Best place to buy black dirt and garden supplies (buying, live)

[DeeDubb]

Hello,

I am planning on doing some yard work this spring...setting up raised beds and planting a few things. Where is a good place in the Tri-Cities to buy black dirt (either bags or loose) and where's a good place for garden supplies/seeds/plants?

Thank you!

[Ted Bear]

The sad news...there is no (good) loose dirt/screened top soil/black dirt anywhere in the tri cities area. The best you can do, and it is 'good stuff', but costly...$40/yard or so, plus delivery, plus tax.....is from Down to Earth where they sell a "mushroom mix" which consists of used mushroom soil, sand, horse manure and compost. It is great stuff, very rich, but not too rich that you can't plant in it with just a little 'toning down'.

Caution: Do Not Buy anything called "top soil" without first inspecting it in person. Look at exactly what you are buying before you buy it. There is very little real top soil in the area, and the stuff they sell for top soil is full of clay, roots, junk, grass, and weeds. After you clean it up, you will likely get no more than 50% yield, plus you have to figure out how to get rid of all of the debris!

You can buy bags of 'top soil' at any of the big box stores, and for a few dollars more, there is Evergreen Garden Center which carries a good selection of bagged products (and garden supplies/plants)--but hardly anything that you can't buy at the bigger places for less money, sadly.

I buy my seeds from catalogs...mostly Johnnies Seeds (there are no local seed companies with a broad array of garden seeds--only tobacco, legumes, etc.). Any of the local garden centers and farm stores (like Mize) have a reasonable selection of seeds, but none which seem to be specifically 'bred' for the lower Appalachian area.

Good luck with your gardening. The good news is that plants, once you get them in, seem to do well in the heavy clay soil. Working that soil enough to get something actually planted in it is another matter altogether.

[TN Tin Man]

Look for mushroom farms in your area...