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What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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Posted by
purpleinopp 8b AL (
My Page) on
Wed, Oct 3, 12 at 15:25
| About 3 months ago I bought about 8 bags of stuff labeled "top soil." Inside was dark, almost black very finely-particled "dirt" and a pretty high percentage of sand. No clay that I noticed. Although moist, it was not at all amenable to clumping or holding a shape, if that makes sense. Would have passed easily through a sifter.
Fast-forward to yesterday, one bag left, sitting outside since I brought it home. First clue that something weird is going on is how the shape doesn't change as I move the bag. It's a pancake. Open the end and it's brown inside - not dark brown, it's medium, almost light brown, with a little green (algae?) on the outside. Odor unremarkable. Instead of being sand- or dirt-like, it's now a crumbly block of (clay?)
I've left different bags of stuff around in different places for various amounts of time and have never seen anything like this in any bag, new or old. It's extremely unlikely that this one bag from the same pallet (I loaded them myself) happened to have totally different contents, so I wonder what went on in that bag this summer?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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| I have seen similar caking in forgotten bags of peat moss and fertilizer; maybe it had peat in it? |
RE: What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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| And I've had the same thing happen with bags of composted manure...in fact, bags of many things that I haven't used in a timely fashion. I just dump it out, break it up with a shovel, and use it. |
RE: What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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| My theory is, the soil was there all the time, but was 1) ground up finely and 2) masked by whatever compost or organic matter they added. During the summer the organic fraction continued to decompose, leaving almost all soil, which caked together because it was dry. I'd break it up and use it too, but add some more compost, cause 'shee no look so good!' |
RE: What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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| Thanks for the responses! Definitely no peat or manure in there, they charge a lot more for that stuff. It was the cheapest "dirt" they had, $1.19. Pretty wet in there, much heavier. I was unable to lift it the other day, had to drag/roll it, but had no problem getting it in the trunk of my car to bring home. Our dog has dug some holes around the yard. Filling a couple of them is the best thing I think for this... stuff. |
RE: What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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| On the bright side, you could probably pave your driveway with it... |
RE: What on Earth happened inside this bag?
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