Hi!

I live in Havertown. I actually go to the Recycle Center in Fairmount Park (I can give you directions if you need it, but if you look up Fairmount Park on the web you'll find it).

All the free compost, wood chips, horse manure, and wood that you could ever want. If you have a pickup truck, take it and fill it. We have an Equinox, so what we did when we filled our raised beds was take our recycle cans (we have 3, and then we borrowed 2 from our neighbors) - a total of 5...we put down the back seat and laid a tarp down (just in case!), and we were able to wedge the 5 cans in the back of the SUV. We made 5 trips....filled two 4x8 raised beds, one 12x8 raised bed, and had 2 extra cans (one for me, one for my neighbor) for filling containers for flowers, etc. Took us one day and saved us a ton of cash. AND...we did this when gas was $4.50 a gallon last year, so it's even cheaper this year.

I would say if you don't have a pickup truck, maybe rent one from U-Haul for a day and get some friends to help you.

The only catch with the Recycle Center is that it's only open M-F 7:30-3:30...so if you work f/t you'll have to take a day off to do this.

I had an awesome garden last year with this soil...it was black, very fine, and very rich. Still looks good in mid-February, with some settling (so I've got to go get some more in about a month). I grew the most amazing tomatoes, peppers, and squash last year. The compost is clean, and the horse manure is aged.

Post back if you need more details...I am happy to share it since this is also a newly-found resource for me as well (I've lived here 43 years and I just found out about this last Spring).

Pam
Havertown, PA

That's perfect!!! Thanks so much. I might have to get a U-haul pickup.

I've been to Fairmount Park a bunch of times, but never even noticed the signs! I guess I just wasn't looking for them!

Thanks again!

Wow. I didn't know that. I live down in southern Chester County, but I'm up near Fairmount Park for work quite often. I'll have to take the pickup one day. Thanks so much for the info.

Pam,

I live in Havertown too and need to fill some raised beds but Fairmount Park's website says you have to show proof that you are a philadelphia resident. Also it sounded like you can only take one garbage can full. I was going to rent a truck and pick some up but how did it all work for you? Thanks!

I didn't go myself. I was thinking of renting a truck, but that was going to cost me a good bit of money anyway. So, I decided against it for now. I would be interested to find out if what you are saying is true.

I've been contemplating going to a full-scale SFG everywhere in my garden, but I haven't finalized my decision yet. The availability of both coarse vermiculite and more importantly a large quantity of compost are two of the biggest factors to consider.