Delivering TopSoil Goodness, Sun Land Style!

Meet Bill, Sun Land soil mover extraordinaire.  Bill's my new hero, and Sun Land continues to amaze me as the fabulous, local company that they are.

If you're one of my students or a reader of my blog, you already know that I am an advocate of Sun Land products: potting soils, organic compost and fertilizers.

When we needed to purchase topsoil to fill our under-constructed garden beds at the new farm, I did what Sun Land recommended to me a long time ago: I had them custom blend our soil pursuant to a soil test.

So I took a sample and sent it over to be analyzed by Perry Labs in Watsonville.  Perry then sent the results over to Sun Land to have our top soil created.  It perfectly "matches" the deficiencies revealed by the test.

Now before you cry "eliticism," consider that when you are purchasing 30 or more yards of top soil (which will fill a lot of garden beds), and you have no room for dilly dallying or error, this just makes good business sense to get something perfect for your growing conditions.

The problem today, however, was that Sun Land's truck could not fit down our narrow, long, tree-lined driveway. Bill was not to be deterred, however.  True to his claim that he's "never had to return a load," he patiently and with lots of joking to break the tension, removed the tall exhaust stacks on his truck.  I don't know if it was cursing or laughing under his breath that I overhead, but after a lot of jostling and muscling in 90 degree heat, he got those stacks off.

Carefully inching down the driveway and around our classroom and barn, he barely paused at the view of the Monterey Bay before he wise-cracked that if we wanted, he could "take off the edge of our roof-line if we needed him to."

It's a good thing that Bill has delivered to us at our old location before.  He understands how much we appreciate him and his good work. And it's a very good thing that he has been driving trucks and dealing with tree limbs, low-hanging roof-lines, and customers oblivious to their impassable driveways for a couple of decades. 

We needed a guy with mad pro skills on this job.  We got it, and we got our top soil blend.  Ain't it grand?

 

Comments

[Marsha MillerAyers]

Bill delivered my soil, too and he was awesome! He managed to put the soil in the exact spot that I needed it, all the while avoiding a low hanging power line. I had ordered 35 yards of soil knowing, the truck didn't hold that much but when Bill loaded it, he managed to stomp the soil into submission and got it all in the truck! He was great, I hope Sunland appreciates his skills.

[Amy Jespersen]

After taking several of your classes, I finally scraped my front yard of all grass and most of the concrete walkway. I have a desire to plant, plant, plant. This was a great reminder to do a soil test! And of course use Sunland.

[amy watson]

That's a lot of dirt!!

[ChrisC]

I love the idea of custom blending a planting mix using the results of soil testing. I wonder if there are any companies that will do that in Sonoma County.

[A. Marina Fournier]

I think it's only reasonable for a concern such as your to have the right soil, and getting it custom blended is reasonable--I just never knew it could be done. I certainly don't have the enormous need that you do--I don't have that much land for planting in my city lot.

I think that any commercial small farmer should get custome blended soil, in order to get the best output.

[sue]

I've been a fan of Sunland potting soil since using it back in the early 80's. The nursery where I worked (Ron's, in Grover Beach) used it for the "house" potting soil. Excellent structure with the right blend of composted ground bark, sand and peat. We used it for all the custom container plantings we did for the nursery displays and for customers. After so many years of doing the planting for Ron's my hands became accustomed to the feel of it. It is now so hard to find in our area,(most bagged potting soils are junk) I may pick some up when I come for the Tomato Masters class next week. Maybe you can tell me who carries it in the SC area. Here's to soil tests (yes!) and to supporting local suppliers like Sunland.

[finnyknits]

Oh wow. After that performance, I'd totally go with them for any soil or fertilizer needs.

And, really, there is no substitute for excellent soil. Soil testing (and amending) is part of my pre-planting and post-planting regimen each gardening season.