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California Gardening

Cheap Sources of Compost in the San Gabriel Valley area?

16 years ago

Hi,

Does anyone have any sources for cheap bulk compost in the eastern San Gabriel Valley (Walnut/Diamond Bar) area, and preferably those that will deliver? I have extremely compacted, seemingly sterile clay soil where I want to start a garden, and I know I'll need a lot of organic matter to get decent results.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have.

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Comments (4)

david_67
16 years ago
Vons used to deliver free to community gardens & also Whole Foods (call the manager of a store or check their websites for who to contact) as they both have composting programs over in Sunland or Sun Valley. Usually mulch is free from LA County at these locations, http://www.lacity.org/san/solid_resources/pdfs/mulching_poster.pdf . Not sure if locations are close to you. At our community garden in Alhambra many folks are using free soy bean pulp from Chinese/Vietnamese Tofu/Soy Milk processor/markets, in the typical clay soil of southern California. Also see in www.Craigslist.org (LA) people trying to get rid of horse manure & tree trimmer businesses delivering free wood chips. Hope this helps a bit.
lindasewandsew
16 years ago
Hi, I live close to you, share your crap soil, and called around a couple of years ago about mulch with no luck. When I called City Hall, they actually told me that even though they pick up green waste separately to make compost, they couldn't give it back because it was supposed to be re-used. Duh!!! Cal Poly Pomona might be a good source. If they don't sell it, they may be able to tell you who does. They also have the best pumpkin patch in our area. The pumpkins weren't there yet today, but should be out within another week or so, right in front of the Farm Store on Temple, just north of Valley Blvd (the Farm Store is nice too, if you haven't been there). If you find a compost source, please post it for the rest of us. I'll call around a little too and inform you if I find anything. Hope that helps, Linda
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this subject been around here and there before. where i live they compost all compostable waste they chip up old furniture and lanscaping timber/logs you name it, it gets added to garden and tree lopping waste, along with up to medium grade industrial liquid waste and the humus from the sewerage treatment works. over here they sell it to gardeners sometimes give it away, it goes to blenders of all sorts of products ie.,. potting mix, soil improvers, etc.,. and gets sold over the counter. the heaps they compost it in and mix the liquid waste into obviously get hot, how hot dunno? the stuff that goes to potting mix blenders and baggers of soil improvers is likley screened but that from the dump sites can have all sorts of stuff in it notable pieces of plastics that get mixed into the stream early on. it is in all over the counter product. to use or not to use, i follow the regime so long as you are fully educated into what something may contain and that product is all that is available then what to do? use it i would say but maybe sparingly. we all use potting mixes so very likley we are all using the stuff in someway anyway? if gardeners don't use it they will put more of it onto conventional farms that is the thrust so maybe down track it will no longer be available to gardeners. a vexing question? is this the lesser of 2 evils? len Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page
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RE: GREENALL MICRO-BARK I found Micro-Bark at the 'Green Thumb Nursery' in Los Gatos, CA. It is typically in-stock. http://www.greenthumblosgatos.com/ I'm still searching for a local 1/4-1/8 granite source ... will post if I find one nearby. ~ TR Here is a link that might be useful: Green Thumb Nursery - Los Gatos CA
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Davis Street Recycling Center, San Leandro. That's where Waste Mgmt takes all your greens cart stuff, and composts it. We used the Gold level compost to replace the top 8" of adobe clay in our yard. The plants went wild and in less than six months the landscaping looked like it had been there for two years. The gardener we used was so impressed, he brings people by to look at our place periodically. The stuff is fantastic, and cheaper than anywhere else - but you do have to haul it yourself. So if you don't own or can't borrow a pick-up truck, it may not work for you.
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Bakaroni, have you ever done lasagna-style beds? 3 inch Layers of your own dirt interspersed with a layer of leaves, a layer of compost, a layer of sweepings from messy trees, water it down, and top it off with a 3 inch layer of leaves or straw as mulch to keep it damp underneath. By spring your clay soil will be amazing and full of what plants want. I go around to neighborhoods with street trees that drop major amounts of leaves, and shovel them into bags, since the fall is the only time of year you can really collect the good stuff, I store as many as I can, and it's free! And if you are able to compost your kitchen scraps, it's amazing how they add up. http://www.lasagnagardening.com/
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akarinz
16 years ago
I live in Glendora and get chippings from local tree trimming companies. I use these as mulch. I haven't had to pay for it yet. I think if they take the chippings to the dump, they have to pay for it. They dump it in the street for me, or sometimes in the driveway and then I have to wheelburrow it in to where I want it. Just be careful with fresh chippings, as they can sometimes cause problems. Anyways call some of the local companies and see what they say.

Karin (who works at Cal Poly) ;)
lindasewandsew
16 years ago
Hi, This was posted on the California Gardening forum. I'll be picking some up in the near future. Norco is close enough for me to pick up a load or two. Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Free compost in Norco

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