My soil is mud

[Grace and Granola]

I have about 8 bags of potting soil left from last year. My husband dragged them out last week and they've been sitting in a pile on the patio. I went to open them up to get my containers going and the soil is just soaked. Some of it is literally mud. I emptied about 4 bags of it into a mulch bed and tossed in some peat moss to see if I could churn it up together to dry out the soil, but the soil is clumping. I have no idea what to do! Will this soil ever dry out if it is still in the bags? We have five days of rain ahead of us, so I don't want to dump it all out and have it get rained on! Any ideas?

[mattemma04]

Could you put it in a wheelbarrel in the garage? Maybe add some peat moss,compost,and sand to it.I have added that white stuff vermil....something .

[Erinz]

Just sounds water logged to me? You could empty it into the beds or in a pile somewhere. The water in there might be really good tea-type of fertilizer to catch and use on your plants (depending what is in the soil I guess!). As long as it doesn't smell anaerobic it's prob fine.

[JessicaS]

Vermiculite? Pearlite can also be used.

I would think it would be fine. I would just toss it on the plants. I had some bags from last year that were wet, I used them.

[lunarlady]

All my soil is mud after the rain. It actually dries out in the bag pretty well if you get a streach of sunny days to sort of warm it up. Poke some holes so excess water drains out. If you can, put a tarp over the remaining soil bags to help prevent them from getting more drenched. It will dry out, but it will take time. I think mine dry in about 4-5 sunny days, but we're in CO where the air is very dry. Good luck.