I have not used it but found this on their website:

" Working with the Master Nursery soil committee Coast of Maine reformulated the terrific Bumper Crop Organic Soil Amendment and super charged it with Mycorrhizae, Worm Castings, Kelp Meal and Dehydrated Poultry Manure. If you are looking for a product to give your gardens a boost head to your nearest Master Nursery Garden Center. That is the only place that you can purchase Bumper Crop Organic Soil Amendment."

So this appears to be a premium compost product. Not sure what the base is - it is likely compost with the above ingredients added.

Whenever buying soil amendments, you kinda get what you pay for. This looks like very nice stuff, for a premium price. I would be happy to use it in my garden. It's more expensive than many compost products but it does have some juicy stuff in it. Personally I'd probably not spend the money, but that doesn't mean it's a worthless product at all.

What I thought when I read the contents (I'd nipped onto the site, too) was, 'Aha. Chicken manure.'

It depends on the chickens but I cannot see the chickens that produced enough droppings for someone to be able to package and sell vast amounts of a product as being chickens who would consider themselves to be organic.

I suppose the chickens get the 'natural' label. They are natural because they are chickens. I think the word natural should not be allowed on labels. It is too often abused.

I wish that all soil/soil mix/potting mix etc was packaged with a 'window' of clear plastic. But I think I know why they don't do that.

Since the source material is not listed I would be very leery of this product. The product review you found would weigh more than the manufacturers advertising hype for me. These products appear to be available only in the New England area.

kimmq is kimmsr

I'd hate to have to garden without it! I've had great success with it. I ran out of it while planting part of my front landscape and the difference between the part that had it and where I ran out was obvious and almost shocking, there was such a difference in plant height and vigor.

I wouldnt do without it in my veggie garden! Its the only product I buy. I add it when I plant and top dress with it throughout the season.

I have used it for quite a few years and have never found a foreign object in a single bag. I'm in SoCal and garden in the ground and raised beds.

gardengal48 thank you for your comment. A local garden center in central NJ has carried it for many years (I worked there one summer), but the price always scared me off. Price has come down now that a few more local places carry the product. Thanks again.

I've seen 40 lb bags of premium soil amendments up in that price range - heck, someone was selling bags of mushroom compost hereabouts for $10. $7 and change is still champagne taste for my beer bottle wallet, but I'm just saying it's not completely out of sight of the market.

As for the negative review: it sounds like a crap batch but unfortunately the poster never said where she lives or where she bought it. Variation by region and even over time in the same place is so much that one should never base their judgment of a product on one bag.

I would have been very disappointed too but the sample results are not so bad, other than the absence of N which indicates too much fresh wood. Plenty of P and K there. pH of 7.3 is not particularly high unless you are trying to grow acid loving plants. It's basically neutral. The Pb number of 27 ppm is a bit elevated, but an order of magnitude below what's considered safe for residential soil (including gardening in it). There was probably some lead painted wood that went in. Crappy and well worth the complaint, but not a health risk. There are, after all, background levels of numerous metals in most soils, usually in the ppm range. Soils in my area are about 10 ppm Pb.

I'd say "use it and keep your eyes open." Like you should with anything you buy in a bag.

I would be lost without Bumper Crop in my garden. I was sold the first time I saw a tomato planted directly in the bag.

My nursery runs a sale every April and I buy 5 - 10 bags.

My entire "yard" is edible landscaping. My soil was built with Bumper Crop

I would take a look at it but the only place carrying it by me wants $14.99 plus tax.

I find it worth every penny of that price, seriously

Their annual get one free sale is the time to stock up

rhonlyn, if you know when the sale is please post here. Thanks

I'm not sure if it is the month of April or May. Check with your local distributor

I started a garden a couple summers ago and it did well. The following year a nursery here highly recommended Bumper Crop, so I tried it. The folks at the nursery said my veggie garden would take off, and they were right! I had the most amazing veggies that just kept giving! I mix three or four bags in the compost each year and get amazing results! A must buy!

No offense but for some reason I can't tell if that last post is from a satisfied customer or a post-bot in Bangalore.

Fox Farm sells Happy Frog soil conditioner With all of that in it too. I believe it's 3 cu. ft. for about $25. Find at a local retailer nationwide. AWESOME!!!!

I've been using primarily Bumper Crop, purchased on sale, to amend the soil in my flower and vegetable gardens, but I have seen something called Black Kow (composted cow manure) in some local nurseries. I'm in zone 8a and have quite a bit of grey clay. Would it be harmful if I combined both of these and mixed it into my soil? Black Kow is considerably less expensive than Bumper Crop.

No, you can use any kind of compost or soil conditioner you want. They usually have slightly different composition depending on the inputs, so it's actually a good thing to use different composts. Cow manure can be a bit higher in salt, which is not a problem except maybe in a dry climate at a very high usage rate.

Mostly you need a large volume of organic matter to improve that clay, and that's more important than what kind it is.

Thanks so much! I've also thrown some perlite into the clay, too, then added Bumper Crop. I will now mix in some Black Kow and hope for the best next spring.

Keep doing it every year, and mulch your garden in the summer and winter with leaves, grass clippings etc. which will break down and improve the soil.

okay, will do! I certainly have a lot of rotted leaves around the perimeter of the property and have done that a little in the past, but will try to do it regularly in summer and winter. Thanks again.

I am building no dog beds which requires laying down my planting medium on top of a layer of cardboard (untreated). I went to a local garden/landscape company for Espoma raised bed mix but they dissuaded me, pushing the Soil Builder. I bought $90’s worth only to get it in situ and realize it is an amendment. Can I plant directly into it or will I now have to buy top soil to mix it into?

Any idea what the ingredients are?

People do grow in 100% compost so it's not unheard of. Depending on the composition, it can cause problems like crusting (which sheds water). And it will shrink as it continues to decompose. I would add topsoil either now or next year to replace the shrinkage, and that will help create a balanced mix.

You could always do an experiment: add soil now to one bed and not to another and compare how they do.

"Any idea what the ingredients are?"

Recycled forest products, composted chicken manure, rice hulls, oyster shells, worm castings, bat guano and kelp meal.

I have and continue to grow tomatoes in containers using only Bumper Crop. And very successfully. But for a raised bed, I would incorporate a reasonable amount of mineral based garden soil or topsoil.

I have a 4 x 12 raised bed. When I first established it several years ago, I filled it totally with Bumper Crop at the suggestion of a local garden center. It is still 100% Bumper Crop and 9 inches in depth. Seeing as it is several years old, I'm interested in ideas of what to mix in this year before I start planting.

I'm surprised it hasn't shrunk a lot over that many years, being mostly all organic matter. Anyway you can add either compost, or maybe a mix of compost and topsoil. Although if you buy a bag of topsoil you never know what you're going to get, so I always look for a torn one. I've seen 'topsoil' bags that seem to have more organic matter in them than some of the 'compost' bags, particularly the cheap stuff. Always know what you're buying.

Thanks toxcrusadr for your suggestions.

i love bumper crop soil builder, yes you mix it either directly into the ground, i throw it in the planting hole in the gardern or flower bed. I also mix it with regular potting soil for my veggies/flowers in pots.