I have had the same problem as yourself. Couldn't find a store selling the
right stuff. What is labeled as composted manure is generally too strong to put
in your garden. Other composted variations turn out to resemble ordinary black
dirt. The closest I found were bags of mushroom
compost, the drawback being their cost, which is not deserved since this
stuff is basically straw mixed with leftover mushroom bed material. I finally
resorted to building my own compost bins and collecting leaves from all my
puzzled neighbors, who dump this stuff out on the street. For
this season, I wouldn't give up on what you started. You can accelerate
the cooking process by turning the pile over as many times as your back
will allow. Also, mixing in some accelerators, like fertilizers will also
speed up the process. In the meantime, think about expanding your existing
mulch pile. It's cheaper and usually better quality than anything you can buy.

Sherwin Dubren

wrote:

I have my compost bin out in the back but i only really filled it up
just as it froze last fall. So i'm not expecting to have a whole lot
ready for this year. Even if everything in there composted instantly
it still wouldn't be much.

I have a new garden plot (grown one season of veggies so far) that is
pretty much clay with the small amount of topsoil i dumped on it last
year. All the advice i've got is to dig a lot of compost into this
plot. So where does a city bound veggie gardener get compost?

Will the nurseries (where i buy tomato plants) sell bags of it?
I know supermarkets have bags of peat moss and potting soil, do they
also have compost?
I'm going to check if my city might be giving out compost to residents
at some point this season.
I've never actually met a farmer in person so i can't imagine choosing
a random farm, driving up, knocking on the door and asking if they
sell compost.

So what do i do?