I need dirt for my three raised bed gardens in the backyard. And I need dirt for the 4×9 patch I cleared in my front bed where I hope to plant an obscene amount of basil.

I call a couple of terrific landscapers each of which tells me that it will be more than a $1000 to come and clear the dirt in the front bed and deliver the eight cubic yards I need to fill the beds. I figure I’ll do it myself.

I know that the Fairmount Recycling Center has screened compost at $36 a ton. Some of my students had waged war with the internet to figure out exactly how much a ton of dirt covers. I know that I have three beds that each need 40 cubic feet of dirt and front bed that needs 45 cubic feet for a total of 165 cubic feet or about 6.1 cubic yards. (I divided 165 by 27 (which was my understanding of how many cubic feet ONE cubic yard of soil would be)).

One of the landscapers recommended a company that would deliver soil. Here’s the timeline:
1. Call Thursday; they take information and promise to call back. Quote me price of $385 for top soil/mushroom soil mix.
2. Call Friday (we’ll call you back).
3. Call late Friday (we’ll call you back. We’re almost out of soil. I’ll call you Sunday.)

Guess what? They didn’t call.