I would still be crying.

If I'm feeling ambitious, I use my compost mixed with avocado leaves that Mikey mows into bits with the lawnmower. This year I have a pile of horse manure that has been sitting there for several months, so I'll mix that in. I always end up having to buy some bags of stuff at HD, though. I buy the cheapest bag of stuff that isn't steer manure and spread it super thin to make the garden look pretty for a few weeks. There's never enough!

no steer manure? why not? min

I recently solved the never enough problem by picking up some very nice free finished compost from the Los Virgenes Municipal Water District in Agoura, just NW of Los Angeles, see link. Available on Saturday mornings, saw a notice for it in the little local weekly paper. The pick up process was super easy, drove the truck into a giant shed, scooped up some compost from a giant pile, using the shovels and dust masks they provided. The material is very even and smells good. It has a Class A rating from the FDA whatever that means. There is a nutritional analysis in one of the PDFs on their site. There may be some argument out there against using muni compost, but it looks fine to me. I used some of it in a new little veg bed I put in last week.

Otherwise I use yard trimmings and branches and leaves that husband shreds with a chipper, and am hoping my initial compost bin, which is almost full now, will turn out something useful before too long.
sb

Here is a link that might be useful: Rancho Los Virgenes Community Compost

I probably use 5 yards of compost from San Pedro's county facility on Gaffey every year, hard to believe how much my soil needs to be fed. I do make tea from some, but the clay and the microflora seem to eat the rest of the compost I put down like a hungry teenager.

I have a local tree service drop a load of mulch in my driveway when I need it. I actually do my mulching a bit later though - right at the end of the spring blooming period after I weed-whack the bulbs.

Ryan

Yep. Just finished. I get 10 yards from a local composter.

{{gwi:503790}}

Just about killed me. Garden looks beautiful, though.

That's compost, not shredded bark, correct, Hoovb?

Can't fathom what would have happened if we'd had rain while you were in the midst of your mulch-o-rama. Distributing that huge pile if it had been sodden would have been a herculean task, not that doing it dry wasn't already.

PS: Also love the self-portrait silhouette.

It's shredded tree that has been composted.

If it had poured rain, and poured rain some more, and then poured rain again, I would be happy even with a giant pile of soaking wet mulch. Mulch will dry. Rain trumps all.

Min! I just saw your question. I don't use Steer Manure because I have Horse and Chicken manure already. I need some plain old non-poop mulch to mix in.
Renee