Thanx Weezie. I made the mistake of using compost in my veggie garden last yr, that the local Transfer Station (DUMP!) was giving away. I thought, "FREE! Good price, cuz I don't even have to budget for it!!"
HUH! I ended up 'paying for it' in the time I spent fighting the ABUNDANT weeds! Never again... not from there, anyway!
I havent looked, but I'm assuming that I can buy bagged compost that's been sterilized or something, so I'm not inadvertently planting weed seeds (??) I don't really have the space here to compost, & besides, when I used to do that it was more work than I felt it was worth, if it's to be done right.
Are you saying that pineneedle or leaf mulch will turn the soil alkaline? How about If I were to work that sort of stuff into the soil now, where I want to plant the Baby's Breath next spring... would that be enough time for it to break down? I need to do something like that where the tomatoes will go, too. I've never put my tomatoes in the same place year after year (they pull a lot of Nitrogen from the soil, which needs to be replenished), but I'm limited in where I can plant them, since we moved here.
I'll look for a ph soil test kit next time I go to the Garden section, while they still might have such items in stock.