calculating compost

Our community garden is figuring out how to get a nice compost product this year. Our priorities are a screened, delivered, organic product that fits in our budget.

Here's a nice site to calculate compost coverage: SOIL AMENDMENT CALCULATOR

We have about 125 plots averaging about 15 square feet each (my guess). That's about 28,000 square feet total. I'm figuring 2 inches coverage on all plots would be good. The calculator says we need 173 cubic yards of compost. That seems like a lot. At 15 cubic yards per truckload, that's a good 10 deliveries. Maybe only half of the gardeners would actually use it, since many of use make our own compost. So 5 truck loads. I suppose the thing to do is go one truck load at a time and order more when its gone.

While I had the on-line calculator site up, I checked out what I need for my home garden. It has five 9x3 foot beds, and one 8x8 foot cold frame, have a total of about 200 sq feet, so for 2 inch coverage, I need 1.2 cubic yards (30 cubic feet). I will see how much compost I have ready in my bins before buying any.