I did recently find peat moss at my local Home Depot here in Ohio... but you may also want to check Kmart, WalMart, and Lowes- I've found it there also.
No help with the vermiculite though... that's my mission to find it locally myself.
First timer here too!

I got my vermiculite at a local nursery. Last year I got some at Walmart.

I found 2 cu ft bags of vermiculite at my local hardware store which is a True Value franchise. It wasn't cheap, though - $19 per bag!!! I'm a big fan of shopping locally and wouldn't dream of going to a Home Depot, even if they did carry this item, which they don't. I've also found that local stores will often order stuff if you ask.

You can find small bags of vermiculite at Lowes for about $7.
Thats where I got it for this year.

vermiculite from local garden center/greenhouses. huge bulk-y bag for only $10. (i think i got an exceptional deal though ;) i have seen peat moss everywhere mentioned above ranging in price from a few bucks all the way up to $7 for a bale. You can even buy the peat moss in bulk from a local landscaping supply company for ~$25 cubic yard. Hope this helps!

Just wanted to add where I located vermiculite....
at a local feed store! $14 for a 4 cu. ft. bag. I called many local nurseries and checked stores as previously mentioned with no luck- except at Ace hardware $5 for 5 quart bag (small bag).
I live in an area where there are quite a few nurseries not far away, so I thought I'd have luck there, but I did not.
I also read somewhere to check with a pool supply store, as they sometimes use vermiculite for setting up pools- not sure about this though.
Check for a local feed store- and WOW they had a lot of neat other things there too !

Hi all;

Try Ward's Natural Science in Rochester, NY - They do stock a 14 lbs Vermiculite for $22.50 (plus NYS tax($2.63) w S/H($8.00)= total of $33.13)!!

John @ Brooklyn, NY

Umm, thanks?

Welcome to the forum. However, I think ellamomi2002 probably found what they needed several years ago.

And that price seems a bit steep to me. I picked it up for $14, though it wasn't in NY.

Look forward to hearing about your garden!

Can I suggest you try local hydroponics stores? I found some vermiculite locally at garden shops, but a local hydroponic store beat their price by a large piece.

I spent way too much on the vermiculite because I could only find it at a local Agway after several weeks of looking and bit the bullet. Everything else I got at local nurseries.

About your only chance are the garden centers, nurseries or the best chance a feed store. The problem comes in when you ask for the coarse vermiculite almost nobody uses it. If you use the medium or fine grind, you defeat the purpose.

John

Here is a link that might be useful: Johns Journal

Here peat is outside easy to find. The other things I was looking for were shoved behind the Christmas decorations.

Here's a link to some Peat Moss that I purchased from Home Depot:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100355781&N=10000003+90018+528811

It was not the compressed kind -- this kind was ground up very nicely. If you garden organicly though, this peat moss is enriched with MiracleGro fertilizer. But for me, it was so much easier to use this that the compressed peat moss.

I also purchased my vermiculite at Home Depot -- it was in very large kraft brown paper bags (I think 4 cu ft per bag). I looked and I do not see this listed on the Home Depot website. If my store has it, there is a good chance that your store can order it. I did find it in the gardening center... it was on the shelves right above where they had the pots.

Here is a link that might be useful: Judy's Square Foot Garden

I found a source online for 3 cu ft bags.... here's the link:

http://www.mortonproducts.com/page.cfm/1281

Scroll down to the bottom of the page. It's $7.50 per bag. Not a bad price as I paid $14 per bag last year at Home Depot. I have no idea how much the shipping would be....

Here is a link that might be useful: Judy's Square Foot Garden

where can I find vermiculite in Tullahoma Tn. area

Check with your local nurseries, but you may not want to use vermiculite as it is pure asbestos, which is why most people don't use it anymore.