HelpfulGardener.com

When I transplant my young seedlings into 4 or 6 packs I use a mix of potting or even peat and mix it with some of my good strained garden soil! It seems to work great and stays moist longer than sraight potting mixes!
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I got very few weeds even in my seed boxes that have the bottom half of the box soil strained garden soil! When I am done with the boxes of soil I dump it on the compostor around my garden plants!
+++ Remember when I started my seeds as early as feb 12 I had a mix of leaves, paper and blood meal at the bottom of my boxes covered with strained garden soil with 2 inches on top of good potting soil! Also I mixed pine shavings in with my strained garden soil! It seemed that the pine shavings held the moisture in the soil for the plant roots and kept the garden soil from caking or getting muddy! I guess there are lots of good ways of doing things and when it works use it!

The pine may add acid.

Good point but It would take months for the pine to add acid and there are very little of the chips in the mix besides the blood meal will help compost the pine and add nitrogen! The chips help airate the soil!

Trying to use what I have around without buying things. I have been filling 1/2 of a 4 inch pot with ground up pine and setting the planton top the pine and covering with garden soil with a little sand or peat moss mixed! Works great and makes the pots lighter! It also allows the roots to come out of the pot easy when trans plantng!

I would be hard put to strain the soil from my yard. Sticky clay likes to stay in big clods.

Clay is not too bad when its mixed with sand and peat or potting soil and strained! I have a section of yellow clay that I use sometimes since it holds the water better tha reglar soil!

I have a lot of clay in my yard as well so that makes it tough. I agree that the pine will add acid to the mix. Cheers.