If you put only soil, you'll have airless mud, though if the ground dirt is primarily sand underneath, it might not take too long to dry out, but will still be suffocating to roots of many plants. I would also add leaves, kitchen scraps, pine needles, straw, cut grass from mower bag, any available organic matter. Once you get microbial activity going, you should only need to replenish the top layer with fresh compost/easily decomposed organic matter like grass and leaves, once or twice per year, depending on how fast it sinks/settles from decomposing further. Sorry, I'm too far away to help with a specific store near you. A load that size might be comparably priced or even cheaper delivered, in a truck, dumped where you need it. (And isn't that easier too?!) That's priced by cubic yard (or was last time I did something like that, in OH.)

I used it and I liked the premier I think. It dries out faster, but that wasn't an issue really this last spring. I think it's nice stuff for the early plant outs and I would use it on poppies, bachelor buttons etc. Things that remained longer in their containers for whatever reason, didn't do as well as the ones in Miracle Gro - not a huge difference, just not as vigorous. Promix is nice to work with and those compressed bales go a long way. I think the people who were disappointed with it tried to use it as a longer-term potting soil rather than a seed starter. Thanks Alison, that's a sale worth checking out!

It depends on how much you want. Buying in bulk is much cheaper and most places will deliver (for a fee). If you're interested in buying it that way, do a yellowpage search for "bulk soil", "compost" or "topsoil." A lot of places sell a 50/50 mix of soil with compost mixed in. Shop around a little, prices do vary quite a bit. I'm in Woodbridge so my pricing may differ from yours, though. I was able to get a 50/50 mix for $24.00 per cubic yard. Keep in mind that equals 27 cubic feet so I saved myself about $70 what it would have retailed buying it bagged. If you only need a 2-4 cubic feet, your best bet is probably Wal-Mart for soil and Lowe's for compost. I know Lowe's has a compost/manure mix but I'm not sure about the quality.

I THINK the 'grow bags' are probably more resistant to rotting than anything non-plastic. One important advantage to the grow bag is that it has a flat bottom, so it can sit flat on a surface - ground, floor, etc. The 'thing' I referred to above needs to be hung, and "feed" bags - burlap or plastic - would need to be propped up in some fashion if sat on a flat surface. I was thinking that one could 'unzip' the bottom of a feed-type bag, insert some circular "frame" - say a piece of hardware cloth rolled into a circle of appropriate diameter - then loosely tie the bottom of the bag closed again. This would give you the flat bottom of the grow bags and it MIGHT facilitate harvesting via the loosely bound bottom. All of this unnecessary if one could get one's hands on a grow bag for cheap. I'm not sure if grow bags have 'hit the ground' in AK yet. If so, I should be able to pick some up from some local nurseries. I think the 12-gal size would be a good size for "on the floor in the shop". Speaking of "grow bags" - they are the 'technological advancement' to the old black plastic "tub" used by nurseries for growing larger plants like trees and shrubs. The grow bags prevent 'circling' of the roots by "air pruning". (I'm sure GardenWeb has MANY threads on the subject.) Considering that these are the new 'thing' in nursery technology, all those old black plastic tubs should be 'a dime a dozen'. They have drainage holes in the bottoms, and setting in one of the plastic 'bowls' made to go under planting pots, seems to me that they could be a 'reasonable' worm bin. - indoor or out. What do 'y'all' think about those things as potential worm bins? Is there something about them that would give you pause before you used them? Paul