Yes, you can. Most nurseries and home improvement stores carry bagged, prepared compost. Determining quality can be tricky - I prefer to see the stuff before I buy it and many places won't have samples open for you to examine.

It certainly can't hurt to buy a single bag and take it home and use it. You'll get a sense of it's quality as soon as you open it. It should be dark, fluffy, with no huge woody chunks or bits of strange debris. And it should smell earthy, not sour or like a barnyard.

An alternative to buying in bags is to see if anything is on offer in bulk at soil yards or landscape supply companies inyour area. There you can see it in person and more easily judge the quality by the appearance. It's also cheaper this way than in bags.

Have you looked into municipal yard waste recycling centers? They typically make a very good compost product and now and again even provide it free to local residents.

Those are some great ideas. Think I'll start calling around. Thanks.

Yes, you can buy ready made and gardengal48 has given plenty of options. But could you revisit the initial premise? 'I have no place to compost.' Is it a question of rules and regulations or do you think you have too little space? If the latter it's amazing how small a spot you need to get composting. And it would solve yard and kitchen waste disposal at the same time.

It is a matter of too little space. And because of that, I worry about odor.

A well managed pile or bin does not have odors. You could go as small as a circle of wire fencing 2 ft in diameter by 4 ft. tall. Hide it behind a shrub, tree, air conditioner, etc. If you are really concerned about odor, start with just yard waste, leaves, grass clippings, garden trimmings. When you are confident you can manage a pile, try adding some kitchen scraps (fruits, veggies and coffee grounds/filters). Keep them covered with other materials. It's very possible!

But to answer your question, bagged compost products vary a lot. They are produced regionally so the stuff I see here is probably not what you have available wherever you are. Based on some lab testing I did on products I can get, quality more or less follows price. The cheapest stuff often has lower organic matter because it has a lot of sand or soil in it. The most expensive is not necessarily worth the price. The middle is the best value for the money. Also, find a torn bag or 'accidentally' poke a finger sized hole to see what the contents look like. If you see too much soil and shredded wood for your taste, move on.

You could do vermicomposting! There's a forum here for that.
I have red wigglers in my compost bins, but haven't gone to complete vermicomposting. I have several bins and the room to do it.
The "worm farms" that I've seen at the nursery are probably 24x24" x 36" tall? What I've read, if you monitor them correctly, there is no smell and you get some great "black gold" and compost tea! Check it out! Nancy

Vermicomposting, huh? That's one I haven't heard of but sounds like it's definitely worth checking out. Thanks!

Hi toxcrusadr, You say to start with yard waste and then on to kitchen scraps keeping them covered with other material. What would that other material be? You and the others are making it sound doable.

One caveat. If you are going to use bagged compost in any but a thin layer, know that "composted steer manure" is reputably loaded with salt. That's good old sodium chloride added heavily to feeds to force the steers to drink a lot (and thus urinate a lot) in feedlot conditions. Grains fed tend to cause calculi to form, clogging malformed gelding urethra (urethrae?). That can kill the poor thing.

This is often not a problem in top dressing lawns once a year or so, but heavy use can give you salt build up in the garden. At one dollar per cubic foot it may seem cheap.

Good to know. It sounds like I'd be best off making/using a 'vegetarian' compost anyway. Thanks!

Joan,
Don't be afraid of smells or anything, you can have a compost ! Honest it's great fun, just find a second hand one on craig's list or something for cheap, so that you can throw it away with no guilt if you don't like it !

You can put all sort of stuff in it, and even if it's full, it will shrink and some days later you can add stuff again ! I've put all sort of stuff in mine, spicy leftovers and other disgusting crap, and I've never have any nasty smell.

Though I have to warn you that it's so much fun to compost that you might start with a little compost and end with heaps all around your place. I know, I did ;-)

Kitchen waste as well as green plants, grass clippings and fresh manure are high-nitrogen 'greens'. They have to be balanced with low-N, high carbon 'browns' - dry leaves, shredded paper/cardboard, sawdust, wood chips. I keep some fall leaves handy in a bag or wire bin next to the compost all winter. When I dump my kitchen bucket I cover it with a double handful of leaves. By spring the bin is getting full and slowly breaking down. Scavenge some browns and eat a gallon bucket of ice cream and keep the bucket and lid for kitchen scraps. You won't be sorry.

Now I'm getting anxious to try some ideas. It sounds like I can probably make it work after all. Thanks, everyone, for all the great input!!

Hooray - a convert. Here's my compost heap ... can't see it? It's behind the shrub on the left at the end. Is your yard smaller than this?? Good luck with your new hobby/addiction.

Even in Winter when the trees are bare it's still hidden. (This was January 2013 - we had snow!)

I'm becoming more and more encouraged!

You would need a space of about 4 feet by 4 feet to have a well functioning compost bin. Properly made compost will smell only of good rich earth, never something offensive.
Perhaps this composting tutorial might be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial

Joan, it's so great to see a gardener get interested and see the possibilities!

Food scrap is the next frontier in reducing what goes into our landfills. It's the biggest remaining part of our trash after removing all the other 'traditional' recyclables. Because it decomposes so fast, in a residential setting backyard composting is the best solution. Combined with all the yard and garden trimmings, there's millions of tons of potential nutrients. It's practically a national treasure!

Thanks, kimmsr, for the tutorial. I think you've all talked me into trying it. Wish me luck!