Manure is great, but what’s the dirt on soil?
Posted on May 6th, 2008 – 6:54 PMBy Jaime Chismar
At the Spring into Green event, Connie and I met many gardeners, including Lynette, a spunky green thumb who was looking for some free fill for her new veggie beds. We were worried. Free dirt isn’t always food safe, so we planned to do a little research on Lynette’s behalf. Well, it looks like she beat us to the punch and got herself a good deal to boot!
From Lynette:
I met Connie and Jaime at the Spring into Green Event… I had asked you both where I should buy 6 yards of dirt for my raised beds where I plan to grow food. Connie, you had cautioned me about going to an expensive landscape store because the dirt was going to be overpriced. I just wanted to let you know what I found.
So I called a couple of garden centers: Bachmans, Wagners, Sunnydale Garden Center, Home Depot, Mendards and most of them just had bags of dirt and did not deliver.
I Googled “Buying Garden Soil in Minnesota” and stumbled on a forum that mentioned two names – Herman Landscape Supply (952.492.2783) and Leitner’s (651.291.2655). I ended up going with Herman Landscape supply at just $11.75/yard with a delivery fee of $80 ($10 extra if it is delivered on a weekend) With delivery and tax, my dirt cost me $160.28. In comparison, if I had bought bags of dirt from Home Depot, the same amount cost $264.87. We will see how this year goes – the dirt was described as 1/3 dirt, 1/3 sand, 1/3 horse manure and we mixed in some compost that we had in our garden.
Thanks Ladies!
No, thank you for sharing your research, Lynette!
One response to "Manure is great, but what’s the dirt on soil?"
I would recommend Dale Green & Company for topsoil as well, similar pricing and has topsoil/peat blend available. Highly rated by Angie’s List.
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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