Paul James on....Soil Mixes

Into the mix! You love remixes of your favorite songs...but when it comes to gardening organic and choosing soil with raised beds, you need to be precise. Rebecca Kolls of "Rebecca's Garden" on HGTV and Paul James have the celebrity gardener advantage:

They make remixing look easy. What Paul James does when organic gardening in raised beds is to plant black-eyed peas and filet beans as well as perennials to attract beneficial insects and bug-eating birds, he prefers a precise soil mix.

He starts with 12 cubic yards of soil (you can vary this if you have a raised garden kit) and mixes this formula:

• 2 parts black topsoil
• 1 part mushroom compost
• 1 part composted cotton burrs
• 1 part builder's sand

Complete with shredded leaves for compost--if none are available, wait until you're raking leaves. Then mix and remix! Everyone loves a remix, and with Paul James' celebrity gardener wisdom, you can mix and remix your soil so your raised garden beds thrive.