Is there such thing as vegan potting soil?

[K8-EEE]

My vegan friend ordered a raised bed like mine to start a sq ft garden. But now that it's time to fill the beds, she is not very happy with her choices of commercial compost & potting soil.
All the brands we've seen have animal products (either manure, blood meal, bone meal, feathers, etc.)

For people who make their own compost (I'm just starting) is it possible to make a totally vegetarian compost with kitchen scrapes and lawn clippings and use that as a base for making your own potting soil??

[XemaSab]

1. You can make a totally vegetarian compost, yes

If you live in a city that has green waste pickup, you might call them and see if they sell compost.

You might also go cruise the local farmer's market, find the biggest hippie there, and ask if they know of anything, or call a *good* local nursery and ask them.

Let us know what you find out.

[K8-EEE]

5. She is breaking down and using "Dr. Earth's" because

she wants to get her plants in on Sat. a.m. and having no luck.

THe usual sq. ft. "Mel's Mix" is equal parts vermiculite, peat moss & compost. So if we could only find the compost we could in essence make a vegan potting mix. I am kind of surprised there doesn't seem to be a commercially available vegan compost. Most people I know who compost themselves just use kitchen scraps, lawn clippings....

[Arkansas Granny]

2. Have your friend check out some of the soilless potting mixes. Most of them

are made with a peat or sphagnum moss base and will have the ingredients listed on the bag. It dries out faster than regular soil, but I've used it in containers with good results. It's a little more expensive, but the ones I've seen have no animal products in the at all.

[K8-EEE]

4. They don't seem to have that at the nurseries here maybe because

Where we live (SF Valley, inland Los Angeles) is extremely hot and dry with oven-like summer heat (over 100) & zero humidity -- and even regular potting soil has to be watered 3X a day in August.

She is doing a raised bed on bricks so she will be lucky to not have it dry out just using the regular stuff!

[Kolesar]

3. I substitute "rock phosphate" for blood meal in the fertilizer I make...eom

[HamdenRice]

6. I don't think this is possible. Soil is essentially dead stuff and feces.

That's what soil is. I suppose you could grow things hydroponically, but I suspect that some of the chemicals would be traceable back at some point to an organic animal source.

In the outdoor garden soil is composed of an endless cycle of things growing, living, dying and being eaten and excreted by other living things. Many of those things are animals -- worms, centipedes, flies, grubs, larvae, and so on. Even a purely vegan compost pile is going to be quickly colonized by these small animals if it's healthy. One of the most nutritious and important components of healthy soil is "worm casings," which are worm feces or manure.

I can see excluding bone meal, blood meal and feathers because animals were killed to produce them, but I don't quite understand how manure and decaying animals in the soil compromises the vegan nature of the vegetables and flowers that are produced. I doubt you've ever eaten a vegetable that was not grown in part on the bodies of dead animals and manure.

If you want no-kill manure, do what I do -- go to a horse stable (not that I'm vegan, just that there are horse stables in NYC and no dairy farms). Horse manure is great for the soil, and the horses are basically kept as animal companions, not food.

Keep in mind though that horse manure takes a little more composting than cow manure and when it's fresh is considered "hot" (ie too chemically active and potent) and will kill plants. My local stable's Mexican stable hands are allowed to sell stable manure as a side line -- as both "merda fresca" (fresh manure) and "merda madura" (ripe, composted, mature) manure. The fresh manure is great for the compost bin where it speeds up the deterioration of plant matter, while the mature manure can go right into the garden.

[K8-EEE]

7. thank you!! She knows of a horse sanctuary and is comfortable with that option

Thanks for the suggestion!