Went and got the Trail Road "potting soil" compost: 535 kgs (1179 lbs) for $26

Given the uncertainties around whether or not we'll get compost delivered at the allotment this year, I took the plunge and learned how to go and get it myself.  In fact, went twice today because just one load wasn't enough.

Here are the basics:

- Trail Road Landfill (just west of Farrhaven).

- They're open Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm.

- They're open select Saturdays, with shorter hours -- see https://ottawa.ca/en/garbage-and-recycling/waste-facility-landfills/trail-waste-facility-landfill.

- You drive in, onto the scale, and say you're buying potting soil.

- You drive over to the pile and fill up as much as you want.

- You drive over the scale again (on the exit side).

- You pay based on the change in weight.

- In 2026, Up to 250 kg ( 441 lbs)  = $12 including tax.

What I did was take everything out of the back of the car, lay the back seats down, place a spare rubber-backed mat to cover that area, then lay down the big tarp. Brought some shovels and buckets etc.

I left home at 6:30am to get there for the 7am start, especially since the website says first come first served.  Next time I wouldn't arrive right at opening, because there were a few big trucks waiting in line.  And when I asked the staff if they ever run out of the compost ("potting soil"), she said basically no, they can always bring more over.  And they have it through summer and fall, but obviously not in winter.

For my first load, I just used a shovel (the old broken full-metal head snow shovel) and shovelled it directly onto the tarp.  This got the job done, but I had no idea how much I was getting.  Took around 20 minutes to load.

For my first UNload at the garden, I kept track of how many buckets it was.  Turned out to be 13.5 buckets, 230 kgs (507 lbs), which cost $12 including tax.  Turned out I could have gotten more for no additional cost since I hadn't reached the minimum weight.  (Arrival weight was 1420 kgs (3131 lbs), departure was 1650 kgs (3638 lbs).)

I definitely needed more, so I went back for round 2.

For my second load, I used two buckets to load the car, rather than a shovel, and kept track of how many buckets worth  This way I could make sure I got at least as much as the first time, and more to get full use of my money.  This time, I loaded up 20 buckets worth.  Some of the buckets I dumped in from each rear passenger side; others I dumped in from the back.  These 20 buckets weighted in at 305 kgs (672 lbs), which cost $14.65 including tax.  (Arrival weight was 1410 kgs (3109 lbs), departure was 1650 kgs (3781 lbs).)  I was a bit nervous during the drive back about whether it might be too much for the car, but the car was fine, a bit sluggish but fine, and I avoided braking suddenly to avoid the compost dropping down behind my seat.

For my second UNload, it came to 19.5 buckets, but anyway, close enough.

The two batches, with a total of 33 buckets = 535 kgs (1179 lbs), was sufficient, and that's with keeping  5 buckets for the basement to use next year as a head start for sowing carrots and beets, and to mix in when plant the hardies while waiting to receive (or go and get) more compost.

It was a lot of work, but not bad, I left home at 6:30am and was finished sometime around noon, give or take.  Done for the year!

Bring:

[and go when there has been NO RAIN for at least several days to avoid paying for water]

- big tarp for bottom

- smaller tarp for top

- 2 buckets (I used these for my second load -- much better than a shovel bec I can keep track of how many buckets I've dumped into the car)

- clamp things to clamp the tarps together (I brought some but didn't bother using them)

- gloves (but of course I never bother)

- (shovel is optional as long as you have the buckets)