Thanks for the replies. I found a bag of Black Cow my parents had kept in the corner of the porch while I was away; checked it yesterday and it still looks like black gold (happy day) and I do believe I saw a baby centipede crawling in it so its still organism-suitable. Will be using that in the bottom of some containers to feed my upcoming plants
As to the peat moss as I understand it it is not a renewable resource so I hesitate to use it (although the argument could be made that perlite isn't either) along with the pH issues mentioned by Mr. Bryan. I am glad to see that most of your mix is the same thing I would use when trying to create a good growing medium. Anyone know if it's okay to grow something in a container using 100% compost?
Thanks for the detailed exposition on acidity and its relation to soil testing and growing habits. I have learned through much trial and error myself that it is indeed best to just try to grow things and pay attention to the response of the plants in their growing situation to determine what the soil may or may not need. I am curious as to what your new growing methods are since you mentioned a change from an almost purely scientific approach to a more naturalistic method somewhat facilitated by Abnshrek's advice
Lastly do any of you have any recommendations for easy crops? By easy I mean plants that do not require very rich soil/large amounts of nutrients (i.e., watermelon and corn) to put out reasonable yields. Such plants would be able to grow fairly well in less than stellar so that is sometime amended (i.e., pigeon peas, sweet potatoes, carrots). Thanks in advance for the plant suggestions!
