The best compost is the stuff you make yourself where you know exactly what the components are and can monitor the heat and status of the product. But not everyone has the time, patience, room or experience to create their own compost or the ability to create it in sufficient quantity.

I don't have any major issues with Cedar Grove and it's come a long way in the years since I first started using it. I'd be interested to know what you've been reading about it and how current these articles might be. Yeah, you will sometimes find odd remnants of non-compostible materials in it but that's the price you pay for a compost made out of recycled yard waste......not everyone has a clear understanding of what yard waste is or they just don't care. Cedar Grove and King County Solid Waste are doing a huge service by providing a useful material from stuff that would otherwise clog up landfills and contribute to pollution. Cedar Grove is tested for heavy metals, herbicides and pathogens and is certified. That should provide some assurance as to its quality. And as to retailers choosing not to sell it, that's pretty much a marketing choice. There's lots of bagged compost product available in this area and some choose the higher end "gourmet" products. And some choose not to sell it in the bagged form but still offer it as a bulk product.

I guess it depends on what you want from your compost and how you intend to use it. If you need in quantity and cannot or choose not to make your own, then look at bulk products rather than the vastly more expensive bagged stuff. Various places like Pacific Topsoils, NW Topsoils, some nurseries and various landscape supply yards offer bulk compost, in addition to Cedar Grove itself. To my knowledge, none of them offer a certified, tested product aside from CG but I'd ask to make sure.

The bulk compost I'd choose before any other is Bailey's, located in Snohomish. It is a mix of well-composted dairy manure and yard waste and is fantastic stuff. It is also certified. Available for pick up or by delivery.

I just bought a truckload of Cedar Grove stuff - the vegetable blend mix. Yes, I did find some little 'extras', i.e. shreds of plastic bags, but my home compost pile wasn't ready yet, so it works! I'm also seeing some little weed seeds pop up, but that might be from seeds that got blown on to the beds after I filled them. (I'm on a slope, and wind have been up to 40 MPH in the last month.)

I debated between Pacific Topsoils and Cedar Grove. That was easily decided when I asked them how old the compost was. Pacific Topsoils told me their compost was aged UP TO six months. Cedar Grove's web site said that the bulk compost was aged a MINIMUM of six month and the bagged something like 18 months.....

BTW, based on a landscaping company recommendation, I bought the second truckload of vegetable blend mix from Red-E-Soil (sp). I'd been told that Cedar Grove tended to be putting too much dirt and not enough compost in their Vegetable Garden blend, while Red-E-Soil, which also uses Cedar Grove Compost in their blend, had more of the organic good stuff. From what I could see and feel and smell, it seemed like the landscaping company was right.

Best of luck!

I just got 2 yards for my sister for her vege gardens, There is a ton of plastic from plastic bags. we picked out a couple hundred pieces. There are probably tens of thousands of very small pieces of plastic. oh well it won't kill us I guess.