Food-Gardening Lessons From A Wartime Victory Garden

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How Do I Calculate How Much Peat to Add to My Garden?

“I purchased 3.0 CF bags of Black Gold Peat Moss. What is the expanded volume of this bag? I need 3.5 cubic yards of peat for my raised bed garden mix, so was going to buy 32 of these bales…but realized it’s going to expand. How do I calculate how much to buy?” Question from Dave of Utah

Answer: To determine the expansion of 3.0 cubic foot bales of Black Gold Peat Moss anticipate it at a 2:1 ratio. So, the bales should expand to 6 cubic feet when properly fluffed. One cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet, so to determine the amount you need in cubic yards calculate 3.5  x 27 = 94.5. Then divide 94.5 by 6 for a total of 15.75 bales. I’d go with 16 bales of peat to be safe.

I hope that this helps!

Best,

Jessie Keith

About JESSIE KEITH

Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

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