There's nothing wrong with the soil - it was just not intended for the purposes you were attempting to use it for. It is not going to be suitable for growing in a container situation, so go ahead and dump it. As was suggested, spreading it as layer to cover any other soil areas in your garden is the best way to dispose of it and still recognize some benefit. As to your newbie mistakes :-) The big one is starting into container gardening without doing some research on how to grow plants in containers. What many gardeners fail to realize is that growing plants in a very confined situation like a container presents very different circumstances from growing them in the ground. For success, you need to use very different materials, fertilize differently and be aware that aeration, drainage and watering are critical factors. Drainage is one of the most important considerations, if not THE most important! You must provide very good drainage, both through adequate drainage holes in any type of container and through the use of correct, drainage-enhancing materials. Anything labeled "topsoil" is not one of them :-) I'd suggest you visit the Container Gardening forum to review the issues specific to this kind of gardening. There are several very helpful experts (and I mean "experts" - recognized, published authorities!) that post there regularly that will help you with your questions and reading through other posts will also provide you with a wealth of very helpful information. Here is a link that might be useful: here's one to get you started

Some ferns are tough and some are not. It is too hot now but later can you put them in your greenhouse? Do you have room under the shelves? When I worked in a greenhouse briefly years ago, beautiful maidenhair ferns volunteered under the benches in the mist house. I have planted different kinds of ferns through the years and lost most of them. They take a particular spot and if you have what they want, they do well. Near a downspout or roof drips or air conditioner condensate drip on the shady side of a building suits them best. Those Boston ferns are not hardy and I can't keep the J painted fern without TLC. I do have one you can't kill but don't know its name. It looks dead now but it will come back in better weather. Good luck.

I'm going to bet it's for pets, as mama goose suggested, and if you aren't equipped to juice it, nor are you interested in drinking wheatgrass juice, then that's about all you can do with it. I grow wheatgrass (and other grains) all winter long. I stop when the temperature gets warmer than about 65°-70°F because it will start getting white fuzzy or black mold from temperatures higher than that. If you notice white fuzzy stuff growing on the surface, or even black mold, then it's time to toss it in the compost. It's ready for cutting when it's between 6 and 8 inches tall, and for use for a pet, you can let it grow a second time after it's cut. You don't want it getting to the jointing stage (the secondary shoot) before cutting it. I juice it, but you have to have a special wheatgrass juicer for the process (this is the one I have - https://www.wheatgrasskits.com/ssjuicer.htm) - not a blender, food processor, or the more common fruit/vegetable juicer people use. I blend the wheatgrass juice with water kefir (I make many fruit flavors of the drink) which makes it more palatable, but you still are reminded of fresh mowed grass when you drink it; but it's soooooooooo good for you, especially in the winter when "fresh" produce from the grocery store is anything BUT fresh!

Thanks y'all. I'm in NW Ga and we have been having warm winters. The last couple of years I've chilled new ones in my bottom drawer of fridge and planted in pots in Dec and they've done really well. This year I'm not sure what happened but after a horrible horrible hail storm that just destroyed them and they shriveled up. I was so frustrated and decided I really wanted to either store them to replant this fall or go ahead and replant now. I've had some that have came back for several years and thought i'd try to save these and wanted the best advice on care for them. I think I will replant now and pray they do ok. Thanks again, Judy