Next week I’ll be starting up the greenhouse, seeding the first flats for the Spring CSA. There are no more Spring shares available, but there are still plenty available for the main summer season. 

To peat or not to peat has been an eternal question! We have been using raw peat moss in our greenhouse seedling mix since we began. Peat is a renewable resource, but can be exploited, and the harvesting of it can be damaging to wetlands. When I was on the board of Demeter Canada back in 2000, I was asked to do research on peat. What I found at that time was that Canadian peat was developing faster than it was being harvested. Which means that peat moss was forming in natural habitats faster than it was being extracted. In the US, peat was being harvested faster than it was developing. 
  Like fossil fuels, we’ve tried to limit the amount of peat we use, while at the same time exploring alternatives. From 1997-2002 we made a separate leaf mold compost to replace some of the peat in our mix. This worked pretty well, but was labour and time intensive. We had to gather hardwood leaves in the fall, chop them fine with a lawnmower, and layer them with nettle plants (to reduce the acidity). They would take a year and a half before they composted enough for us to sift them and add them to our mix.
  During that time there was a fad that promoted coconut fiber as a peat alternative. This has its own ecological questions, and we found it didn’t work well in our mix anyway.
  After getting horses on the farm in 2010, I observed the way the piles of horse poo in the pasture would break down. It looked a lot like peat. We tried drying it and sifting it and experimented with replacing the peat moss. Again, the plants did not respond well. Maybe more experimenting would lead to something, but my gut doubted it.
  Now a new product is just coming into the market: EcoWool, pelletized wool fibers that are suggested to be used as a peat alternative. My friends, Jennifer and Tim (biodynamically minded sheep farmers) from All Sorts Acres just north of Mt. Forest have begun producing it (see picture below). I’ve gotten some from them to experiment with this year. This is a great development for the wool industry that has struggled to know how to survive. If you purchase peat for your garden, I’d highly recommend trying some out.
  But for me, here’s the rub: right now I purchase about three bales of peat moss a year, costing about $50. That’s all I need. If I were to substitute the EcoWool one for one, I’m guessing it would cost around $2,000.
  I’ll be doing some experimental soil mix recipes to see if there is a way to make it work.