[Duranie]

Hi guys (and gals )
I am needing to fill one more container to plant a couple of bush bean transplants I got on clearance at the nursery this past week...

The container I have to use is humongous —— it's actually the bottom part of an old, Rubbermaid trunk-style storage container... there is no way I have enough native soil to fill it and really can't justify the expense of buying soil for it when I don't even know for sure that the plants are salvageable at this point .... for the price, it was worth giving it a shot to save them, but not if the expense will outweigh the effort.

Anyway, I have been using the container to temporarily hold some compostables until my husband built my permanent bin, but it's taking a lot longer than I originally thought it would. So as of now the Rubbermaid container is about a third full of partially-composted stuffs.... I'd say the compost is probably about half-finished, save for a few branches I threw in a couple days ago.

So I guess my question is, can I leave the partly finished compost at the bottom of the bin, and fill the remainder with a blend native soil and finished compost? There would be end up being about 12-14 inches of soil above the level of the compost. (Probably only 12, so I can have room for mulch)

Would I be better off doing a "Permaculture"- type process, filling the bottom half with branches pruned from bushes around the property, and then fill with soil ?

My native soil is very dark, rich humus, but comes from an area that is almost 100% shaded (it gets some dappled sunlight for about 1 to 2 hours a day).... so I can't put the transplants directly in the ground there, unfortunately....

I've got to get these things planted today --- I'm leaving the homestead in the hands of my husband for a week and the beans will be dead for sure by the time I get back if I don't get them situated today.

I'll be grateful for whatever guidance I can get.

Thanks,
April