I've bought it both at Home Depot and Lowe's, the two biggest "box" stores around here. It's about $10 for a 2 cu ft bag. I picked up two bags this past weekend just to try it out because I liked the fine texture and dark brown color. I also don't have any dogs and none of my close neighbors do either so figured there wasn't too much danger. There is definitely a chocolate smell, I don't know how long it'll last, but it is a little weird to walk out first thing in the morning to the car and smell.... chocolate :-)

Thank you, Hoovb, for the info. Everyone climate and soil is different. Stuff don't decompose ON TOP in my zone 5a winter of -20 degree Fahrenheit. It was snow and hail early this April. Kim (Roseseek) has 7" of rain in his dry California versus my 40" of rain plus 23" of snow in my Chicagoland. Stuff decomposes fast where it's warmer underground in my cold zone, with wet limy clay. Lime was used to corrode corpses. Kim's soil is shale clay, where shale is a natural source of gas. I have limestone clay, rich in calcium carbonate. TUMS (calcium carbonate) is an anti-acid and anti-gas. Stuff decompose fast in my limy clay, versus less in shale clay or sandy soil. I tested it: I put 20+ fresh banana peels IN THE BOTTOM of Radio Times planting hole. That bush is 100% healthy, most blooms. I also tested putting half-rotted horse-manure at the bottom of Christopher Marlow, with huge blooms. My logic of putting cocoa mulch NPK of 2.5 - 1 - 3 at the depth below 2 feet for tomatoes: 1) Cocoa mulch decomposes FAST when wet underground. Its nitrogen content speeds up decomposition. A site stated "cocoa mulch decomposes fast when wet." 2) The heat released from the decomposition process underneath speeds up tomato growth. Black plastic mulching of tomato in cold zone yielded more, and earlier fruits, due to heating up of the soil. We put bags of dethatched grass in the garage one winter, and it heated up the entire garage. 3) The acid released from carbohydrates decomposition breaks up the bottom limestone layer ... I'm hoping for conversion to gypsum (hydrated calcium sulfate). Cocoa mulch is acidic at pH of 5.8, which will bring down my pH over 8 of limestone underneath. 4) By the time the tomato roots expand downward to below 2 feet, everything is decomposed and will supply the potassium needed for that late stage. Cocoa mulch has 2.5 nitrogen, 1 of phosphorus, and 3 of potassium, and contains all micronutrients: ANALYSIS OF COCOA MULCH at pH 5.4 Total N % 3.0 Total C % 43.0 Phosphorus mg/100g 1000 Potassium mg/100g 3251 Calcium mg/100g 575 Magnesium mg/100g 488 Iron mg/100g 140 Manganese mg/100g 9 Zinc mg/100g 11 Copper mg/100g 3.5 Nickel ppm 1.0 This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Tue, Apr 30, 13 at 17:14

It's my favorite mulch besides compost. I like the looks of it and love the aroma. In the past I bought it from Lowe's, but they didn't have it when I looked last summer. I bought it from a local nursery instead but have seen it at ACE and OSH on occasion. You will probably hear warnings about danger to pets. I've never had a problem using it around cats but when we had dogs, I didn't use it around them just to be safe because they ate everything! Here is a link that might be useful: Snopes on cocoa mulch danger

If you want the whole story about cocoa mulch here is the link to the story. Read the whole thing...especially under the heading "origins". Home Depot is now selling a product that has been treated to rid it of the toxic chemicals...etc. Here is a link that might be useful: more on cocoa mulch