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Phil Lewis: I-75 saga won't be over when the road is finished
Things can move slowly in Washington, D.C. — slower than it takes to widen an interstate highway.
The expansion of Interstate 75 — made possible by the $286.4 billion federal highway bill of 2005 — is almost complete, while little or no progress can be reported on the investigation into who changed the spending bill after it was passed by Congress and signed by the president.
We have known for nearly four years that someone added $10 million to the bill after it was debated and became law. The $10 million expenditure was earmarked specifically for an I-75 interchange at Coconut Road between Fort Myers and Naples.
Most Southwest Floridians were pleased the bill provided $81 million for widening the interstate, but the extra $10 million caused head scratching and eyebrow hiking.
Road planners and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers, said they didn't request the extra $10 million. Residents in the area weren't pushing for it either.
The press started asking questions, eventually connecting the earmark request to U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who was in Southwest Florida for a fundraiser five months before the highway bill was passed. About $40,000 was raised for Young, who at the time was chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In other words, he held the keys to the massive highway spending plan.
Then, the Daily News reported that one of the big contributors at the fundraiser was a land developer who would have much to gain from a interchange at Coconut Road.
Calls for a congressional and/or a Justice Department investigation followed. When the calls persisted, Young took to the House floor and denied the $10 million earmark was a favor to campaign donors. He said it was for a project that Mack and the community supported. He said the penciled-in change to the bill specifically earmarking $10 million for Coconut Road was not criminal, just a legal, clerical correction. He invited an investigation, saying he had nothing to hide.
Mack, who arranged for Young's trip to Southwest Florida, later confronted Young and called his fellow Republican a liar. That was well over a year ago and little has been heard on the issue.
That is, until a few weeks ago.
On Oct. 23, the Associated Press reported that documents were filed in federal court directly linking Young for the first time to a widespread corruption probe in his home state. The filing alleges Young received illegal gifts of nearly $200,000 from an Alaskan-based oil field services company.
The allegations were isolated to corruption in Alaska. There was no mention of Florida.
However, the Washington Post reported last week that the House Ethics Committee had sought information from Mack, specifically about the $10 million earmark for Coconut Road.
"A document obtained by The Washington Post shows that the committee requested information from Mack and expected a response by Aug. 28," Post reporter Perry Bacon wrote. "The congressman said in a statement released (Oct. 29) by his office that the inquiry does not focus on him and that he had no involvement with the project."
The statement from Mack's office read:
"We've been told that we may be a witness to an investigation of others, but we are, of course, not the subject of any investigation."
In a few months, the five-year anniversary of Congressman Young's visit and local fundraiser will have passed and the $81 billion widening project will be all but complete, minus a Coconut Road interchange and — we fear — answers to a few important questions.
Phil Lewis is editor of the Daily News. His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com
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The Mastersons – St Bonaventure's 8/10
Posted: October 31, 2012|
WITH Hurricane Sandy about to hit their adopted hometown of New York, Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore had more than enough reasons to be thinking of other things.
But, while there were plenty of comments about the impending hurricane, the husband and wife seemed more focussed on going down a storm on this, their first ever first to Britain as The Mastersons. The Texas-born couple certainly succeeded in winning over this audience with their close harmony songs that leaned more towards pop, particularly indie-rocker Crash Test and Collapsible Plans, although at times there were similarities with the alt.country of Whiskeytown.
With the bespectacled Chris Masterson pumping out chords and inserting rock-like solos on his big white Gretsch guitar and Eleanor Whitmore playing acoustic guitar and very fine fiddle, they concentrated mostly on songs from their much-praised new debut album.
It is her voice that was the real star of the show. With great clarity and accuracy, it had hints of Joan Baez and Emmylou Harris which is not a bad combination by any standard.
Chris Masterson's voice was more ordinary and he had trouble reaching some of the higher notes, particularly in encore song Virginia Belle.
The real standout song of the night was Birds Fly South, the lovely slow title track of their album.
Individually, they cut their musical teeth as members of various bands working behind people like Diana Ross, Bobby Bare, Son Volt and Regina Spektor and more recently both were in the legendary Steve Earle's backing band. It showed, for they would probably have sounded far better with a band around them. Chris Masterson's electric guitar sounded too thin and chunky for the duo format and you felt that switching to an acoustic guitar would have added more depth. Nevertheless, they did have a lovely sound.

subset: commoncrawl


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Author Interviews Topics
Democracy Now! interviews the most important authors of the day. Check out our vast archive.
Annie Jacobsen, Author of "Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base" (Part 2)We continue our interview with Annie Jacobsen, author of the new book, "Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base." Jacobsen describes the disk-shaped A-12 Oxcart spy plane developed at the Nevada military base, her interview with the plane's pilot, and discusses how the CIA handled reports of UFO sightings. [includes rush transcript]June 09, 2011 | Web Exclusive
Bill Moyers on His Legendary Journalism Career: "Democracy Should Be a Brake on Unbridled Greed and Power"In a Democracy Now! special broadcast, we are joined by legendary journalist Bill Moyers, a founding organizer of the Peace Corps, press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson, a publisher of Newsday, and senior correspondent for CBS News. Public television is where he has made his home, producing many groundbreaking shows and winning more than 30 Emmy Awards. Moyers has just published a new book, "Bill Moyers Journal: The Conversation...June 08, 2011 | Story
Dr. Gabor Maté on the Stress-Disease Connection, Addiction, Attention Deficit Disorder and the Destruction of American ChildhoodToday, a Democracy Now! special with the Canadian physician and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté. From disease to addiction, parenting to attention deficit disorder, Dr. Maté's work focuses on the centrality of early childhood experiences to the development of the brain, and how those experiences can impact everything from behavioral patterns to physical and mental illness. While the relationship between emotional stress and disease,...May 30, 2011 | Story
- The internet is increasingly becoming an echo chamber in which websites tailor information according to the preferences they detect in each viewer. When some users search the word "Egypt," they may get the latest news about the revolution, others might only see search results about Egyptian vacations. The top 50 websites collect an average of 64 bits of personal information each time we visit—and then custom-design their sites to conform to...May 27, 2011 | Story
Bill McKibben: From Storms to Droughts, Devastating Extreme Weather Linked to Human-Caused Climate Change2011 has already become the deadliest year for tornado outbreaks in the United States since 1953, with more than 500 people killed. Extreme weather has made headlines across the world, as well, with megafloods occurring in Colombia, Vietnam, Pakistan and Australia, even as the Amazon just faced its second hundred-year drought in the past five years. News audiences are seeing the warning "severe weather" increasingly flash across TV...May 26, 2011 | Story
- President Obama's trip to Puerto Rico was announced at a time when he is making a concerted push to win the Latino vote in 2012. Earlier this month, Obama gave a major address to a mostly Latino audience in El Paso, Texas, calling for immigration reform. Juan Gonzalez joins us to discuss the history of Latinos in the United States and how it relates to U.S. political and military intervention in Latin America. Gonzalez, a Democracy Now!...May 25, 2011 | Story
The Legendary Bob Dylan Turns 70: Democracy Now! Airs Rare Interviews and Songs from Pacifica Radio ArchivesToday Bob Dylan turns 70 years old, and we air a special program on his life and music. Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota. Raised in Hibbing, Minnesota, he moved to Greenwich Village in January of 1961. Within a couple of years, Dylan would be viewed by many as the voice of a generation as he wrote some of the decade's most famous songs, including "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Times They Are...May 24, 2011 | Story
- Events are being held today across the country to mark what would have been Malcolm X's 86th birthday. Earlier this year a major new biography, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, was published. The book's author, Columbia University Professor Dr. Manning Marable, died at the age of 60 just days before its publication. Two decades in the making, the nearly 600-page biography is described as a re-evaluation of Malcolm X's life,...May 19, 2011 | Story
- After two decades of work, Dr. Manning Marable completed a new biography, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. Dr. Marable used material for his book that was recently made available, thus providing a new insight into the famed civil rights leader. His biography, however, has also refueled the debate on many controversial aspects of Malcolm X's life and interpretation of his politics and legacy. To discuss Dr. Marable's biography, we host a...May 19, 2011 | Story
- Singer-songwriter, actor and author Steve Earle joins us for an extended interview on the popular uprisings in the Middle East, the connection he sees between his antiwar and anti-death penalty activism, and to perform a ballad he wrote from the perspective of the captured American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh, who is now serving a 20-year prison sentence. [includes rush transcript]May 13, 2011 | Web Exclusive
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"Dick Cheney watches television": The four previously unseen 9/11 photos that will make you hate the evil VP all over again
Topics: Barack Obama, Birthers, Republican Party, Politics News
When South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson screamed "You lie!" at President Obama Wednesday night, he dragged the paranoia and anti-Obama contempt that marked so many August "town hells" into the chambers of Congress. Wilson's shriek also served as an exclamation point on an undeniable trend: Obama steadily lost support among white voters during this long, hot summer of hate, with his white approval rating dropping by almost one-third, from 63 percent to 43 percent between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Of course Obama never had the support of whites like Joe Wilson, a solid son of the South who served as an aide to segregationist Strom Thurmond and who publicly doubted and derided Thurmond's biracial daughter, Essie Mae, when she went public about her dad's identity. Obama lost South Carolina to John McCain handily, just as he lost most of the rest of the region. No one expected anything different. Outside of the South, though, the 2008 election was remarkable for the minor role race seemed to play as the nation chose its first African-American president.
Despite attempts to find a "Bradley effect" in primary states Obama lost — there wasn't one — and cries of racism against Hillary Clinton's campaign (which look damn silly now that we've seen real anti-Obama racism), in the end Obama got elected with a larger share of the white vote than John Kerry pulled in 2004, 43 percent to Kerry's 41 percent. And after his win, his white approval rating soared, to a high of 63 percent in Gallup's weekly tracking polls on Inauguration Day.
But that approval has been in free fall since the end of May, winding up at 43 percent just three months later, at the end of August. The racially tinged debates over Obama's appointing the first Latina to the Supreme Court and his politically unwise foray into the Henry Louis Gates flap, combined with organized GOP opposition, seem to have done what Obama's political foes could never manage in 2008: They've blackened Obama, in both senses of the word — simultaneously diminishing his support and emphasizing his ethnicity. Simply by raising consciousness about the president's race and associating him with radical identity politics, they've diminishing his standing among a large swath of the public. (Gabe Winant has more of the statistical detail here.)
I started thinking opponents were blackening Obama back in July, after the racial drama of the Sotomayor hearings, when poor oppressed Caucasians like Sens. Jeff Sessions, Tom Coburn and Lindsey Graham made it sound like it was open season on white guys. Then came the racial morality play of the Gates arrest — Did race or class matter most? Should Obama have stayed out of it? — which gave way to the screaming of the Birthers, the angry gun-toting town-hall haters, the shrieking of Palinites over "death panels."
I wrote about the role race played in these ginned-up controversies at the time: Birthers and Deathers (who tended to be the same people) were focused on marginalizing Obama as scary, "the other." Race was central to their fears, from the Birthers' obsession with Obama's literal origins as the product of miscegenation; to the Deathers and the Town Hellers' insistence that healthcare reform was, in Glenn Beck's idiotic formulation, Obama's idea of "reparations" for slavery. The cries of "socialism" were just another way to mark him as "other," scary and foreign. Watching scenes of shrieking, sobbing people pleading to "take our country back," it was hard not to ask, From who? The president who got a larger share of the vote than Ronald Reagan in 1980 or George Bush in 2000? What exactly is it that makes this particular commander in chief an interloper?
Finally, when Republicans began objecting to Obama's speaking to schoolkids last week, you couldn't ignore the racism: Listening to some parents' expressing actual fear of having Obama beamed into their kids' classrooms, it was hard to imagine such hysteria being inspired by a white president. It would never happen.
But even I was surprised at the extent and the precise timing of the drop in Obama's white support when I took the time to look closely at Gallup's weekly tracking polls recently. Here's what I saw: Between January and the end of May, Obama's white support went up and down a point or two, but stayed close to the 60 percent mark. The week that ended May 10, Obama had a 60 percent approval rating. Then in late May it began to sink steadily. Of course, the end of May marked the first racially charged controversy of Obama's presidency, the nomination of Sotomayor and the furor over her "wise Latina" remarks.
Obama's white support trended slowly downward throughout the summer in the weekly Gallup poll, but took another relatively large (4 point) drop between July 19 and July 26, a fiery week that saw the arrest of Skip Gates, Obama's comment that Cambridge police acted "stupidly" in that incident, followed by Obama's "recalibration" of those words. I said at the time that Obama's commenting on the Gates mess was a mistake, even if it was a completely understandable one. Replying reflexively, as a victim of racial profiling, Obama was sincere — but in that moment, there's no denying, he got blacker to a segment of the white population.
That same crazy week also featured the rise of Birtherism as represented by a screaming woman interrupting moderate GOP Rep. Mike Castle's town hall claiming Obama wasn't born in the U.S. It was a harbinger: August brought a wave of frenzied anti-Obama organizing at raucous meetings — what a Republican fundraising group proudly labeled "town hells" — where Birthers and Deathers and gun-toting loons accused Obama of ignoring the Constitution, imposing socialism and generally destroying the country. Obama's support among whites continued to drop, to a low of 43 percent at the end of the month.
A few cautionary words. The timeline is intriguing, but correlation isn't cause, and we can't prove these events directly led to the decline in Obama's white support. Ever the optimist, I'd even argue that racism is probably not the main cause. For one thing, the surge in white approval around Inauguration Day was lovely, but predictably ephemeral; it reflected people's pride in the country's having elected a black president more than their belief in him. (His current 43 percent white approval rating could be cited as proof that Obama has simply come back down to earth after more than seven months in office, since that's the exact share of white support he got on Election Day.)
And while I think race, and racism, have played a role in the angry yelling of the Birthers and Deathers, and in the despicable contempt Wilson showed the president in Congress last week, I think most of the president's troubles with white voters have to do with political doubt his enemies have sown about his programs — after Obama, in my opinion, was too slow to push his own clear proposals, especially for healthcare.
There may still be some subliminal racial discomfort in that growing white voter doubt, because all of the extreme right-wing questions about Obama — Is he an outsider? Does he care about people like us? Is he competent to run the country? Can he be trusted? ("You lie!") Is he dangerous (we can't trust him with our children!)? — echo the most crippling stereotypes that afflict black men in America. (As I write I'm listening to a woman at the Washington tea party on Saturday screaming, "We will not let Obama ram socialism down our throats!" Where to start?) It's a cruel irony that this conciliatory, courteous, accommodating black man still faces claims that he's a scary menace to America.
But while we have to call out racism when we see it (I hope that doesn't make me sound Snoop Doggesque), we have to remember that Obama's problem with whites is shared by white Democrats generally. Glenn Greenwald and Bob Somerby are right to remind us that the organized right wing used many of the same shrill character-assassination techniques against Bill Clinton, tarring him as a drug dealer, a rapist and a murderer, charges that have yet to be hurled at Obama. Obama has two-bit crackpot ministers praying for his death, which is appalling, but Clinton had one of the nation's most famous ministers, Jerry Falwell, peddling claims of drug crimes and worse about him.
I see one big difference, though, between Clinton's plight and Obama's: Anti-Clinton extremism never really touched off organized opposition to Clinton among American voters. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember, and can't find evidence, that tens of thousands, or even hundreds, of opponents rallied against Clinton, toting, say, cigars or blue dresses to mock the Lewinsky mess, or placards labeling him a murderer or rapist. (In fact the president's approval rating rose during and after the farce of impeachment.) This time the Republican attack is resonating with a small but extremely vocal and paranoid segment of its base, and I think racism has everything to do with that.
Still, I think the best thing Obama can do for his presidency and the nation is pursue his goals, and pursue them vigorously. (Let's remember that Clinton compromised with the right, and they still impeached him.) There's not a lot of information in the Gallup polls about which whites are abandoning Obama, but looking at a recent Pew poll, which tracked the decline in white support from April to August, Obama's largest declines came among women (12 percent), whites making under $30,000 a year (down 15 percent), and Northeasterners (down 16 percent). Polls in crucial swing states like Ohio show that Obama is losing the support of the Rust Belt voters he only barely won in November (after losing them to Hillary Clinton in the primary).
I wasn't a huge fan of the cries of racism that attempted to explain Clinton's edge over Obama in those Rust Belt and Appalachian primaries. Sure, there was racism, but it was also true that Clinton's fighting populist message seemed to resonate more than Obama's cerebral appeals to change — and when Obama adopted more of Clinton's fire, his standing with those voters improved. I'd like to see the old fighting Obama from the end of the 2008 campaign, and I wonder whether he'd have the same polling problems with white voters that this sometimes uncertain-seeming new president, who got hit with a couple of poorly timed racial flaps, has had this summer.
It's worth noting that Obama's standing with white voters jumped 2 points last week, after he began to fight back and define his healthcare plan. It jumped again, with all voters (I couldn't find data for whites alone), after his feisty speech to Congress on Wednesday.
Rather than wring his hands over racism, Obama seems to be getting tough on his real opponents — the corporate interests who want to see him fail — telling CBS's Steve Kroft Sunday night that he won't sign a bad healthcare reform bill, because when it doesn't keep costs down, he'll be blamed for it. Maybe Obama has realized that genteel GOP "statesmen" like Sen. Chuck Grassley are bigger enemies to him than the small but vocal segment of frightened, uninformed voters whose racism is once again letting them be tricked into ignoring their own interests by leaders like Grassley.
Finally, Obama may never get a larger share of the white vote than he got last November (which was good enough, after all, for a comfortable win). But if he compromises with the Republicans who are out to get him, he risks losing the support of the multiracial base that put him in the White House. Sticking to his (metaphorical) guns is both good policy, and good politics. Besides, despite their stumbles, I still trust Obama and the folks around him to do the right thing. And that means making tough, progressive policy decisions that will make a lot of white Birthers, Deathers, Grassleys and Wilsons red in the face.
Dick Cheney watches television


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Arts Administration Faculty
Click on any faculty member's name to see a list of achievements.
Joseph Frost (2004) Chair of the Theatre Dept and Associate Professor of Theatre
BA Malone College
M.A., M.F.A., Regent University
Joseph Frost is an award-winning playwright and actor, having appeared on the stage as Charlie in The Foreigner, Henry in The Fantastics, Jake in Jake's Women, 42 people (including a car) in Gillette Elvgren's For the Least of These, and the Shakespearian roles of Bottom, Touchstone, Launcelot Gobbo and Hamlet. His plays have been presented around the country, including a short play van Gogh at an exhibit of the artist's work at the Chrysler Museum of Art, and two works The Great Play and DisEase performed at the 2003 Christians In Theatre Arts North American Conference. Joseph is a member of CITA and the Dramatists Guild of America, a participant in the annual Art Within Symposium for writers of faith, and the founding artistic director of the Floodlight Theatre Company.
Please also see the faculty listings for the following disciplines as Arts Administration courses are taught by various faculty: Business, Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts


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Erotica (song)
|Single by Madonna
|from the album Erotica
|"Erotica" (Instrumental)
|October 13, 1992
|CD, 7", 12", cassette
|January 15–16, 1992[1]
(Manhattan, New York)
June 8, 1992
at Soundworks Recording Studio
(Astoria, New York)
|Trip hop, new jack swing, dance-pop, R&B
|Madonna singles chronology
"Erotica" is a song by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It is the titular track from her fifth studio album Erotica (1992), and was released as the lead single on October 13, 1992 by Maverick Records. It was later included on her greatest hits albums GHV2 (2001) and Celebration (2009). The song was written by Madonna, Shep Pettibone and Anthony Shimkin, while production was handled by the former two. Musically, "Erotica" contains spoken word vocals, and is an ode to S&M, with Madonna using a pseudonym called "Dita". She invites her lover to be passive while making love to her and leads him to explore boundaries between pain and pleasure.
Initially, "Erotica" received mixed reviews from music critics; it was seen as a high point of innovation in Madonna's career, while others found it scary. The song debuted at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of the highest debuts on the chart history at the time, eventually peaking at number three. Additionally, it became a success on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, reaching the top position. "Erotica" also found commercial success internationally, peaking in the top ten in several countries including Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The accompanying music video for the song was directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron, and featured a masked Madonna in a dominatrix costume. It also featured celebrities such as Naomi Campbell and Big Daddy Kane. The video was highly controversial, being aired by MTV a total of three times, all of these after the 10pm watershed. Madonna performed "Erotica" as the opening song on The Girlie Show World Tour (1993). 13 years later, she performed the song as part of the Confessions Tour in 2006, including lyrics from the original demo of the song in the performance. In 2012, Madonna performed excerpts from the song during a medley of "Candy Shop" on the MDNA Tour.
In 1992, Madonna founded her own multi-media entertainment company, Maverick, consisting of a record company (Maverick Records), a film production company (Maverick Films), and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing and merchandising divisions.[2] The deal was a joint venture with Time Warner and paid Madonna an advance of $60 million. As part of this deal Madonna released her fifth studio album, Erotica, on October 20, 1992 and released the coffee table book, Sex, one day later.[3]
Shep Pettibone, co-producer of the song, said that "Erotica" was one of the first few songs that he and Madonna worked on for the album.[4] He stated that when they first started working on the track he told Madonna that she needed to do something "bigger" than Madonna's previous single, "Vogue" (1990), to which Madonna responded "no matter how fierce something is, you can't ever do the same thing twice. Ever."[4] According to Pettibone, he did the music for the song as Madonna wrote the lyrics. He added that Madonna prefers to be in control of the writing process because "her songs are her stories. They're the things she wants to say."[4] While they were mixing a song called "Erotic", which was included on her Sex book, Madonna felt that it should sound similarly as "Erotica", which would be included on the album of the same name. Pettibone reported:
"You have all these great stories in the book," I told her, "Why don't you use them in the song?" I knew that Madonna was developing a 1930s dominatrix look for Erotica, but I didn't realize how far she was willing to go before I saw Sex. It contained stories authored by her mysteriously dark alter, Dita. Madonna took the book and walked out of the room and didn't come back until about half an hour later. Suddenly she was on the mic, speaking in this very dry voice. "My name is Dita," she said, "and I'll be your mistress tonight." I knew that the original Erotica would never be the same again, and it wasn't. The chorus and bridge were changed entirely and the whole psyche of the song became sexier, more to the point. It seemed as if Dita brought out the best in her, actually serving as a vehicle for the dangerous territory she was traveling. Actually, it was the same name Madonna used when she'd stay in hotels around the world. Not anymore.[5]
"Erotica" was described as "an ode to S&M", while Madonna plays her pseudonym "Dita" in the song, with "aggressive lyrics".
|Problems playing this file? See media help.
"Erotica" was written by Madonna, Shep Pettibone, Anthony Shimkin, while produced by Madonna and Pettibone.[6] "Erotica" continued Madonna's exploration of potent spoken-word vocals, as introduced in "Justify My Love" (1990).[7] The song contains a sample of "Jungle Boogie" performed by Kool and the Gang.[6] Another sample "El Yom 'Ulliqa 'Ala Khashaba" by Lebanese singer Fairuz was used without permission, which led to a lawsuit; this was settled out of court.[8][9] It was composed using common time in the key of F-sharp minor, with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute.[10] Madonna's vocals span from F3 to A4.[10] The song also features maracas and "shimmering horn riffs".[11] Yahoo! Music describes the song as being "very bass-driven and has the same seedy, sexual sound heard on "Justify My Love"".[12]
According to Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine, the song is "an ode to S&M".[7] The dance track[13] begins with a "scratchiness" sound that mimics the sound of a record on a record player.[14] Following this, Madonna says, "My name is Dita", as she invites her lover to be passive and childlike while she makes love to him and leads him to explore boundaries between pain and pleasure.[2] Madonna's use of the pseudonym "Dita" in the song, as well as in her book Sex to reference to Dita Parlo, a German actress who was known for not caring what people thought.[15] The song has suggestive lyrics, such as "Will you let yourself go wild/Let my mouth go where it wants to."[16] Slant Magazine described the lyrics as being "taunting, aggressive—an elaborate exploration of sex, from seduction to disease."[14]
A similar song titled "Erotic" was created during the Erotica album sessions exclusively to accompany the 1992 book Sex.[15] The song is a stripped-down version of "Erotica" and includes lyrics about rope, cages, and candles that not heard in "Erotica".[15] According to author Georges-Claude Guilbert in his book Madonna as Postmodern Myth, "Erotic" is a more hardcore version of "Erotica".[15]
Critical reception[edit]
"Erotica" received mixed reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic highlighted the song as an album standout.[17] Arion Berger from Rolling Stone commented, ""Erotica" [...] promise[s] a smorgasbord of sexual experimentation, like the one portrayed in the video for "Justify My Love." But the sensibility of "Erotica" is miles removed from the warm come-ons of "Justify," which got its heat from privacy and romance [...] The Madonna of "Erotica" is in no way interested in your dreams; she's after compliance".[18] Stephen Holden of The New York Times commented that the "foggy growl" that Madonna uses in the spoken-word sections of the song "contrast dramatically with the shrill little-kid voice from Madonna's earliest records that she still often uses to project a bratty teen-age exuberance."[19]
In 2011, Slant Magazine listed "Erotica" at number thirty-four on their list of the "Best Singles of the 1990s", stating that Madonna's "throaty" delivery throughout the song is effective in making the lyrics seem "incredibly honest.".[14] The magazine goes on to say the song is Madonna's "invitation to the dance, a slithering, sinister snake rising from a gaudily ornate chalice. The beats are, by design, hypnotic—at once alluring and devious. With "Erotica," Madonna promises to get you off, but not without giving you something."[14] The song was also shortlisted for Slant Magazine 's "100 Greatest Dance Songs".[20] Louis Virtel of The Backlot included the song at number eight on his list of "The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs", describing it as a "hot, smutty grind of a dance anthem." Virtel added that Madonna sells the double entendre of "Erotica" like a "primed burlesque mistress."[21] Scott Kearnan of Boston.com included the track at number 6 on his list of "30 Best Madonna Songs," commenting that "no pop star of her fame has been this sexually transgressive before or since...Rihanna sings about "S&M" like it's a song about My Little Pony, but Madonna dishes on pain, pleasure, and power with the conviction of a whip crack."[22] David Browne from Entertainment Weekly gave it a more unfavorable review, describing it as "depressingly trite — that between its frigid melody and your scary My name is Dita spoken bits [...]."[23]
Chart performance[edit]
On October 17, 1992 "Erotica" debuted at number 13 in the United States, which at the time of its release placed Madonna in a fifth place tie with Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" as the highest debut for a song in Billboard Hot 100 chart history.[24] It skyrocketed to its peak of number three the following chart week and charted for a total of 18 weeks. "Erotica" also made the highest debut in the history of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, entering at its peak position of number two,[25] and it also reached number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and number four on the Hot 100 Singles Sales charts. The song was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 10, 1992.
Internationally, "Erotica" became another big hit for Madonna, hitting the top five in many markets including Australia, Ireland, Spain, and Sweden, and topping the charts in Italy. In the United Kingdom, Erotica debuted at number 11 on October 17, 1992. Two weeks later it reached its peak of number three.[26] According to the Official Charts Company it has sold 270,000 in the United Kingdom as of 2008.[27] It also topped the European Hot 100 Singles for three consecutive weeks, becoming her eighth number one hit in Europe.
Music video[edit]
The music video for "Erotica" was directed by fashion photographer Fabien Baron.[28] The footage of Madonna lip-synching the song in her S&M dominatrix costume was filmed on August 22, 1992 at The Kitchen in New York City, while the rest of the footage for the video was shot during the New York photo sessions for her book Sex. Celebrities like Naomi Campbell, Isabella Rossellini, and Big Daddy Kane appeared in the music video for "Erotica" and also in the Sex book.[29][30] In order to imitate the look of old home-made movies, the entire video was shot with Super 8 film.[31] It premiered on MTV on October 2, 1992.[32] The "virtual advertisement" for Sex[32] was described by The Washington Post:
"In the video, Madonna becomes Dita Parlo, a masked, gold-toothed dominatrix from an indeterminate age, ready to help us cross the street at the corner of Pleasure and Pain [...] assuming different dominatrix roles and investigating assorted bondage scenarios before finishing up with some nude hitchhiking on a street remarkable free of pile-ups. Shot in grainy black and white, 'Erotica' has the feel of a stag film, though its quick cuts keep the viewer from seeing all that much".[33]
The music video for "Erotica" was aired by MTV a total of three times, all of these after the 10pm watershed, due to its highly charged sexual content, before being banned and eventually becoming Madonna's second video to be banned from airing by that channel, after "Justify My Love" in 1990.[32][34] MTV spokeswoman Linda Alexander said, "The themes of the video are clearly aimed at a more adult audience. It is not appropriate for a general viewing audience".[32] During an interview on MTV in 1992, Madonna defended the video as she stated that the music video is a "fantasy". She continued, "The whole video is a fantasy, my book is a fantasy."[35] In the same interview, Madonna was asked about the banning from MTV and said: "MTV plays to a huge audience, and a lot of them are children, and a lot of themes I'm exploring in my videos aren't meant for children, so I understand that they say I can't show it," but she said, "I'm not saying 'Oh, I don't need you any more, screw off' [...] it's not like that at all [...] and I accept it".[35] BBC also edited three minutes of the video, from its seven.[36] Entertainment Tonight also reported that Madonna herself had initiated the mayhem with the explicit content in the music video for "Erotica", walking bare breasted at designer Jean Paul Gaultier's fashion show and posing nude in Vanity Fair magazine.[37]
The video was nominated for the 1993 Billie Awards four times, the most for a single entry.[38] The video was ranked at number 16 on VH1's "50 Sexiest Video Moments".[39] In 2010, Isabella Rossellini criticized the Sex book, which was also shown in the music video for "Erotica" while talking to Out magazine, "I don't think the [Sex] book worked, even though the photos were extraordinary, and some of them quite memorable. I think [it] was a little bit [...] moralistic, sort of 'I'll teach you how to be free!'–and that bothered the hell out of me."[40]
Live performances[edit]
Madonna performed "Erotica" as the opening song on The Girlie Show World Tour (1993). The show opened with a topless dancer slithering down a metal pole that was dangling high above the stage.[41] Then Madonna emerged onto the stage, dressed as a black-masked dominatrix to perform "Erotica".[41] According to Stuart Lenig in his book The Twisted Tale of Glam Rock, the song had a "lush, clubby orchestration," and during the performance Madonna rubbed a riding crop between her legs as her backup dancers "posed and danced suggestively."[41] When reviewing the performance, John Pareles from The New York Times commented that "through her own achievement, or her own fault, the shock value has abated...and when her dance troupe acts out the suggestions in her songs, like the ethereal 'Put your hands all over my body' in 'Erotica', the choreography suggests exercises rather than unbridled passion."[42]
In 2006, Madonna performed the song on the Confessions Tour. The performance included additional lyrics from the original demo, which were not included in the final version of the song. BBC's Tom Young commented that on the Confessions Tour "Erotica" is "put through the disco processor with spectacular results."[43] Don Chareunsy from The San Diego Union-Tribune commented that the performance included "odd dance-school-class choreography."[44] In one of the most talked about sections of Madonna's 2012 MDNA Tour in 2012, Madonna performed excerpts from the song during a medley performance which also included her song "Candy Shop" and a sample of alternative dance vocalist and producer Kelley Polar's song "Ashamed of Myself."[45] Jim Farber of The New York Daily News gave a positive review of the medley, stating that the "Candy Shop" song was "inventively toughened up."[46]
Cover versions and parodies[edit]
In 1992, the Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color spoofed the video for "Erotica". The title of the video spoof was "Neurotica."[47] In sketch comedy show The Edge from the same network, cast member Julie Brown spoofed the Sex book as well as the "Erotica" music video.[47] When comedian Sandra Bernhard's one-woman show "Giving Til It Hurts" came to New York in November 1992, she did a short spoof of the song, called "Neurotica," about a woman who obsessively cleans house.[47] The Village Voice columnist Michael Musto also recreated the nude hitchhiking scene from the Sex book and "Erotica" music video on the streets of Jersey City. The newspaper sold the posters of the photo for $5-profits went to the Community Research Initiative on AIDS in New York.[47] Additionally, the 2000 compilation Virgin Voices: A Tribute To Madonna, Vol. 2 features a cover by Razed in Black vs. Transmutator.[48]
Track listings[edit]
Major formats released for "Erotica":
Peak positions[edit]
Year-End charts[edit]
Chart succession[edit]
|Preceded by
"It's My Life" by Dr. Alban
|Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single
October 17, 1992 – October 31, 1992
|Succeeded by
"End of the Road" by Boyz II Men
|Preceded by
"It's Probably Me" by Sting and Eric Clapton
|Italian Singles Chart number-one single
October 24, 1992 – November 14, 1992
|Succeeded by
"Don't You Want Me" by Felix
|Preceded by
"Saved My Life" by Lil Louis & the World
|Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
November 21, 1992
|Succeeded by
"Are You Ready to Fly" by Rozalla
- ^ "Impressive instant ; I deserve it ; Nobody's perfect ; Paradise, I will always have you". Faqs.org. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- ^ a b Holden, Stephen (1992-04-20). "Madonna Makes a $60 Million Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ "Madonna She`s Got Sex For Our Eyes And Erotica For Our Ears. At Age 34, Pop`s Most Successful Attention-getter May Be On The Verge Of Out-doing Herself.". Sun-Sentinel. 1992-10-18. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
- ^ a b c Console Confessions: The Great Music Producers in Their Own Words. Hal Leonard Corporation. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
- ^ Pettibone, Shep. "Erotica Diaries — Written by Shep Pettibone". ShepPettibone.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ a b Liner notes of CD booklet Erotica.
- ^ a b Cinquemani, Sal (2007-02-24). "Madonna: Erotica". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2011-07-04.
- ^ "Fairuz's voice; opium for Arabs or symbol of peace?". Sahafi.com. January 3, 2011.
- ^ Madonna, MJ Club Conscious;Chicago Vibrates. Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ^ a b Madonna. "Madonna "Erotica" Sheet Music - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- ^ Erotica | Album reviews | Rolling Stone By ARION BERGER, NOVEMBER 26, 1992.
- ^ "Classic 90's Music Reviews: Madonna's Erotica - Yahoo Voices". Yahoo!. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=e2kMFRahI04C&pg=PA137
- ^ a b c d "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
- ^ a b c d Madonna as Postmodern Myth. McFarland & Company. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ^ Lenig 2010, p. 144
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Berger, Arion (1992-11-26). "Erotica by Madonna". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (1992-10-18). "Recordings View; Selling Sex and (Oh, Yes) a Record". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
- ^ "100 Greatest Dance Songs". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Madonna Songs". thebacklot.com. February 3, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ^ "30 Ultimate Madonna Singles". Boston Globe. September 9, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
- ^ Entertainment Weekly (Erotica) review
- ^ Billboard Sep 16, 1995 p. 96
- ^ Ask Billboard: Shakira's Biggest Hot 100 Hits
- ^ "Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive".
- ^ "Madonna: The Official Top 40". MTV. MTV Networks. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
- ^ Anderson, Kyle (October 20, 2010). "Madonna Gets Kinky With Erotica: Wake-Up Video". MTV. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/25/books/the-empress-has-no-clothes.html
- ^ http://www.vh1.com/music/tuner/2012-03-30/madonna-top-controversies/
- ^ http://www.pro8mm.com/blog/new-black-and-white-processing-at-pro8mm-lends-to-a-new-school-of-thought-about-old-school-black-and-white-film/
- ^ a b c d http://articles.philly.com/1992-10-20/news/26000068_1_blond-ambition-tour-videos-booby-prize
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=e2kMFRahI04C&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17
- ^ "Too Hot For MTV: 10 Music Videos That Got Banned". Billboard. 2010-12-22. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- ^ a b Madonna (Dita) 1992 Interview about Erotica on MTV YouTube.
- ^ http://www.mrpopculture.com/1992/38-1992/987-october-8-1992
- ^ Hart, Mary (October 14, 1992). "Will She Do It?". Entertainment Tonight.
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=rw8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA65
- ^ "Ep. 066 | 50 Sexiest Video Moments (50-1) (2 Hours) | Episode Summary, Highlights, and Recaps". VH1. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
- ^ http://www.behindthehype.com/music-news/isabella-rossellini-slams-madonnas-sex-book/
- ^ a b c The Twisted Tale of Glam Rock. ABC-CLIO. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (October 16, 1993). "Review/Pop; From Madonna, a New Palatability but Still Spicy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ^ Young, Tom (2007-02-21). "Review of Madonna – The Confessions Tour". BBC. Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ^ Chareunsy, Don (2006-05-23). "Feisty Madonna mixes themes with Bush bashing". U-T San Diego (Platinum Equity). Retrieved 2014-02-10.
- ^ "About Kelley Polar". MTV. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
- ^ "Madonna expresses herself, often darkly, in powerful Philadelphia show". The New York Daily News. 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
- ^ a b c d "EGOS & IDS; Their Target: Madonna". The New York Times. 1993-01-17. Retrieved 2014-02-13.
- ^ "Virgin Voices II: Tribute to Madonna". In Music We Trust. Retrieved 2013-12-20.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hit Parade (1992). "Madonna — Erotica (European Charts)". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ Top Singles - Volume 56, No. 21, November 21 1992
- ^ Charts-Surfer (1992). "German Singles Chart (Search)". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Madonna: Discografia Italiana" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. 1984–1999. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
- ^ "Irish Singles Chart (Search)". irishcharts.ie. October 8, 1992. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- ^ Every Hit (1995). "UK Singles Chart (Search)". everyhit.com. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ a b "Billboard Charts". AllMusic. 1992. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
- ^ "Madonna Chart History: Pop Songs". Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ "Madonna Chart History: Rhythmic Songs". Retrieved May 28, 2015.
- ^ "Hit Parade Italia-Top Annuali Single:1992".
- ^ "Madonna-Erotica-Single Certification". Recording Industry Association of America.
External links[edit]
- 1992 singles
- Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs number-one singles
- Madonna (entertainer) songs
- European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
- Number-one singles in Italy
- Songs written by Madonna (entertainer)
- Songs written by Shep Pettibone
- 1992 songs
- New jack swing songs
- Dance-pop songs
- Maverick Records singles
- Sire Records singles
- Warner Bros. Records singles
- Trip hop songs


text:
Medals featuring the image of St. Michael the Archangel. These Catholic Medals feature St. Michael the Archangel dong battle with evil spirits. The Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel explains the image on these medals:
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the Power of God - cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.


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CEO sends letter to Medical Staff and employees to welcome new physician.
ensures that centers meet or exceed quality-of-care measures in acute cardiac medicine
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While Hilton was a paramedic at Palestine Regional, he often spoke about the high level of excellence of his EMT's
Local man, Kenneth Hilton reunites with his life-savers at PRMC.
Welcome Dr. Wood, new Director of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Women, on average, live almost six years longer than men. In fact, men die at higher rates than women from the top 10 causes of death including heart disease, stroke, cancer and suicide, according to the Men's Health Network.
Palestine Regional Medical Center's AMBUS
Responds to Explosion in West
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Palestine Regional Medical Center (PRMC) is very excited about the new equipment and procedures now offered in its Cardiovascular Lab.
Hyperbaric Chambers Will Improve Already Successful Clinical Results
Palestine Regional Medical Center was honored as a long-time member of the Texas Hospital Association, recognizing25yearsof membership with the Association.THA Membership Manager Della Vallejo presented the award to Palestine Regional Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Alan George.
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text:
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — The non-judicial organs of Government — The legislature — Legislation and legislative powers — Legislative powers — Power to act contrary to separation of powers doctrine — Constitution, Ch III — State Act creating crime — Retrospective effect — Whether jurisdiction conferred upon State Supreme Court incompatible with Ch III.
CRIMINAL LAW — Evidence — Judicial discretion to admit or exclude evidence — Evidence unfair to admit or improperly obtained — Generally — Unreliability — Whether a discretion to reject unreliable evidence.
CRIMINAL LAW — Evidence — Complaints — Admissibility of details and fact of complaint — Sexual offences — Evidence of how complainant came to make complaint many years after — Whether excluded by hearsay rule — Whether fresh in the witness's memory — Whether inadmissible under credibility rule.
CRIMINAL LAW — Evidence — Evidentiary matters relating to witnesses and accused persons — Character and previous convictions — Evidence of good character — Desirability of direction as to.
CRIMINAL LAW — Evidence — Miscellaneous matters — Other cases — Sexual crimes against children — Evidence by psychiatrist of tendency of victims not to complain — Evidence of tendency of victims to suffer psychological damage — Evidence not specific to the complainant — Whether relevant or admissible.
CRIMINAL LAW — Jurisdiction, practice and procedure — Course of evidence, statements and addresses — Addresses — Contents — Duty of counsel for prosecution — Whether comments excessive or prejudicial — Expression of counsel's own views of evidence — Comments minimising effect of Longman warning.
EVIDENCE — Facts excluded from proof — On grounds of privilege — Professional confidence — Communication with counsellor — Whether evidence of treatment excluded.
(TAS) Evidence Act 2001 ss 59, 66 and 102
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text:
Judge sides with GSK in discrimination lawsuit
A judge has sided with GlaxoSmithKline in a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former employee who had worked in the drug development company's Research Triangle Park offices.
In an order filed on Thursday, a U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina judge granted a summary judgment to the company on all claims remaining in the case.
That means the lawsuit will not go trial. It had been brought by George Adjabeng, a former employee who had worked from 2004-2008 as a lab chemist in the company's oncology department, according to the order.
Adjabeng was later rehired to work in the company's Hepatitis C department when the other department moved out of state, and as the order states, he faced "immediate work-related conflict" with another employee there.
Adjabeng claimed he faced a hostile work environment because of his race and national origin, discrimination based on race and national origin, retaliation, and was wrongfully terminated in violation of public policy.
A claim for negligent supervision and retention had already been dismissed before the judge issued the order granting the summary judgment.
In response to the order, a company spokeswoman released a statement that said "(GlaxoSmithKline) is pleased that the court agreed with us that there was no legal basis for Mr. Adjabeng's claim."
J. Michael Genest, an attorney for Adjabeng, said in an email: "We are disappointed to be denied the opportunity to present the case to a jury at trial, but we are proud to stand up for the rights of employees like Mr. Adjabeng, and will continue to fight for justice on their behalf."


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Mar 25 2009
Where to Get Your Dirt
If you live on acreage or have a huge back yard, you probably have a spot where you can grab extra dirt for your raised flower bed.
If, however, you have a small yard without any obvious area where you can retrieve a relatively large volume of dirt, you have a few different options:
Photo by Masterson Loam
1. Call a dirt contractor—or a large landscape center—in your area. Tell them the dimensions of your flower bed (width, depth, height) and let them know you'd like to fill it with a 50/50 (give or take) mixture of good, loamy soil and compost (which they'll likely also sell) from within an inch or two of the top of the bed. Many contractors specialize in different kinds of dirt and can specifically deliver "river loam" or "loamy soil", or even "screened loam", which is run through a screen to filter out weeds and rocks. They'll use the dimensions of your raised bed to determine how many cubic yards of material you'll need. For the size of raised bed I showed last week—8′ x 4′ x 12″—you could expect to need 1 to 2 cubic yards of material; you could expect to pay anywhere from $25 to $50 for all the dirt and compost you need to fill it.
2. Go to a friend's house in the middle of the night with a large shovel. Sneak into his backyard with a wheelbarrow. Dig a big hole in his yard and steal a bunch of his dirt. When he calls you the next day, indignant that some scoundrel dug a hole in his yard in the middle of his night, feign disbelief and tell him you heard there was a rash of dirt burglars in the region. Go to confession.
3. Just kidding about that last one.
For those of you who garden in urban areas, please share your experiences/advice relating to importing dirt. As someone who's lived in the middle of nowhere for the past thirteen years, I welcome input from civilization!
Next up, we'll fill our beds and prepare for planting!
I'm madly in love with spring.
191 Comments
ba On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:50 am
great idea! i've always purchased bags..and they are a pain. i'm calling the dirt shop today! thanks
mb On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:52 am
We got our black humus at a local plant place. We fill up our truck with it and haul it home. Then we mix it in with the dirt we have in our back yard. We use that dirt mixture to fill up are raised garden beds.
We have onions, carrots and lettuce growing so far.
Laurel from Simple Spoonful On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:54 am
I container garden because we live in a townhome complex. I buy half wine barrels and fill them with bags of dirt from the Home Depot, Ace, or other such store, mixing potting soil with compost and topping off with mulch.
JulieKay On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:55 am
I can't wait to do this whole raised bed thing step by step with you! I am SOOOO excited for my new garden!
Natalie On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:56 am
I wish I had enough space to warrant that much dirt! I'm a big fan of the 'worm farm' for small spaces. The worms eat my compost, and then poop out lovely 'dirt' for my small pots.
humincat On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:56 am
Is it even possible to need/want a garden that size? AHH!
Nancy On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:59 am
I am with you Ree!!! I love Spring too. Everything comes alive.
Joy Dexter On Wednesday, March 25 at 9:59 am
I live in China on the 38th and 39th floors of a skyscraper, and my garden is on the roof. We hired Chinese men to bring up bags full of dirt in the elevators, and then up the stairs. Why didn't you include that in your list of ways to get dirt, huh?
StaceyNC On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:00 am
I live in a neighborhood in the city and my imported dirt (since I have clay) is from……
Home Depot and Lowe's. Very fancy. I pay for poop in a bag, too.
Tabitha On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:00 am
ha!! You must have read my mind (or my question).
Modern Mom On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:02 am
I'm with you – my neighbor has a nice looking garden. hmm…. now I just need a shovel!
Pat On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:03 am
I'm madly in love with Spring too! When the daffodils start to bloom, so do I.
Stephanie On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:04 am
In the city, us high brow folks ( just kidding I am most def not highbrow….much) can go to the 'burbs and get soil that they are giving away free after leveling a beautiful forest to turn into a boring, every-house-looks-the-same neighborhood.
blessedmomto7 On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:07 am
We have 320 acres on our farm so no dirt gettin from anyone needed here
Sarah On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:07 am
Thanks for posting all about this stuff. It has come at the perfect time. We're planning to start our garden this weekend so we look forward to the next post!
Juli On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:08 am
We live in the city and our backyard is 44 ft. wide. Not a lot of room for the swingset, sandbox, garage and then a garden . . . We've got a spot all measured for some raised beds to go (when all the snow finally melts). I called a landscape supply company, they are going to grind out the buckthorn stump, deliver the right soil and mulch for all of our gardens. For years, I'd buy it in bags from Menards, but having it delivered is so much easier on my back! I can't wait to get everything going outside.
We've for tons of plants going in our window sill seed starter greenhouse! Can't wait!
Katie On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:10 am
I recently added a raised bed garden in my backyard here in Florida. Gardening is a heck of a lot cheaper than a therapist. I did go to a local nursery and ordered a truckload of top soil and mushroom manure to use. What I got was a mess- the truck had been used to transport asphalt, so when we went to till everything up, we found chunk after chunk of asphalt. Down here, the truckload (about 3 cubic yards) cost us $150. We are adding raised beds all around the perimeter of our yard, and are in search of a new dirt provider- thank goodness for central Florida horse farms, as we will be using farm fresh manure this time! Its a sure way to tick off the evil next-door neighbors.
Randi On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:10 am
Well you might have been kidding about stealing from a neighbour, but my husband and I did still dirt (on two occassions!) to fill my raised garden. It wasn't from somebody's yard, but from a construction site (new developments have lots of topsoil that they dug up). It probably wasn't a big deal, but we didn't ask or pay or anything. Plus the one time was in the middle of the night…
Renee On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:10 am
Thank you so much for the info! Awesome!
Simone On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:10 am
I have never had a raised garden, always in-ground….are there major advantages, other than the water running off well, to having a raised one?
Thanks for all the tips, P-Dub!
Ronda On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:11 am
My dirt/soil came from the dairy farm down the road. Would love to post a picture of the great kid that brought it to me, but unfortunately I didn't get one of him. He pulled the tractor up my drive and just dumped it in. It was pretty easy for me. Gotta love those country boys!!!!
Betsy On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:11 am
man, post # 13…that's just sad…."after leveling a beautiful forest "…but true….those words shook me to my soul..Thank God I live in the country….
I get my dirt right here on my land and bring in peat and manure and do my own amending….
I love spring too Ree…just was watching one of my little familes of Eastern Bluebirds feed the babies…OMG they are dear and tiny…when daddy comes in with a worm, those little babies churp chrup churp and all I can see if thier tiny beaks pointing upwards towards Daddy…hungry for food…last year I saw the Momma push one right out of the nest and watched it take its first flight…it was so cool…National Geographic cool….
Morning everyone!!
Barb 1230 On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:12 am
Oh, I'm so jealous. You are so far ahead of us in OK as compared to northern OH. We can't start planting till mid-May at the earliest. But I'm reading all of your gardening posts because I'd like this to be the year that I branch out into vegetables.
Meg On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:13 am
I wish I had space to garden!
Elizabeth in Modesto, CA On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:15 am
PW that was super funny about stealing people's dirt, another idea is to check Craigslist, people give away free dirt all the time. I'm sure you will have to buy additional add ins but free is awesome.
Kay S On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:17 am
When we first put in our raised garden beds (we too are on solid clay), we had top soil delivered – I wish we would have known to request a 50/50 mix! Since then we've added bags of mushroom compost from the local mushroom shop and compost from our own pile (for several years we had House Rabbits – they were great contributors!), as well as some really good dirt/compost from Home Depot that was recommended to us. In the veggie garden we grow tomatoes, hot peppers (for hubby) and some herbs. This year we may put in some radishes.
For my daylilies (300 some varieties – mostly purple), I just dug out the existing dirt and filled with the Home Depot stuff, which is what that fellow daylily person recommended. I think it's called HomeGro or something, all I know is it comes in a white bag with a yellow stripe and is under $2/bag at my local Home Depot!
This year we hope to FINALLY get the "pool hole" filled and now I know to request the 50/50 for further daylily expansion! Thanks, Ree!
Tongue in Cheek On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:17 am
If you live in a place where a truck cannot deliver dirt, (i.e. apartment complex, too narrow of a street, do not have access to your yard except through your home…)
You can have them deliever your dirt in BIGGY BAGS. The only catch is that you get to carry that BIGGY BAG one shovel or bucket at a time, to your yard.
So I am thinking of the night time adventure and confession as an easier route. I'll tell my priest, Ree said I could, so I did.
chris On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:19 am
We get ours from a dirt/mulch place, they dump 6 or 7 yards of dirt/mulch onto our driveway and my husband had a long day ahead of moving it from point A to point B. Fun stuff.
betsey On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:24 am
Around here, the places won't deliver unless you're buying 5 cubic yards (or more) of dirt or mulch. I've never needed that much, so I'm stuck with bags from Home Depot. OTOH, each bag nicely fills the wheelbarrow, which I find convenient.
Lori in Canada On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:24 am
Every time I have had dirt or mulch or whatever delivered I have always had too much. The mountain sits there while I try to get it spread throughout my yard. Days go by and the mountain is still there. I am sure I moved half of it but no…still a mountain. I get my husbands help and still there is a mountain. Finaly the mountain is down to a molehill and the garden looks great. Funny thing is the next year the garden beds need more.
Angie On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:25 am
I love my raised beds. We have just two, but thinking I need another one. We used lumber from our old deck that we took down, and bought a pick up bed load of potting soil from a somewhat local (90 mies away) soil conditioners plant. The soil is perfectly mixed and no weed seeds!! Every other year, I just add a couple of bags of potting soil that I buy at the local grocery store. Works perfect. I have spinach, romaine lettuce, radishes, carrots and sugar ann peas planted. I like to plant nastiurums and marigolds around the edges of the beds for some added color. I am SO glad spring is here!
julie On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:25 am
I am going to add compost to my garden this year and we will add more good stuff from our local farm store. They are very reasonable on their prices.
Amy On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:26 am
Thank you for your encouragement and motivation, Ree! We are doing a garden this year thanks to your pep talks and enthusiasm about gardening. We've always wanted to, but we're biting the bullet and going for it! A friend gave us the book All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew last night to help guide the way
Hokie Deb On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:26 am
Our city dump in Virginia Beach sells back dirt, compost and mulch for a very reasonable price. The only caveat is that you have to pick it up yourself and unload it.
Lisa in Minnesota On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:26 am
I just have my Father In Law load up our little 4 wheeler Trailer with dirt from thier farm using his backhoe. Then my husband covers it with a tarp and brings it home.
We live in a Mobile Home Community, yes, we are Trailer Trash so we don't have Alot of room for a garden. But we use those big pots. for our tomato's and peppers and things.
Kailee On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:28 am
I garden in what you would call a pretty dense urban area, Washington DC. Okay, okay. Alexandria, VA. But we're just over the river and real estate is at a premium!! I don't grow much, just herbs, tomatoes, and lettuce, but that's mostly because our small "backyard" just can't handle much. As a former resident of Middle of Nowhere, I was totally clueless about where to get my dirt. But now! NOW I know.
First off, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT just truck on down to the Home Depot and get whatever. I did this my first year. the results? Lackluster, at best. The past few years I go to a gardening supply store. Because I can just prattle on about the herbs I want to grow, and the positioning of our house against the sun, and the current quality of our dirt, and a real live expert will tell me what to get.
Yeah, a little more expensive, I guess. But the results speak for themselves. Now I STOCKPILE my homemade pesto because I have basil growing out of my ears!
Sheree On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:30 am
When I lived in a downtown apartment and just wanted to grow a few plants I used to steal it by the Big Gulp cup full from the planters on downtown sidewalks. I'd have to pick out all the cigarettes of course. Never could understand why nothing ever grew..
Sarah @ Kamp Koala On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:33 am
I've also read that a mixture of thirds works well too in raised beds (1/3 blended compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite).
Now if only I could get my husband to build me a framework to make a garden in! Care to loan me some cowboys to do the work?
nancypants On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:34 am
We live in a large city in Canada. We landscaped both our front and back yards two years ago. My advice is to know someone who knows someone who owns cattle. Our landscaper and good friend sings the praises of good clean cow poo. One of our friends had a friend that was more than happy to give us two tons of cow manure. That went a long way and we can tell the difference as our grass under which we placed 15 inches of manure is verdant and fast growing. We also got a large load of soil brought in from our local nursery. They dumped it right on our driveway and we took it from there.
The best part was when we were shoveling the muck (like as unto the "old woman" in Monty Python's Holy Grail) my kids said, "Why are we so excited about free poo again?"
Niteowl Nancy On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:35 am
OK, I'm still trying to get over the last post where somebody's compost pile was stolen!! That's insane!
Anyway, I bought 2 cubic feet of mushroom compost and 2 cubic feet of a composted cow manure & hummus mixture from Lowe's. I am amending the clay soil in preparation for my perennial bed. It's a back breaker, but from all the research I've done, properly prepared soil will pay off for years! So, thanks for the soil tutorial, Ree. I know it will bring success to many gardeners out there for years to come!
Mary On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:37 am
I agree if you have a large piece of property or a lot of land around you and a LOT of gardens you want to put in, that truckloads are probably the more economical way to go. But, I live in a subdivision neighborhood and I only wanted to put in a few small gardens, so I just bough bags of soil, peat, humus, composted cow manure, etc. at Lowe's. It's much easier for me to manage than having a truckload of dirt that you don't really know what you're gonna get, dumped on my little residential lot and then I have to shovel it into a wheelbarrow and transport it to the garden. Too hard on my back – no thanks! I love the soil mix I used this year – it's fantastic! I'm doing the square foot method this year and blogged about it – just got my raised veggie beds finished and planted! Yay!
Circle F On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:47 am
thanks for all the dirt on the dirt
M J Hutchinson On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:50 am
I'm chuckling at the "neighbor" comment. I have a neighbor who thinks other yards in the neighborhood are her own personal nursery!!! Kind of sad but so frustrating!!!!
Mechelle On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:50 am
My sister lives in the city, not like the "Inner" city just like "Happy to have a yard and can almost touch the neighbors house from my kitchen window" . She wanted a little rich topsoil for her garden. she went on craigs list and located someone giving away some free dirt. She had to go to work. She told that nice man to just bring it by the house and dump it in the ( miniscule) front yard. she came home to a Mountain of dirt COVERING her entire fropnt yard. she called the nice man. Turns out he had a DUMPTRUCK of dirt . She spent a month of weekends wheeelbarrowing it to her back yard…
Enid On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:50 am
That is what we did last year, Got two ton of good dirt out of a contractor.
Vyx On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:51 am
Another source for free dirt (topsoil) is graveyards. They usually have piles of dirt in some corner or another and you can usually haul some off for free if you can find someone to ask about it. I remember my Mom filling the stationwagon with boxes of dirt from the cemetery when I was a kid.
Mom builds her raised beds with concrete blocks… they don't rot away like wood will. Then she starts filling with kitchen waste, leaves and such, and finally with bags of topsoil and peat or manure. Mulch we get for free from the tree trimmers.
Michaela On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:52 am
Last year, I decided to save money and have a couple yards of dirt delivered to my house. Since the back yard is completely fenced with other yards surrounding, the dirt was unloaded in our driveway. It was the BIGGEST PAIN to shovel all that dirt into a wheel barrow and haul it to the back yard to my new flower beds. THIS year I decided to save my back and my sanity, and bought my dirt from Lowe's in bags. The bags when from the back of our truck into the wheel barrow to the back yard. Still quite the job, but without all that blasted shoveling! I was able to build a raised flower bed and fill it in an afternoon.
C.C. in C On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:54 am
I have a horrible dirt story, 2 years ago we had a pool put in, it is half in ground, half above ground. Anyway, we neglected to read the fine print of the contract where it stated that they (pool people) were not responsible for the dirt! When I got home and saw this enormous pile of dirt sitting in the back yard, and not to mention my husbands face, he was shocked! I flipped. Also now half of our back yard was burried under this dirt! We were stuck with all of this clay dirt! No one wanted it, we used what we could and still had a mountain left. Luckly friends needed fill dirt so one weekend thats what we did moved dirt!!
So for my vegtable garden, I am just getting bagged stuff from Lowes!
Don't Start None...There Won't be none On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:54 am
Forwarding this to my husband. I can't wait to plant some veggies!!!
Joc On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:55 am
I live downtown in a mid-sized city, and am blessed to have a decent backyard. Which hubby and I promptly filled with raised beds. We've got extremely rocky soil (some people call it churt), not sandy or clayey. And we used a lot of regular topsoil in the initial building of our beds, and every year since we've added compost and peat. After 5 years, we finally have a lovely rich soil to grow our veggies in!
chelsea On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:55 am
we also bought our dirt and manure from lowes. last year was our first year to garden and we mixed all our dirt in our beds and then bought a soil testing kit. we needed to add a few more things after that. i think it was key to make sure the vegetables were going to get the nutrients they needed to be fabulous. i would recommend everyone test their soil, it's a good place to start, especially if you don't know what you are doing, like us.
Linda C On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:57 am
Ree I don't know what the dirt is like in your part of nowhere, but in my part of nowhere Oklahoma it is all rocks!! I think they grow in the pasture. We can use it, but we have to do a lot of prep work first! Easier to have it trucked in : )
Barbara On Wednesday, March 25 at 10:57 am
We used to live on "XYZ Road North", and we placed an order for dirt, which was to be delivered before noon. Impatiently, I wait until around 2, then placed a call about my delivery. I am told that my dirt was already delivered! Now, I am sure that I have no large dirt piles anywhere. Then, it dawns on me that there is an "XYZ Road South." Well, you can guess who got my dirt.
The delivery man had to return to "South" and scoop up the dirt and bring it to my house.
I always wondered what the "South" people thought about the big dirt ring in their driveway . . . .
I never felt bad though, because the area was somewhat confusing, and you had to drive past their house to get to ours. If someone stopped to ask where in the world "XYZ North" was, the people in that house always told them they had no idea where we were (up the street, turn right).
melanie g On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:00 am
Around here if we need "fill" dirt we just look for the nearest construction project and they will always give you a free truck load of dirt. Of course it's not always the best quality but it's good to fill the bottom of the raised beds. I then just buy bags of the different kinds of dirt I need at Home Depot or Lowes. Also, fertilizer, lime etc. I have had raised beds (garden and flower) for years and I truly love them! I always get excited about when "planting" season rolls around.
kara On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:01 am
craigslist is an amazing resource . . .
lots of times you get people who are renovating or re-landscaping and they have fill dirt to spare. All you have to do is go and load it up.
Of course – you will probably still need to buy the compost or manure to mix in – they soil is often poor (at least here in Denver).
Craigslist is my favorite place to get free stuff!!!
Melanie in Illinois On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:10 am
A Starbucks secret…they usually have large bags of FREE used coffee grinds that make for a GREAT additive to the soil. I'm not real sure what the benefit of used coffee grinds are but our bounty is plentiful and delicious every year. If it's free it's for me!
Carole On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:10 am
We live in small town-land, but still buy our dirt in bags,
because any soil we dig up would be clay (and what's the point?). Several years ago we dug out ground and put up a garage, so there's been a clay dirt pile from that – but we mix it with the dirt-in-a-bag. One year the little city-transplant kid next door (10 maybe at the time) was helping us dump bags of manure in the garden. After listening to me go on and on about why we put manure in the garden and how it helps the plants, he finally says the one thing he didn't understand was how the farmers got the cows to poop in bags in the first place.
Joy C. On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:10 am
We too live in the country, on the side of a mountain. Every year we need to add mulch to the flower beds. I try to "beg" the mulch first from Asplund, the tree shredders. If you call your electric company they will put you in touch with them. They are glad to dump you a load when in your area. Dirt isn't free, we only did a few dumptruck loads when we built telling ourselves we wanted this yard to look "natural." It's natural alright, a natural pain in the butt to work in! But I won't give up…ever!
Karen On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:11 am
here in central Arkansas I have got to have the worse soil around! talk about growing rocks! rocks & clay is what I have in most of my yard. I ordered a dump truck load of soil three years ago for my raised beds – I mixed a lot of leaf compost in it as I prepared the beds. It wasn't the greatest soil delivered but it worked.
twyla On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:12 am
We live in a large city have used a dirt contractor before. I wouldn't know where else to get it.
Joyce On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:14 am
I live in Lexington, Kentucky. I've gotten mulch and soil from Con Robinson. If you have a truck, you can get 2 cubic yards for about $10 – $20 dollars; if they bring it to you, you pay $100 for a minimum of 4 cubic yards. I had my yard guy fill my new raised beds when he was mulching my flower beds. It was worth the money not to hall loads of dirt to the back yard.
elizabeth On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:20 am
Decatur, IL – I called on dirt/soil yesterday and it's $40/ cu yard if you pick it up yourself.
Love Spring too and it wonderful seeing the yard erupt into
green. My raised beds are made of landscape timbers fastened together, not as deep as yours but mine are in the
front yard. Good growing !!
Jennifer On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:25 am
The second idea reminds me of the movie Fun With Dick and Jane! And your photos of dirt make me want brownies.
Lazy Mom Amanda On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:26 am
Yes, you hire a landscaper to bring in dirt, but the bummer part is the dump it on your driveway and it makes a huge mess while you try to get it to the back yard!!!
Lisa from Kentucky On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:33 am
I hope you will do some posting on herb gardens. I bought seeds yesterday and plan on having my first herb garden this year.
Becky G. On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:36 am
Typically we buy bags of top soil, compost and peat moss, and mix them up really, really well. That works okay . . . . . if you like carrying huge 40 pound bags from point A to point B!
Clare On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:37 am
Last year when we filled up the garden box my husband made for our deck (we live in an apartment) we bought compost from the landfill (very cheap) and went to a construction site and asked for some clean fill (free). The soil was awesome!
Gina K. On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:51 am
My mother-in-law started her raised garden last year and my husband helped her build it (I will post pics for you). She had her dirt trucked in. She doesn't live in the middle of no-where, but close to it.
Jane M On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:55 am
Live in the EX-URBS – only we have a massive DEER problem, BUNNY problem, GROUND HOG problem – you name it PROBLEM. The only thing I can grow are marigolds and hydrangeas! The deer even ate the IVY LEAVES off the vines and up the trees. Oh how I wish I could do a vegetable garden! I guess I could grow veggies off my roof where none of the animals seem to go – they even come up the steps on my deck and back porch. WHATEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sheila On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:59 am
Spring is late here. The forsythia is usually blooming about this time, but it's only in the beginning of the budding stage. Cold.
Dirt. I'm used to the mainland where there is lots of topsoil. Here on this Island, bedrock is close to the surface so dirt is hard to come by and looks like horrible stuff to grow anything in. I'm afraid I have to make my own compost if I want anything decent in my garden. This year, we're putting beds in the front yard (sorry neighbors) because there is no sun in the back and I want to grow veggies. I'm going to have to go to the garden center and buy bales of peat, and get a few yards of what passes for soil to mix the peat into, and probably spend $500. I need a spot where I can compost . . . A country girl in the city . . . it hurts!
mattk On Wednesday, March 25 at 11:59 am
We need dirt badly. I think someone, before we bought our house, stole all the topsoil from our lawn!! just kidding. Honestly, we have a clay like substance for dirt, so odd. We are going to have to buy dirt. Something about 'buying' dirt bothers me though. Dirt is plentiful, except my yard, and I have to buy it; makes me cringe.
Toni! On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:00 pm
I grew up in the country but am now living in the suburbs and I just can't bring myself to buy dirt – it's a foreign concept to this country bumpkin. SO . . . I got on freecycle and asked if anyone had compost they had turned and weren't needing – I got the most wonderful organic soil and made a gardening friend at the same time . .. try it, you'll like it!
bjdfh On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:05 pm
I love spring too, I love to get out and play in the dirt.
Becky L On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:06 pm
Last year we bought dirt from Lowe's – $1 a bag. It took forever getting it to the backyard, but it worked in the end.
Janet On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:19 pm
Just buy it from Lowe's, Tru-Valu, whoever has good brands of suppliers. I usually steer clear of anything labeled "Top Soil". I bought some once that turned out to be just more clay. Defeated the whole purpose.
Deborah Nowland On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:27 pm
We live in the burbs and when we first got here the ground was atrocious. Pretty much a clear cut with only rocks. We added one full dumpster of straight manure from a dairy (luckily we are on the corner so the dump truck could back right up to our yard). We have also added about six pick up trucks full of compost from our local dump. They sell the composted green waste for a very nominal fee. It has taken almost 10 years, but now we actually have decent soil in our entire backyard. Every year we add a couple dozen bags of manure from Loew's or Walmart.
[email protected] On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:29 pm
We called the dirt shop and visited place -home depot. we built a 10 x 10 raised bed. Well, the price for it delivered is $175 – $200!!!!
I guess that is because it is NY prices or something. but, I don't live in NYC, I live upstate. So, this is going to be a lot more expensive then we thought.
Dana McCauley On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:38 pm
Ha! to point number two!
I get my topsoil delivered from a local garden centre and I compost all the stuff from my test kitchen so it's usually pretty rich and wonderful.
Bridget On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:40 pm
If you live in an urban area, you may want to be careful about using your own dirt…I was planning to start a garden at my dorm until I found out that our property is basically on a landfill, and the dirt is chock full of heavy metals like lead and arsenic, things you really don't want to grow in (or eat, for that matter). So, your best bet is getting a soil test done with a local landscape contractor and asking them for advice on how to proceed. There are also urban gardening co-ops or societies you can contact for help and advice.
Jennifer T On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:40 pm
We got a dump truck load from a guy that had horses. Only cost us $75. My tomato plants were huge that year.
Melissa On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:46 pm
The soil at my house is generally fine. I just add more compost every year and dig it in well.
lil ol me On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:47 pm
As an urban gardner, I don't need much soil and even less dirt. You get what you pay for. If you need less soil, try to spend a little more and you will get better results. Hard to do if you need yards and yards, though! I amend every year with a layer of good fluffy compost and rotate planting locations as best as I can. Gotta keep the plants happy.
Hallie On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:49 pm
Be wary of the "load of dirt contractor," as you may well end up with a load of debris. Make sure you are at home to supervise the delivery and take a good look at the load before they dump it.
Most garden centers will sell appropriate "topsoil" or give you a sound reference for a source.
Bobosaur Wrangler On Wednesday, March 25 at 12:50 pm
It's fun picking different spots in our yard and seeing what kind of soil comes out of it. The front was a landfill over 100 years ago, so the suggestion of getting it tested… hmm good idea!
Beth Ann On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:00 pm
II REALLY wanted a berm in my backyard – with annuals, perennials and vegetables (it sounds weird I know, but it works, seriously) and getting my husband to help was a PAIN! I convinced him to start – he rented the sod cutter and removed the sod. But then it SAT for 9 months. I grew frustrated and one day loaded the kids (a 4 month old and 20 month old) into the truck, drove to the grocery store and loaded 50 bags of dirt in the back of the truck. Got home and finagled between the houses into the backyard and unloaded all 50 bags – repeated 4 times for bags of dirt and compost. I then arranged all 200 bags of dirt and 75 bags of compost and opened and mixed them together. It was a long weekend, but in the end worth it. I wish I could say that I have pictures on my blog, but I don't.
Kathy Second Fiddle On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:03 pm
I am a tight wad… a patient tight wad… I piled old leaves – bagged leaves that neighbors didn't want, and grass clippings from the people who mow lawns. The best is a local lawn kid – who is sooo Happy to bring me grass clippings for $1/ trash can. I dump them on my nasty clay soil…soon ( a few years) it is loamy.
My mother in law (who is perfect and a garden whiz) wonders how I get so much produce from my garden…. Laziness…. Ruth Stout stuff.
Plus the first few years you can get away with stuff cause the dirt has only had grass on it…. and the bugs don't find you…. yet!
mary beth On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:10 pm
dirt contractor! you are such a hoot! I buy the bags- have them delivered then drag them around and dump usually ontop of something important or other. But great fun. I bought the wood yesterday for the beds- now need a 'handy' man!
Lindsey On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:14 pm
If you have or can beg/borrow/steal a truck you might want to check with your local City compost site. Mine (here in MN) sells topsoil at $15.00/yard and compost at $11.00/yard which by comparison to bags of dirt and/or other local companies, seems reasonable- i think, i don't know definitely as this is my 1st attempt at such a thing.
I also found a soil calculator that was helpful in determining how much soil i would need for the 2-3 raised beds i plan to build once i'm sure the snow is gone. here's the link-
hopefully someone will find it helpful-
Question- maybe someone knows- if they sell topsoil and compost – should i buy half and half and then mix them?
Jordan On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:18 pm
We got our dirt from the local Natural resources recovery… a recycling center for yard waste and such. Luckily we also have a pick up… sooo that made is fesable and cheap!
Laura C On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:21 pm
I get my dirt every year from our city compost site. A whole trailer-load of wonderful compost for free!
m Saulsbury On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:33 pm
Here's a tip about hauling mulch/soil in the back of a pick-up. Line the bed with a tarp, put the soil/mulch on the tarp. Shovel out the most of it and then start pulling on the tarp from the cab of the truck and just roll out the last of the soil out the back of the truck bed. It usually only needs a sweep of the broom to get the bed of the truck clean. Check with local gardeners about what type of soil you need in your area. Local garden clubs, rose societies are always ready to help with information.
Amy' On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:36 pm
Last year, we noticed someone putting in a new swimming pool. they had a large pile of dirt in their side yard for a few weeks. We asked if they wanted us to haul away a few loads. It's pool season again. Watch for people putting in pools, or call local pool shops and ask what they do with their dirt.
Christina On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:38 pm
I go to Lowes! HA!
Amber On Wednesday, March 25 at 1:59 pm
Well, here in the desert, you just really can't use your own dirt, because there just really isn't much of it. Its all sandy and rocky and just not good…..so I get mine from the Home Depot down the street! =)
Jeanette in Texas On Wednesday, March 25 at 2:00 pm
Ok, here's the mixture I use in the city. Lay cardboard boxes on the grass to kill it. Put leaves on top, then peat moss, cow manure, compost. Repeat until bed is full. Ideally, do this layering in the fall and let it sit all winter. Then plant in the spring. It's called Lasagna gardening. I have done all my beds that way. No tilling, easy, my kind of gardening.
Stacey - Addicted to The Click On Wednesday, March 25 at 2:05 pm
As a kid, my mom had dirt trucked in and then I "got" to help shovel the dirt into wheelbarrows and then haul it around to the gardens in the backyard where I got to shovel some more!
Such fun… well, not really. But the home grown veggies were so worth it!
p.j. On Wednesday, March 25 at 2:08 pm
I live in the city, with a mostly shady back yard that is 25′ x 75′. Lots of shade natives, spring bulbs, and hardy perennials.
I have been veggie gardening in the back 15′ x10′ southwestern portion for almost 30 years. I started with decent soil (this was under the Mississippi River a few hundred thousand years ago), and have added and dug in layers of my own kitchen compost, old maple and ash leaves, and horse manure that I get for free at the police department stable in the major city park, just a mile from my house.
I collect the manure, which has a lot of sawdust and some straw, with a shovel and black plastic garbage bags. Most of the manure gets layered with the kitchen waste in an old rabbit hutch (that I found in the alley) set on its end. Early each spring, I empty out the cage, and turn the "new dirt " compost onto the concrete next to the cage, to sit for another few months. It is always full of worms–and worm poop. Before doing that, I move the remainder of last year's "new dirt" onto my beds, where I dig it in with some of last fall's leaves.
I mulch my plants with free composted leaves and tree trimmings that the nearby suburbs grind up and give away each spring.
I planted snap peas, snow peas, spinach, swiss chard, mesclun mix, radishes, and dill this past week. The earliest ever!! Maybe I will get to enjoy some produce before the scorching summer heat does them in.
Thanks Ree! This is so much fun. p.j.
Emily in IL On Wednesday, March 25 at 2:15 pm
Or you could go to HomeDepot/Menards/Lowes/Farm & Garden supply store and buy bags of dirt :D. It's fun filling your car with dirt, compost, and mulch.
Marci On Wednesday, March 25 at 2:22 pm
We just downsized, and I'm thinking raised beds are the way to go. Hubby will want to stick with in-th-ground plants, but I want raised beds, so that's that!
I always think I love Spring — and then it arrives. Here in New England Spring does bring longer days, some sun, and slightly warmer temps, but it also brings rain, lots of mud which is tracked into the house on huge basset paws and The Man's shoes, and May flies. Lots of May flies.
So I guess what I like is the IDEA of Spring rather than the real thing…..
Cathy On Wednesday, March 25 at 2:25 pm
I got my truck load of dirt as a Christmas present. Yes, it was exactly what I asked for that year. Sadly, the dirt I got had a lot of clay in it and my garden didn't grow so well last year. This year's garden should be better as I have added the bedding from the FFA chicken project and store bought flower and veggie dirt. Can hardly wait for the rain to make my garden grow.


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Thank you for choosing Dolly Couture, Kerry! This form should outline all details of your gown order. It is very important to us that the dress you order is the dress we ship you. For this reason, we make it the responsibility of the buyer to confirm all details before purcha. Please consider this description a contract outlining all of the details of your gown. Descriions of your dress and any customizations noted here represent the final order details and supersede any previous correspondence between yourself and representatives of Dolly Couture. If any information is incorrect, please contact us prior to your purchase.
Dress: Verona $695.00
Custom Sleeves: Add 3/4 length sleeves $105.00
Size: 14 (42" Bust, 36" Waist)
Color: Ivory
Additional Measurements: NA
Back of dress: Standard - zipper
Skirt Length: Standard - 27" natural waist to hem
Petticoat: Standard ivory
Belt/Flower: Standard belt/flower in ivory
Additional Items: NA
Price: $800.00
Without fittings we can not guarantee you will not need a few alterations. We suggest searching for a tailor that is local to you and who has reputable on-line reviews. Yelp.com is a wonderful resource. We suggest EVERY bride make an appointment with a tailor in the two weeks prior to her wedding, even when your gown is a perfect fit on arrival. This exciting time can cause weight fluctuation among some brides. Dolly and her team take pride in packaging and preparing gowns for shipping, however, some wrinkling may occur in transit. Pressing or steaming wrinkles (along with alterations) are the responsibility of the bride. Thank you so much for your order!
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