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If I grow heirlooms one year in large containers with very nice soil, how do I ameliorate the same soil for next year's crop? I have some ideas but would like to know how one maintains healthy tomatoes year after year w/o lugging bags up the 14 feet stairway on my deck and spending more on new soil.
More often than not at some point container soils/mixes will break down and not offer as good of service as they would the first year. However, you can save some money, and backache, by using last years mix and amending it with some fresh mix.
You might also want to try coco-coir as your potting medium. It comes in dehydrated blocks, weighs practically nothing (easy to carry upstairs) and when re-hydrated expands to a sizable amount of medium. I'd recommend adding perlite to it though for extra drainage and oxygen exchange. A ratio of coir to perlite mixed 80/20 would be good; 70/30 might even be better.
Whoops; not sure why Portsmouth is listed... but think the zone is still 8b. I am retired now and living in McClellanville (Charleston County) South Carolina. Lugging heavy things outdoors is like dragging an anchor through the swamp... and as wet in our humidity!
