We've spent 3 long years testing various recipes with alternatives to peat that will work for soil blocks and be simple, and we are happy to report that we've finally found the one that works the best, and the answer is WOOL PELLETS! We've been dabbling with wool pellets as a way to keep our sheep's wool on the farm. Lots of studies have been coming out recently about the great uses of wool in the garden both as a mulch and as a fertilizer, so we wanted to test this out ourselves!

Our journey to finding this recipe has been long. We started two years ago by testing coconut coir as a peat alternative; unfortunately, coconut coir has its own issues when it comes to sustainability (long travel distance, labor treatment issues, and lots of water usage in processing). So last year we moved to a recycled paper product called Pitt Moss, which worked well but sometimes held too much moisture (and we also have some lingering PFAS concerns as PFAS tend to be common in recycled paper products). We dabbled last fall with using decomposted leaf matter from our Lomi composter, which worked well but lacked nutrients (that recipe is seen in the main photo with the light green leaves, compared to the darker green of the sheep wool recipe).

Some of you may question whether it is ethical to use sheep wool, particularly if you are vegan! The answer is, as always, to know your farmer. Seek out wool pellets from a small supplier who can provide you with proof that their animals are being raised ethically and with good care! But take heart that using wool pellets does not require taking the animal's life; rather, wool sheep HAVE to be sheared as part of their humane care. Leaving them unshorn would lead to many physical issues and overheating, so annual shearing is part of humane treatment of the animal, which is where wool pellets come in!

WOOL PELLET SEED STARTING RECIPE:
1 part hot water + 1 part sheep wool pellets (mix and set aside)
4 parts sifted (for soil blocks, unsifted for regular trays) "coco loco" potting soil by Fox Farms (this is a peat free potting soil easily found in North America)
Optional: dash of cinnamon
Mix the above ingredients together and add approximately one more part of water.

Remember, a part is a part! So you can scale this recipe up or down as needed. We like to mix it up as we are making our blocks; you can mix the night before for slightly better consistency.

Regenerative gardening course: https://blossomandbranchfarm.teachabl...
Flower arranging course: https://blossomandbranchfarm.teachabl...

Find some wool pellets and coco loco here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/blossoman...

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