North Shore

[quietann]

hm. We went out to Ipswich this afternoon to drop off an alternator from one of the "special" cars to a guy who is an expert in fixing these things, and look for good dirt to be delivered to the garden. The first was accomplished successfully; the second was frustrating, because the place I wanted to go to was still closed for the winter (or closed on Saturdays). We didn't stop at what might have been a good alternative, and the one place we did stop at didn't really impress me. We need about 10 cubic yards of dirt, so going to Home Depot or Lowes or a nursery to buy bags isn't really an option. I want something better than "loam" -- which AFAIK is just fill dirt from construction projects, full of clay and weed seeds and not much else.

Of note is the amount of flooding on the North Shore. The Ipswich River has gone way over its banks and has flooded numerous roads. I bet there are a *lot* of wet basements out there right now; I certainly saw enough people with ponds in their backyards, and all the stables seem to be keeping their horses in, because the fields are full of mud (and I can guarantee you that a horse *will* find the muddiest spot in a field to roll in, and then shake off like a big dog, sending high velocity glops of mud everywhere in the vicinity...). The "good alternative" mentioned above is the Essex County Co-op, across the street from the Topsfield fairgrounds. Basically all the parking areas and the midway area are under water right now, and the Co-op had a one-lane, very muddy approach road with big ponds on either side.

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

i don't have any suggestions for topsoil places in MA, but if you find someplace, you might see if they have dirt already mixed with compost -- i had some of that delivered when i made my raised garden beds in WA, and it was fabulously successful (and didn't stink or anything).

[quietann.livejournal.com]

The place we stopped at will do a 50-50 loam/compost mix for $25/cubic yard. Their compost was very nice, but their loam was just icky.

[tb]

A few years back we got the default loam from Roberto Loam & Equipment in Billerica, most of which was used for the veggie garden. This was shortly after the Title V septic replacement, so the "soil" we had left in the backyard was so torn up that anything was an improvement. I don't recall their loam being particularly weed-filled, and the garden has done pretty well since, though I do amend with manure and compost every year anyway.

I don't know if they have higher-quality stuff available, but at least they answered the phone and delivered when they said they would. I think I've got a coupon for them kicking around somewhere which I can pass along if you're interested.